A first of its kind study has found that lesbian, gay, and bisexual men and women face troubling amounts of homophobia at all levels of sports, from the youth ranks to the pros. According to the “Out on the Fields” study, which surveyed more than 9,400 athletes of various ages primarily in six countries, 80 percent of all participants and 82 percent of those who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual said that they had witnessed homophobia in sports, while 62 percent said that sports remain more homophobic than broader society.
The study surveyed gay men and lesbians in both youth sports and adult sports, and it went beyond experiences of homophobia, asking if LGB people felt comfortable coming out in sports and if they thought of sporting events as safe spaces for openly gay, lesbian, and bisexual people. In a sports world that is increasingly trying to show its support for LGB people, the results paint a striking and disappointing picture.
“Unfortunately, the study found few positive signs in any country that LGB people are welcome and safe playing team sports,” the study’s authors wrote.
Overall, 84 percent of gay men and 82 percent of lesbians who said they had experienced homophobia reported receiving verbal slurs; 38 percent of gay men and 18 percent of lesbians reported being bullied; and 19 percent of gay men and 9 percent of lesbians said they had been physically assaulted.
In the six countries surveyed — the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand — youth sports remain the biggest area of concern. According to the survey, 81 percent of gay men and 74 percent of lesbians who were under the age of 22 reported hiding their sexual orientation from teammates while participating in youth sports, with nearly half of gay men and a third of lesbians saying they did so because they feared their teammates would reject them. Nearly two-thirds of gay men under age 22 said they had experienced homophobia in sports, though, in one positive sign, the survey found that participants who are now under age 22 are more likely to come out of the closet at a young age than older generations.
The problems persist in adult sports. Nearly half of gay men, 39 percent of lesbians, 80 percent of bisexual men, and 61 percent of bisexual women said they stayed in the closet while playing adult sports, while 53 percent of gay adult men said they had witnessed homophobia.
And though the report found that participation among LGB people was higher than expected, it also found a significant number — 31 percent of gay men under 22 — of potential athletes weren’t participating because they feared their sexuality would keep them from being accepted.
The United States did not rank in the top three of countries where athletes decide to stay in the closet in any of the four major categories. But overall, more than half of American participants said they had experienced homophobia.
The study comes at a time when sports leagues and teams across the world have attempted to promote more inclusive environments. All four major men’s sports leagues — the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB — have added sexual orientation to their nondiscrimination policies in recent years. Multiple leagues and teams have formed partnerships with LGBT advocacy organizations and teams have run events to promote equality (teams around the world have done the same in different ways). In both men’s and women’s sports, athletes like Jason Collins, Megan Rapinoe, Michael Sam, and Robbie Rogers have come out, drawing more attention to LGBT issues (positive and negative) in their sports. In most cases, they have been welcomed with open arms by teammates and the leagues themselves, promoting a general feeling of progress.
But despite the visibility of these athletes — and the suggestion from participants that more pro athletes coming out would help — the report shows that LGB people don’t feel safe at sporting events. Polls and anecdotal responses have shown that fans have accepted (or are willing to accept) gay athletes on their teams, but LGB people still perceive a major problem: in the U.S., a third of respondents said that the stands remain the biggest source of homophobic discrimination. Over all participants, 78 percent said an openly LGB person would not be safe at a sporting event. Whether true or not, that suggests that top leagues and teams both in the U.S. and around the world need to do more to promote safe and welcoming fan environments.
The other major area of concern is at the school level, as 24 percent of American respondents pegged P.E. classes as the biggest source of homophobia, with another 14 percent choosing extracurricular school sports. Given the prevalence of the problems at youth and school levels, the report’s authors suggest that early education in acceptance and tolerance in sports could be one of the best ways to reduce instances of homophobia.
Some of those efforts, at least, are underway on a smaller level in the United States. The You Can Play Project, which was involved in sponsoring the report, has run campaigns at the youth level, even partnering with the NFL to do so. Still, the report makes it clear that the stewards of sports across the world haven’t done enough to promote equality and acceptance for LGB people.
For all the progress it seems sports have made, the results should be a jarring wake-up call about how much more needs to be done, Rogers, who became MLS’ first openly gay player in 2013, said in a release.
“I was disappointed the study found so many people continue to experience and also fear discrimination,” he said, “but I hope this will start to motivate change at all levels.”