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Six out of ten transgender people sometimes feel unsafe at sports clubs.
Eighty per cent of transgender people who participate in sports at a club feel accepted. However, six in ten sometimes feel unsafe, for example in the changing rooms and shower areas.
Eighty percent of transgender individuals who participate in sports at a club feel accepted. However, six out of ten sometimes feel unsafe, for example in the changing rooms and showers. More than half have experienced a lack of understanding, jokes or negative comments. This is according to an online survey conducted by the Mulier Institute among 133 transgender and gender-diverse individuals about their participation in sport and the acceptance they experience in sport.
The Mulier Institute collaborated with the Transgender Network Netherlands (TNN) on the study. The study was commissioned by the Alliantie Gelijkspelen, a partnership led by the John Blankenstein Foundation that promotes broad LGBTI acceptance in sport. The study shows that sport can be important for transgender and gender-diverse people. For seven out of ten respondents, sport has a positive impact on their transgender background. Half of this group sees sport as an important outlet.
It is also striking that seven out of ten respondents indicate that their sporting behaviour has changed after their social transition. For example, one third indicate that they have consciously chosen an individual sport. Fitness, running and swimming are the most popular sports among transgender and gender-diverse people. Approximately a quarter indicate that they have left a sports club because of their transgender background.
According to the Alliantie Gelijkspelen (Fair Play Alliance), the online survey among transgender people in sport proves that it is important to pay extra attention to the acceptance of diversity within team sports. Sports clubs and associations can offer support during a transition by developing an inclusive sporting environment.
The Equal Play Alliance has adopted the advice of the Mulier Institute to focus not only on integration (LGBTI), but also specifically on creating a more inclusive sporting environment for transgender people. A good example of this are the guidelines for gender and sex-diverse individuals that were drawn up on behalf of the Alliantie Gelijkspelen. These guidelines contain recommendations and practical tips for developing greater safety and acceptance in the sports sector. With these recommendations in hand, the Alliantie Gelijkspelen, together with NOC*NSF and interest groups (TNN and NNID), aims to guide sports associations and municipalities towards a sports sector with less exclusion and discrimination.
Download the shortened fact sheet here which contains the most important findings and includes a link to the aforementioned guidelines and the underlying research report by the Mulier Institute. The John Blankenstein Foundation also has a special podcast released, in which sports journalist Tim Dekkers talks to Sophie Schers (trans woman and policy advisor at TNN), Lucas Nieuwenhuis (trans man) and Thijs de Greeff (former top hockey player and workshop leader at JBF).
The results come from a study conducted by the Mulier Institute on behalf of the Alliantie Gelijkspelen (Fair Play Alliance), which has been implementing a policy programme since 2008 on behalf of the Ministries of Education, Culture and Science and Health, Welfare and Sport, aimed at promoting the acceptance of homosexuality in the world of (organised competitive) sport. The Alliantie Gelijkspelen (AG4.0) is a partnership between various organisations. In addition to the John Blankenstein Foundation as the lead partner, the other partners in the Alliantie Gelijkspelen are the KNVB football association, the KNHB hockey association, the NOC*NSF sports umbrella organisation and the Stichting Roze Voetbal Fanclubs (RVFC) foundation.
Contact person: Stephan Hakkers, stephan.hakkers@johnblankensteinfoundation.nl
06-24134038
Research Coordinator, Fair Play Alliance 4.0
