Ninth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

Sport is argued to be one of the last spaces in Western societies where heterosexism and homophobia still exist prominently (Lenskyj, 2012). Yet, the sporting experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students at higher educational institutions in the UK are relatively underexplored. Sport is argued to be a significant part of university life; it is often where students try new sports for the first time, and is a major way in which students engage with their student unions. Furthermore, students who participate in university-based sport are likely to earn more and have fewer periods of unemployment (BUCS, 2013). Therefore, it is important that university-based sports are inclusive and accessible to all. Drawing on questionnaire, interview and focus group data with LGBT+ students and student union officers, as well as document analysis of student union policies, this research uses hegemony theory to argue there are still issues to be resolved to make university-based sport more inclusive for LGBT+ students. The findings also suggest many student unions’ policies can also be improved, especially in regards to transgender-inclusion in university-based sport.