Swing, and miss: Sports culture needs to make advancements in LGBTQ+ inclusion

Not to perpetuate stereotypes, but I just cannot stand sports. 

It’s not that I hate the sports themselves — I quite enjoy hockey, I get into football every now and then, and when the Olympics are on, I am always watching.

I cannot get behind sports due to the inherently homophobic and transphobic culture that surrounds them.

The culture that surrounds sports is very straight. Every time you see a sports-related ad on TV, it is just straight men yelling at the TV while their wives are in the kitchen gossiping or cooking. This makes the culture around sports quite misogynistic, on top of many other things.

I even see these issues at family gatherings. The women of the family and I are outcasted so the men can be together to enjoy sports. Every time someone with less testosterone comes in, it becomes a huge annoyance to them, as if they cannot just focus on the game.

Graphic by-Abbey Mark

This straight culture surrounding sports needs to change, and it should have already. It feels as if this is the one thing the world will not change, and it is causing a lot of harm.

While there is a long way to go everywhere for LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion, it seems as if sports is the last industry trying to improve in this manner. Every time an athlete comes out, there is this big news story about how they overcame this straight world to be their true selves. 

It should not be so rare to see athletes coming out, or to even see a gay athlete. And when this does happen, we should treat them as individuals for the sport that they are passionate about, not their sexuality. 

In addition, there are often articles published in the news about LGBTQ+ rights and sports, and seldom in a positive light. Most times, these articles are about trans athletes not being able to compete due to people saying they have an unfair advantage or another athlete was making homophobic comments. 

While these stories get national attention, conversations like this are happening everywhere, and homophobia is something I now correlate with sports, as it is where I have experienced it the most. 

For instance, it seems as if it always comes as a shock that gay people enjoy things that seem “out of character” for them. Liking sports or wanting to participate in sports as a queer individual comes with even more stereotypes, such that you are tougher than the rest and that you are “one of the bros.”

Liking sports does not erase our identity or invalidate it. It is a common interest to have, but for some reason, people cannot comprehend that you can be LGBTQ+ and like sports. 

Additionally, it is a very common stereotype to hear that gay people know nothing about sports, whether it be joking that we call a home run a touchdown or goal, or just excluding the LGBTQ+ community from the discussion of sports entirely. 

In gym class, it seemed as if my peers did not want me to do anything because of who I am. No one ever wanted me on their team, and if I was, it was an instant loss for them, because no one wanted the “gay boy” to drag them down.

Every time I mention sports, it comes as a shock to everyone in the room. While at times I give into the stereotype just to avoid an annoying conversation, I should not have to act this way just to make everyone around me more comfortable with their image of queer people. 

One can only imagine how much worse it can be in the actual industry, and I wonder how many athletes are putting on a front out of fear and how unsafe they must feel. 

There needs to be a change in sports culture and the world in general when it comes to LGBTQ+ visibility. We have to start seeing sports for sports, and not associate sexuality or gender with them.