Let’s talk inclusion: Key considerations for the inclusion of 2SLGBTQI+ athletes

June is Pride Month, a time to celebrate the 2SLGBTQI+ communities as well as reflect on how to enhance and ensure inclusion in sport. This year, SIRC has partnered with Canadian Women & Sport to build a new resource for sport leaders and organizations: Key Considerations to Promote the Inclusion of Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ Athletes. Here, we dive deeper into what’s needed to foster more inclusive sport spaces for 2SLGBTQI+ athletes. We’ll explore key actions to ensure everyone feels like they belong on the field or court and share resources for continued learning.  

Key areas of focus to support inclusive sport  

Creating inclusive sports spaces for all athletes is a priority for leaders and organizations within the Canadian sports sector. Still, it is often hard to know where to start when creating more inclusive spaces. To help create a jumping-off point, we have summarized 5 key areas of focus that were highlighted in the academic literature to help increase 2SLGBTQI+ inclusion in sport. These areas are (1) Policies, (2) Language, (3) Visibility, (4) Culture, and (5) Facilities. We will go through each area in more detail below. 

1. Policy: Creating clear and inclusive sports policies, such as policies around non-discrimination and equity, can help create more welcoming and safe spaces for all athletes, including 2SLGBTQI+ individuals (Jones et al., 2017; Hancock et al., 2024; Theriault, 2017; Trussell et al., 2018; Krane et al., 2021). When creating policies, it is important to consider the latest research and consult individuals with lived experience to ensure that the policies address their needs (Jones et al., 2017; Romano et al., 2020). Equally important, people should know about the policies so they can act accordingly. A policy is only meaningful if an organization and its participants know about it and act on it (Theriault, 2017).
2. Language: The way we communicate, whether written or verbal, can greatly impact how inclusive (or not) a sports space is for all sport participants, including 2SLGBTQI+ children, coaches and parents (Hancock et al., 2024; Trussell et al., 2018). With that in mind, it is important to be thoughtful about your language to ensure that it is inclusive for all. Some ways to do that may include:

   – Using athletes’ preferred pronouns (Hancock et al., 2024). 

   – Providing inclusive options on registration forms, which may include moving away from gender-based forms for both children and their parents (Trussell et al., 2018).   

   – Being transparent about the terms used in written documents like policies, for example, defining what is meant by terms like sex and gender (Hancock et al., 2024).

3. Visibility: Being able to see oneself in a sport or seeing that a sports team or organization is an ally can help make individuals feel included and welcomed. To that end, organizations may consider running campaigns (for example, Pride Month campaigns) to help show their dedication to inclusion (Hancock et al., 2024). When doing so, it is important to be thoughtful and consider what is or is not appropriate to maintain participants’ privacy and remain respectful to the 2SLGBTQI+ community (Romano et al., 2021). Alternatively, organizations may host educational opportunities for people within the organization to help promote inclusive sports environments for 2SLGBTQI+ athletes (Hancock et al., 2024). 
4. Facilities: It is important for organizations to be mindful of the facilities that they use to ensure that there are safe and accessible spaces for all athletes (Lawley, 2020; Hancock et al., 2024). Some features of inclusive facilities include having non-gendered spaces and changerooms and having 2SLGBTQI+ safe spaces where athletes can seek support (Hancock et al., 2024). While it is not always possible to control the facilities used by an organization, calling ahead to learn about the facilities and letting facilities know about participant needs can help them prepare accordingly to make the space as inclusive as possible. Including 2SLGBTQI+ inclusive signage at facilities may also contribute to more welcoming facilities (Hancock et al., 2024). 
5. Culture: Team and sport culture can contribute to how inclusive (or not) sport is for 2SLGBTQI+ athletes. While changing culture can take time, steps like educating parents and athletes about inclusive practices and policies, not tolerating non-inclusive language or discrimination, and promoting safe spaces in locker rooms can all help contribute to a better and more inclusive sport culture (Hancock et al., 2024; Lawley et al., 2018; Trussell et al., 2018). 

To dive-deeper into the topics and examples listed above, please explore the full report.  

Final thoughts and resources to explore: 

We all play an important role in supporting the inclusion of 2SLGBTQI+ individuals in sport. Accordingly, it is important that we continue to explore the latest research and best practice recommendations to support inclusive and welcoming spaces. We have listed some resources to support continued learning below.   

Tools/resources: 

• 2SLGBTQI Sport Inclusion: Playbook on breaking down barriers from Egale 
• A Coach’s Guide: LGBTQ12S Inclusion from Coach NB. 
• Inclusion in Sport Coaching Resource from viaSPORT BC.  
• Inclusive language Starts with You from Coaching Association of Ontario.  

Blogs & articles: 

• How coaches and sport organizations can create a better experience for LGBTQ+ youth from SIRC.  
• LGBTQ+ inclusion in sports from Sport and Dev.  

Workshops: 

• Leading the way: 2SLGBTQ+ Inclusion in Sport workshop from Canadian Women in Sport. 

Want more resources? Please check out the full resource list created through this partnership.