LGBTQ Minority High School Athletes in Chicago: LGBTQ Student Athlete Experiences and Teammate Perceptions

• In Event: 082 - Open Refereed Roundtable Session I
  In Refereed Roundtable: A. Table 16. Race and Sexuality

Abstract

LGBTQ athletes struggle balancing their sexual and athletic identity in sports. Because of their sexual orientation, LGBTQ athletes struggle to assimilate into the sports environment. The purpose of the mixed method study was to explore internal team dynamics regarding LGBTQ athletic acceptance and their respective identities on the team as well as discern teammates’ perceptions of comfort around an LGBTQ teammate. Interviews revealed that LGBTQ athletes generally experienced comfort and were accepted by their sports teammate, with contact sport participants sharing more positive experiences. LGBTQ athletes felt they had to adopt more masculine characteristics in order to be better athletes. LGBTQ participants in contact sports shared negative experiences with the use of derogatory language that negatively affected their performance in sport. Results from the survey data showed that having a LGBTQ athlete on a student athlete’s sports team predicted more comfort around a LGBTQ athlete, irrespective of gender, race, or type of sport played.

Authors

• Emmanuel Navarro, University of Illinois-Chicago

• Brandom Villa, University of Illinois-Chicago

• William Joslyn Scarborough, University of Illinois-Chicago