Gays, Lesbians, and Sports: No Longer on the Sideline

Eric Anderson*, Mark McCormack

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Published conference outputEntry for encyclopedia/dictionary

Abstract

High levels of cultural homophobia meant that early research on homophobia in sport did not collect data with sexual minority athletes who were public about their sexuality. However, as homophobia has decreased in Western cultures, there has been a proliferation in research on openly gay athletes. Accordingly, this article investigates the experiences of openly gay male and lesbian athletes in ostensibly heterosexual sports. The authors show that while sport was founded in exclusionary practices, changing cultural norms regarding sexual minorities have extended to sporting cultures.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationInternational Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences: Second Edition
PublisherElsevier
Pages656-660
Number of pages5
Edition2nd
ISBN (Electronic)9780080970875
ISBN (Print)9780080970868
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 26 Mar 2015

Keywords

  • Athletes
  • Closet
  • Cultural change
  • Gay
  • Heteronormativity
  • Homohysteria
  • Homophobia
  • Inclusion
  • Lesbian
  • Sport
  • Team sport

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