LGBTQ and athletic organizations research paper

Running head: LGBTQ and athletic organizations 1

LGBTQ and athletic organizations 4

LGBTQ and athletic organizations

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The research question that I am going to discuss is: Why most athletes don’t identify themselves as LGBTQ while active in sports? Approximately 4.1% of Americans identify themselves as LGBTQ. Based on statistics and approximation, the NFL should therefore have 69 players out of 1,696 players who are gay. However, in the entire history of the league only 11 players identified as LGBTQ and they did this after they were out of the NFL. In the 2016 Olympics, only 56 athletes identified as LGBTQ. The number of LGBTQ individuals in sports is greatly disproportionate to the number of LGBTQ individuals in the world (Rogers, 2018). Based on this, it is evident that LGBTQ individuals fear disclosing their identities or are not allowed to, and this may majorly be tied to athletic organizations.

It is important to ask several questions in order to adequately discuss this topic. The questions include:

1. Do athletic organizations or players/athletes think that identifying as LGBTQ will cost them career opportunities?

2. How are LGBTQ athletes discriminated against?

3. What are the strategies athletic organizations take to promote inclusivity even for LGBTQ players/athletes?

Based on these questions, it will be possible to determine the role of athletic organizations in either supporting LGBTQ athletes/players or discouraging them from identifying who they are. The possible outcomes of the research are that LGBTQ players do not indicate who they are because of toxic masculinity, stereotypes and aggression (Nye, 2019). The homophobia associated with being LGBTQ also discourages players from revealing their identity. Athletic organization discourage players from not doing anything that will cost them their career opportunities. Identifying as LGBTQ may affect the career opportunities of an athlete thus various athletic organizations do not support that.

References

Nye, E. A., Crossway, A., Rogers, S. M., Games, K. E., & Eberman, L. E. (2019). Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Patients: Collegiate Athletic Trainers' Perceptions. Journal of athletic training, 54(3), 334-344.

Rogers, S. M., Crossway, A. K., & Aronson, P. A. (2018). Creating a LGBTQ+ inclusive culture in the athletic training facility. Clinical Practice in Athletic Training, 1(1), 11-14.