What is the sports environment like in UK sports for LGBTQ athletes who come out to their teammates?

Outsports is again teaming up with academics to conduct an Out In Sport study of LGBTQ athletes who have come out to teammates, this time focusing on experiences in the United Kingdom. If that’s you, we’d love for you to take the survey — Our email addresses to get the link are below. The survey is confidential.

Academics from the University of Winchester, Southampton Solent University, and the University of Gloucestershire have teamed up to create what will be the most widespread study of the experiences of athletes coming out in British sports.

“The structure of UK sports is such that most sport occurs outside educational boundaries,” said Dr. Eric Anderson, a partner on both studies. “This makes it harder for survey research, and there is a distinct lack of it in the UK compared to North America. This study will be the first to systematically look for LGBT athletes who play on ostensibly heterosexual teams, and not just examining LGBT athletes who play on LGBT teams.”

The quantitative survey is specifically for athletes who have come out to at least one teammate on a secondary school sports team, sixth form/college sports team, university sports team or non-LGBTQ-focused community/recreational sports teams.

Certainly the experiences of athletes on LGBTQ-focused sports teams are important, and we have highlighted those experiences at Outsports for decades. This study focuses on experiences of athletes coming out on non-LGBTQ teams.

Previously we conducted a survey of out athletes in North America. The results of that study will be shared publicly later this year.

If you’ve been an athlete out to some teammates in UK sport, we’d love for you to take the survey. You can get the link to the survey by emailing [email protected] or [email protected].

Don't forget to share: