The time has come for LGBTQ student-athlete groups. Why?
• More lesbian, gay and bisexual student-athletes are coming out to teammates and coaches.
• More LGB student-athletes enter their collegiate athletic experience already having been out in high school. They have greater expectations for respectful treatment and are more comfortable with their sexuality and gender identities than previous generations of LGB athletes have.
• National polls show that heterosexual young people are more accepting and comfortable with LGBT friends and supportive of LGBT rights than their elders are.
• More young people are identifying as transgender and they are pushing school sport programs to clarify policies protecting their right to participate in athletics.
• The topic of homophobia in athletics is on the table. Sport organizations like the NCAA, coaches associations and other athletic support staff organizations sponsor education and information programs for members with the goal of making athletics a safe and respectful place for all LGBT participants.
• More university and high school athletic programs are sponsoring education programs focused on LGB issues in sport
• Increased support and resources for athletics are available from advocacy and education groups like: It Takes A Team! (the Women’s Sports Foundation), the National Center for Lesbian Rights Sports Project, the Human Rights Campaign Coming Out Project, the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network and the Gay Alliance Against Defamation, the Gay and Lesbian Athletic Foundation.
A student-athlete group can take many different forms. The focus of this resource is to assist high school and college student-athletes and school staff to determine how to organize an LGBTQ student-athlete group that best meets the needs and interests of student-athletes in their school. What follows is a list of topics to consider, questions to think about and group activity suggestions for planners and leaders of LGBTQ student-athlete groups.
What is the Purpose of the Group: Support, Advocacy and Education, Social. Any or all of these purposes could be appropriate depending on the group.
• To provide support for LGBTQ student-athletes
• To make the athletic department a safe and respectful place for LGBTQ people
• To plan social activities for LGBTQ student-athletes
• To plan social activities for LGBTQ student-athletes and their friends
What Should the Name of the Group Be:
• How visible do you want the group to be?
• Do you want LGBT in the name? (LGBT Athlete Group, Gay-Straight Athlete) Alliance
• Do you want the name to be more generic? (Athletes for Social Justice, Jocks for Justice, Athletes for Diversity )
• Do you want the name to cryptic? (Friends of Martina, Dave Kopay Society)
Who to Invite to Join the Group:
• Do you want to only invite athletes who are lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, same-gender loving, two-spirit, questioning?
• Do you want to invite heterosexual allies to join?
• Do you want to invite athletes only or do you want to include athletic staff?
Where Will the Group Meet: Think about the following criteria: accessibility, safety/visibility, and comfortable/inviting/informal setting?
• A room in the athletic department: Would this make attending a meeting less safe for people who are concerned about being seen by teammates or coaches?
• A room somewhere else on campus: Would this make it safer for all athletes to come to meetings? How convenient is the location for athletes?
• At the school LGBT center: Would this be a way to use LGBT resources on campus or would some athletes be concerned that this is too visible?
• Off-campus: Would this create transportation problems for some folks?
When Will the Group Meet: This is always a challenge for athletes. Determine when is it likely that most athletes will be available?
• Evenings after dinner?
• During dinner with pizza served?
• On Sunday evening?
• Rotate meeting times so that more people can come, but not necessarily at the same time?
• Lunch time brown bag?
How Often Will the Group Meet: Let the group decide this during early meetings to determine the momentum and interest in the group. Meet at least monthly or the group will lose momentum and interest
• Weekly
• Every two weeks
• Monthly
Establishing Meeting Discussion Ground Rules: Establishing some shared group discussion expectations for meetings can be helpful. Here are some suggestions to get started. Ask the group for other ground rules they’d like to have.
• Personal information that is shared in meetings, stays there (a person’s sexual orientation, discussions about incidents on particular teams, etc.)
• No one is required to identify their sexual orientation or gender identity, but everyone is invited to do so. If heterosexual people are part of the group, you might ask them to experiment with NOT automatically sharing their sexual orientation since it so much easier to publicly identify oneself as straight
• Speak from your own experience, avoid generalizing (All heterosexuals…or all gay people…)
• Respect different perspectives
• Make sure the group is welcoming to and acknowledges other differences besides sexual orientation and gender identity (race, class, sex, religion). These identities affect our experience of being LGBT.
• Listen
• Have fun
Staff Advisors Or Not: Sometimes having a staff advisor/member can help the group with administrative issues like reserving rooms and communication with other staff, etc.
• Do you want a staff advisor or should the group be student-led?
• If you have an advisor, what role should they play: A leader, facilitator, consultant, enabler, background supporter?
• If you have an advisor, should they be LGBT identified, a straight ally, one of each?
• Is it important to have a man and a woman as advisors?
How to Publicize the Group:
• Word of mouth: This always leaves out some folks who might be interested
• Fliers around the athletic department, locker rooms, inside of toilet stall doors (a great place to get people’s attention…what else is there to do)
• Post on Athletic Department/Team Email Lists
• Post on Athletic Department Web site
• Make Your Own Web site – Highly recommended because athletes who are concerned about visibility can visit the site to learn more about the group and contact someone through email before coming to a meeting.
• Post on school LGBT Center web site, listserv
Importance of Food: Provide food at meetings/events. This is a great draw and invites people to relax and talk. Something simple like chips and dip and soda or something more substantial like pizza or sandwiches works fine.
Gender and Racial Balance: Think about how to attract men and women as well as white and people of color to the group. The more diverse the group is, the more everyone will get out of meetings and other group sponsored activities. Also, race and sex diversity will also make sure that the group is meeting the needs of all athletes not just one race or sex.
• Think about racism and homophobia
• Think about sexism and homophobia
• Discuss ways that homophobia affects people of color and white people differently and the same
• Discuss ways that homophobia affects men and women differently and the same
Funding: Whether funding is only needed for providing refreshments at meetings or for sponsoring activities, think about how to get some financial support
• Pass the hat at meetings for refreshments
• Have a group fund-raiser: Bake sale, donuts and coffee sale mornings in Athletic Department, tee shirt sale, etc
• Seek individual donations from athletic department staff who are allies
• Get funding from the student government
• Get funding from athletic department
• Get funding from school LGBT Center
• Get funding from LGBT athlete alums
Building Communication and Support Within the Athletic Department:
• Meet with the Athletic Director to tell her/him about your group and see how she/he can support you (funding, staff development programs, public statement about her/his support of your group with athletic staff, etc)
• Meet with the Student Athlete Advisory Council to discuss how they can support safety and respect for LGBT student-athletes on their teams
• Meet with the CHAMPS Life Skills instructors about addressing LGBT issues in their curriculum (they can get It Takes A Team video and lesson plans from NCAA if they don’t already have it)
• Meet with the leaders of new student-athlete orientation programs (or editors for the new student-athlete handbook) to see how they can include department expectations for fair and respectful treatment of LGBT student-athletes
• Find out if your athletic department supports student-athlete groups like Fellowship of Christian Athletes or Athletes in Action. Your group is legally entitled to the same support (Federal Equal Access Act).
Building Communication Across Campus: Establish relationships with other campus units that focus on LGBTQ issues or that could better serve the needs of LGBT student-athletes
• Contact the Campus LGBT Resource to let them know about your group. Find out what resources or programs they have related to athletics
• Contact the social justice/diversity/affirmative action office on campus.
• Contact any other LGBTQ staff or student groups on campus to see how you can work together
• Contact the campus counseling center to see how they are prepared to work with student-athletes who are questioning their sexuality, experiencing harassment or isolation, or who are struggling with homophobia
• Contact the school ombuds office or other legal resources for student-athletes who are experiencing discrimination because of their sexual orientation (perceived or actual) or gender identity.
Suggestions for Meeting Activities:
• Find out what kind of group focus attendees want, find out what kind of activities folks want to do
• Watch and discuss a video on LGBT issues in athletics – It Takes A Team video, YouTube panels on LGBT issues in Athletics, HBO Billie Jean King documentary, etc.
• Discussions about perceptions of the climate for LGBTQ people in the athletic department: with teammates, coaches, administrators, athletic training staff, academic advising staff, Life Skills classes, locker rooms, weight and strength training staff, etc.
• Discussions about current events in the media – Professional athlete coming out, homophobic comment by pro athlete, discrimination case in school athletic program, etc.
• Invite a speaker to the meeting: LGBT athlete alum, Leaders/members of different LGBTQ support groups on campus, etc
• Read and talk about books on LGBT issues in sport: Biographies, autobiographies about professional or Olympic athletes who are LGBT
• Learn about each other’s sport – focus on a different sport each meeting
• Go bowling or do a sport together that no one knows much about (curling, cricket, etc)
• Plan a meeting or meetings to discuss how race and sex affect experiences of homophobia in athletics
• Plan activities that will take place outside of meetings (see next section)
Suggestions for Activities Outside the Meetings:
• Develop a group listserv for communication between meetings
• Group outings to LGBT-related/LGBT sports-related events: Plays, movies, marches, talks, athletic contests
• Get a team together to compete in a local gay sports league or the Gay Games or the OutGames
• Get a team together to compete in school intramurals
• Get together to watch each other’s teams compete
• Go to someone’s apartment or to a local gathering place to watch televised sporting events
Suggestions for Education or Advocacy Activities:
• Plan a “Speakers Group” to go speak to sports teams, Life Skills classes, SAAC meetings about what they can do to make athletics more welcoming to LGBTQ athletes
• Do a climate survey of student-athletes and coaches at your school about their attitudes toward LGBTQ athletes (contact It Takes A Team for a sample survey)
• Plan a safe space campaign to get coaches and other staff to put up safe space stickers on the office doors and commit to the principles of safe space (contact It Takes A Team for stickers and information)
• Post a list of coaches in your athletic department who participate in the safe space campaign on your web site
• Make a brochure or handout with information for coaches and athletes about LGBT sports resources on your campus, locally, and online and distribute them to everyone in the athletic department (go to the It Takes A Team! web site for a list of online resources)
• Make a “How to Be An Ally” card for coaches and team members and distribute them
• Put It Takes A Team posters up on bulletin boards in the athletic department (contact It Takes A Team to get posters)
• Ask the athletic director to organize a staff development session for coaches and all other athletic staff on LGBT issues in athletics focused on non-discrimination laws protecting LGBT people and practical strategies they can use to make sure LGBT athletes and coaches are treated with respect and fairness
• Ask the athletic director to sponsor a talk for all athletes on LGBT issues in athletics (invite an outside speaker, have your group speak, invite someone from campus)
• Plan an event in athletics for National Coming Out Day – October 11: post pictures of out professional or Olympic LGBT athletes, invite the Fearless Campus Tour to visit (fearlesscampustour.org), invite athletes to come out as LGBT or as allies by wearing a symbol – rainbow ribbon, wrist band, button
• Other great ideas your group thinks of
Please write to me to add suggestion and ideas that you think would be helpful to other groups. I’ll add them to this resource which will be posted on the It Takes A Team! web site. I’d also like to know what schools have LGBTQ student-athlete groups so I can also post that list on our web site with a contact person so groups from different schools can contact each other. So, please let me know about your group. Good luck with your group!
And remember, it takes a team, your team to make sports safe for all!