Charter for gender diversity in sport
THEMES
– Educational programs and materials
– Awareness-raising initiatives
– Codes of conduct and codes of ethics
TARGETED OBJECTIVES
– Long-term structural change in sport
– Creating inclusive structures
– Establishing the field of gender diversity in mainstream sports
– Increasing awareness about the charter and having it signed by associations and clubs nationwide
MAIN INITIATIVE
Seitenwechsel e.V. is a Berlin-based queer sports club for women, lesbians, trans* and inter* people and is the initiator behind the “Charter for Gender Diversity in Sports”, which was initiated in 2020 and launched in 2021. The charter stems from the need to create long-term structural change and impact in sport to foster the inclusion of trans* and inter* people and was first initiated by the trans-inter-anti-discrimination working group of Seitenwechsel e.V. Further, the charter is the main outcome of the project “Structures for Trans and Inter in Sports” and has required individuals in both fulltime
and voluntary capacities to implement.
The Charter for Gender Diversity in Sports has identified 9 issues which are central to the participation of trans, inter and non-binary people in sport. These are collected in the charter. 10 educational modules were created in order to facilitate understanding and concrete implementation such as recognition, language, visibility, documents and spaces to just name a few.
The charter should be signed by the board on behalf of the members, employees and trainers in the association. Thereby, the club or association declares its intention to deal with gender diversity and become a sports club or association for all genders. The charter was drawn up in collaboration with experts from both the LGBTIAQ*+ community and sports, and also involved further stakeholders through round table discussions.
BENEFICIARIES
– Sports clubs, associations and federations
– Trans, inter and non-binary members of sport clubs
IMPACT OF THE INITIATIVE
Seitenwechsel e.V. was able to secure additional funding from the Berlin senate administration to cover additional topics such as youth and gender diversity in sports. The charter will be supported and presented to all sport clubs in Berlin via the Berlin state sports association, accompanied by a digital educational format.
Also, those responsible behind the charter are putting pressure on the Berlin state sports federation to align their annual data collection. Despite German law giving four options to declare a person’s civil status, the annual members count gives only the binary options female and male. The charter is increasing the pressure to allow all four options of female, male, diverse and no entry.
SUSTAINABILITY AND TRANSFERABILITY
Interestingly, Seitenwechsel e.V. was inspired by the charter of a Parisian trans* club and thus has proven its transferability to different contexts, be it different sports or countries, or to other diversity categories in sports.
Ideas for developing and expanding the charter further include creating supportive services such as process consultation to establish an inclusive environment. The process consultation could be offered after signing the charter. There have been talks of cooperation with the “Senate Department for Sports” and the Berlin Sports Federation, among others, as well as with partners at district level.
WEBSITE OR RELATED RESOURCES