In the modern and highly developed 21st century, it is still necessary to talk about sport for all genders. European sport is still heavily influenced by traditional concepts and gender roles that strictly categorize individuals as “men” or “women”, reinforcing a dominant binary and masculine perspective. This dominant narrative in sport inevitably leads to the exclusion and unfair treatment of different groups, including women and girls (leading to sexism), transgender people (leading to transphobia), lesbians and gay men (leading to homophobia) and anyone who does not fit into a single gender identity. In this context, amateur sport has a crucial role to play.
The EU co-financed project SGS – Sport for all Genders and Sexualities
is funded by the Vienna Institute for International Dialogue and Cooperation/fairplay (VIDC, Austria, coordinator), the German Sport University (GSU, Germany), the European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation (EGLSF), the Associazione Italiana Cultura e Sport (AICS, Italy), Diversport (DS, Spain), the Landessportbund Nordrhein-Westfalen (LSB, Germany) and the International Workers and Amateurs in Sports Confederation (CSIT). The project can be described as one of these initiatives that aims to create a level playing field in the truest sense of the word and promote the principle of equal access to sport, which is at the heart of amateur sport.
The main objective of the project is to promote inclusivity for all genders and sexualities in European grassroots sport. To achieve this, SGS aims to create tools and initiatives such as dialogue platforms, guidelines, awareness-raising campaigns and inclusive training aimed at breaking down barriers and discrimination against transgender athletes, LGBTQ+ people and women, who are often excluded from sport due to traditional gender norms.
The Campaign
Rising Together is an important milestone of the project: the campaign aims to disseminate the project results, starting with the good practice report and the new research from the German Sport University. The official results of the survey will be presented on 9 and 10 November in Barcelona together with the results of the first campaign weeks at the International Amateur Sport Forum “Sport Impacts All”, organized by CSIT – International Workers and Amateurs in Sports Confederation. In 2023 and 2024, several presentations are expected as part of national sports competitions and events organized by project partners in Italy, Austria, Germany and Spain: The campaign will continue until September 2024 by supporting project pilot events on the ground and human rights initiatives across Europe.
By asking different groups of people a series of questions, we know from the initial findings that the portrayal of women, transgender and intersex people in the media is often biased and discriminatory. While previous research, such as the Outsport Initiative, focused primarily on the visibility and support of LGBTI athletes, the current project expands its scope to examine the role of bias within organized sport, among athletes, managers and more.
Rising Together, goals: Raising awareness and disseminating knowledge
The campaign will be launched on the occasion of the European Week of Sport with social media actions and stories from transgender and intersex athletes and allies in sport in four different languages. It aims to highlight the fact that everyone has the fundamental right to participate in sport, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation. Therefore, SGS wants to disseminate knowledge and tools that can facilitate inclusion in the world of sport. The target audience of the campaign is therefore diverse and reflects the complexity of the challenge:
- Sports practitioners and educators: People looking for information and advice on transgender and intersex people in sport.
- Sports clubs: Organizations that are committed to inclusion but lack access to basic knowledge and tools.
- Sports organizations and federations: Institutions that are able to redesign their policies based on new research findings.
- NGOs, institutions and decision-makers: Those who are looking for credible information to counter conservative propaganda.
An audience analysis questionnaire was sent to 40 people in the participating countries (Austria, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Germany) who belong to the target groups in order to investigate their experiences on the topic and to develop the campaign concept.
The change we are striving for with the “Rising Together” campaign:
Paving the way for inclusion
The campaign’s message is linked to a clear call to action: “Rising Together – Open your sport to all genders and sexualities!” It emphasizes that sexism and transphobia only lead to divisions and hinder progress. Just like in sport, our goals in life can only be achieved if no one is left behind.
In the ongoing discussions about whether transgender athletes have an advantage and how competitions can be made fair, this campaign takes a different approach using the example of rugby. Rugby is a tough and physical sport that is often associated with masculinity. The campaign aims to show that even in a sport like rugby, there are differences between players. Some are bigger and stronger, while others are leaner and faster. These differences are important in rugby, especially in situations like the lineout lift shown in the campaign images. In rugby, as in many other sports, diversity of body types is a resource, not a weakness.
The campaign emphasizes that opening up sport to all genders and sexualities will help us reach new heights. SGS encourages everyone to explore their tools and best practices to emphasize that change starts right on the pitch.