BuNT: a queer sports conference
THEMES
– Policies relating to sex and gender
– Information collection and records
– Fighting discrimination
– Communication
TARGETED OBJECTIVES
– Strengthening cooperation between different actors in the fight against hostility towards queer people in sports and intensifying nationwide networking
– Encouraging organised sports, together with other stakeholders from politics, science, society, administration, etc., to be active about queer topics in sports
– Raising awareness on LQBTIQ*+ topics in sports with different stakeholders as well as within the organised sport structure in Germany
MAIN INITIATIVE
The BuNT (Federal Network Conference of Queer Sports clubs) was initiated in 2018 by two queer Berlin-based sports clubs, Vorspiel e.V. and Seitenwechsel e.V. to raise awareness on LGBTIQ+ topics in sports in Germany. Through networking and reaching out, the two clubs were able to get the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) as a co-organiser on board, thus emphasising the importance of discussing LSBTIQ+ topics in German sports.
In 2022, the BuNT is in its 5th year and is now organised by a group of various stakeholders ranging from queer sports clubs to state sport associations. The current BuNT group consists of more than 10 different (sport) organisations from all over Germany. It has no formal structure and thus is a self-organised conference and unique in this form within the German sports structure.
Over the years, the conference has evolved from a two day in-person conference to an action week with digital, hybrid and in-person events in this year’s edition. The BuNT offers a variety of formats targeting different groups from queer people to regular club members interested in learning more about LGBTIQ+ topics in sports. There are short inputs, panel discussions, lectures by experts, networking events, and workshops on topics such as violence in sports, LGBTIQ+ in youth sports that change each year.
Each year a different organisation takes the lead in organising the conference, hence increasing its outreach and impact. In 2018 the first BuNT was organised in Berlin, followed by Hamburg in 2019. In 2020 and 2021 there was only a digital version due to the pandemic, organised by the state sport association of Saxony-Anhalt. In 2022 the organisation lies with the LSB NRW in close cooperation with the German Sport University Cologne, the queer sports club SC Janus and the Stadtsportbund Düsseldorf, supported by different stakeholders.
BENEFICIARIES
– At the beginning, the BuNT’s focus was queer sports participants as well as queer clubs.
– Now, broader target groups include organised sport (sport federations and associations as well as clubs), politics, science, administration, etc.
IMPACT OF THE INITIATIVE
The BuNT was able to push and lobby LGBTIQ*+ topics onto the agenda of the annual sports ministers and senates conference in Germany to discuss issues and pass a declaration called the “Bremer Erklärung”, a policy addressing organised sports to become more inclusive for all genders and sexualities. Further positive impacts are:
– More visibility and attention to LGBTIQ+ concerns and needs in sports
– Raising awareness on discrimination in particular towards LGBTIQ+ people
– Call for structural changes such as adapting regulations to allow access to sport,
inclusion of LGBTIQ*+ topics in training and teaching, role models, raising awareness
among sports administrators and sports leaders, etc.
BuNT manages to bring together important players from the world of sport. Queer issues are now attracting more attention from the scientific community. That’s very important because scientific findings are essential for regulations and changes in sports. And most importantly, BuNT has grown out of the queer community where people felt they did not belong or found only weak connections to existing institutions, offering a safer space for discussion about sport issues. In 2022 the effort were honoured – the BuNT team was awarded the ethic prize of the German Olympic Sports Confederation
(DOSB).
SUSTAINABILITY AND TRANSFERABILITY
As a multi-stakeholder initiative, the BuNT does not have yet an organisational form. In order to increase the outreach and impact as well as institutionalise the approach, the BuNT stakeholders will be discussing different models to sustain the BuNT and its efforts in this years’ conference. In order to sustain the BuNT long-term, financial funding and more personnel capacities are needed.
Further, it will be important to attract more representatives from sports associations to influence the rules and regulations of sports associations in the long-term.
WEBSITE OR RELATED RESOURCES