Interview with Vicki Carter, Co-Chair for Out for Sport
Discrimination in sports doesn’t apply only to women. We live in a world where labels can easily rule out entire group of people and preclude the right to freely access sport at amateur or professional level. If women are already “left out” from the main scene, not enough represented or promoted, imagine what happens if your gender doesn’t fit into the male of female checkbox.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT+) people are still fighting against homophobia, transphobia and other barriers that are affecting their participation in sports. While some sport bodies are taking positive action around equality in general, even if the gap between men and women it’s still impressive, there is still a lot of hesitancy on taking action related to sexual orientation or gender identity.
The first time gay athletes started coming out across the world was as early as 1920s, and even if sport is often lauded as a platform to advance human rights, history show us that for LGBT+ individuals and athletes there is still so much that can, and has to be done.
The UK sent its first group of gay athletes at the inaugural Gay Games in San Francisco in 1982. The Gay Games1 were founded with the aim to give LGBT+ communities a space to compete without fear of harassment or ridicule, which unfortunately were the common grounds of sports events at the time.
Six years later, in 1988, the Section 28 of the Local Government Act2 became law, stating that “a local authority shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality”. The consequent reaction of all LGBT+ communities was to raise and organise themselves against this discriminatory law, joining efforts on a national level.
Ten years after Ivan Bussens, water polo athlete and member of Out to Swim, decided to establish a grassroots organisation that could act as an umbrella group for the sports clubs and teams, and help them operate in a more inclusive way. Out For Sport (OFS) was the fruit of the experience at the 1998 Gay Games in Amsterdam “We wanted to bring together all London’s sports clubs – said Vicki Carter, Co-Chair for Out for Sport – and promoting participation amongst the LGBT+ community. We realised that other countries were more ahead than UK, we were still very much divided. There was the need to establish a strong and unite network“.
Out for Sport works in partnership with 52 sports club across London and the South-East, providing support and training on governance, finance, inclusion and, currently on mental health, due to the COVID-19 outbreak and consequent lock down. “Apart from our Assembly and Committee meetings, we have the opportunity to get together as a group when we compete in national and international events, like the Gay Games or the EuroGames3“.
The aim of OFS is to create stronger and united clubs, strenghtening the voice of LGBT+ people in sport and increasing their participation, connecting UK’s clubs to the rest of the world. A vision for a more inclusive community where LGBT+ sport can flourish.
“To celebrate the 21st Birthday – continue Vicki – we hosted an award ceremony to recognize excellence in sports and reflect on everything great and good in LGBT+ sport in London and the South East. Was the opportunity for all of us to come together, celebrate the achievements and consider what we could improve. One of the awards was dedicated to the most Inclusive Club, and I wanted this to be an opportunity to inspire other clubs to do more and better The Sport Award ceremony was hosted by the Mayor of London at the Greater London Assembly’s City Hall. Unfortunately due to the COVID-19 outbreak we weren’t able to celebrate this year’s Awards but it was incredible and we had a big participation of groups and teams, especially women ones ». The London Royals Hockey Club team won the award for the “Team of the Year”, and Olivia Poole from London Frontrunners was awarded “Sportsperson of the Year”. « I want to see Out for Sport growing in this direction and find the time to get together once a year to celebrate and recognize the talents within our community“.
“Some of our groups sometimes experience problems, they are not accepted by their communities, or they are having problem gaining access to clubs, especially the trans group. They need quite specific things when they get into a space, they need privacy, and sometimes its difficult to find member of staff that are trained to help them“.
While on an eigher level things started changing when the International Olympic Committee (IOC), back in 2004, adopted a policy (reviewed and updated at different times) to allow participation by transgender athletes in a manner consistent with their newly assigned sex, in the daily lives of thousands of trans people, things are little bit more difficult. Nationwide figures show that on average 33% of men and 45% of women are not active enough. When we look at data referring to trans people, numbers double up. 60% of trans people and 64% of those who don’t identify as either male or female, are not active.4
Women groups face problems mainly related with funding, because there are always less money available, and with the access to resources. “Football is the main sport, even within the LGBT+ community, and this is mainly due to the UK’s sports culture, but our biggest groups are the swimmers and runners“. Every member of Out for Sport practices sport. Vicki is a swimmer and she challenged herself crossing the Channel. She raised thousand pounds and she invested in the association, paying a graphic designer to create the logo and she bought the awards for the Sport Award ceremony. “One of the main obstacles for us is the lack of staff, we are all volunteers, and we would definitely need more people on board in order to create more projects and reach out to more structures, committees and clubs“.
“In a strange sort of way the impact of COVID-19 has been quite good for Out for Sports. Because of the national lock down all the clubs are closed and they have more time to think about which resources and training they need. This is giving us the opportunity to deliver different workshops and training and to work closely with external partners, like the LGBTQ Consortium or Sports England, in order to understand the needs and develop resources that will help clubs develop and grow. The LGBTQ Consortium is helping with training on governance and finance, Sports England with everything related with funding. There is more time and space for improvement – concluded Vicki – and to think about future projects. Like the Out and Active, to include elderly people in sports, and the possibility of launching a project that will involve refugees“.
1The international Federation of Gay Games (FGG), an all-volunteer non-profit organisation, is the global governing body for the quadrennial Gay Games, the world’s largest sports and cultural event open to all. The 11th edition of the Gay Games will take place in Hong Kong in 2022.
2It was repealed on 21 June 2000 in Scotland by the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000, one of the first pieces of legislation enacted by the new Scottish Parliament, and on 18 November 2003 in the rest of the United Kingdom.
3EuroGames, is an European multi sport event governed by the European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation (EGLSF). It is the largest multi sport event for athletes, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation in Europe. The 17th EuroGames were held in Rome, July 2019.
4Source: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans People and Physical Activity: What You Need to Know, National LGB&T Partnership, 2016, referencing Health Survey for England, 2012, and the Partnerships own survey of LGBT people, 2015
