Queers in Sports and the "Games"

By Kevin Alderson, Ph.D., R. Psych.

"All women in sport are asked to prove their hetero­sexuality, and lesbians are asked to stay in the closet for the good of the game."

After seeing previews of the movie 300, I knew I needed to see it, and apparently so did millions of others. Hollywood knows what sells -- straight women and gay men love to see (generalizing here) hot-bodied men running around in capes and Speedos while straight men love battle scenes that ulti­mately portray hyper masculinity. Perhaps Sigmund Freud wasn't wrong about us humans: perhaps our drives are mostly about sex and aggression. How sad that many soci­eties emphasize and legitimize the latter over the former.

In sport, the normative social pecking order that plac­es heterosexual masculinity at the top of the pyramid abounds, and the psychological literature is full of reference to it. Much of the "playful" behaviour in sports, frequently-heard antigay epithets in locker rooms, and derogatory ref­erences made about women and lesbian athletes in sporting contexts are testimonials of this hierarchy. [2, 3]

Media itself usually buys into the code of silence, focus­ing on the heterosexuality of athletes and rendering those who are queer as invisible, trivial, laughable, or worse: as inferior, pathological, or sinful. The movie 300 does the same in its portrayal of Greek warriors who are bold, vio­lent, masculine men who appear to be nonsexual with each other (which is historically inaccurate).

Needless to say, queer athletes face a host of issues. Like all queer individuals, athletes must (a) decide whether to conceal their sexuality, (b) decide who they can trust, (c) cope with pressures to change their sexual orientation, (d) resolve religious conflicts, and (e) deal with other people assuming they are heterosexual. In addition, however, queer athletes also deal with additional pressures, such as (a) avoiding success for fear that the media will "out" them; and (b) facing pressure, either subtly or overtly, to leave the team or their sport. Queer athletes, queer coaches, and some who "look like" they belong to our community have also not been recruited because of the way they are per­ceived. [4]

Homophobia and heterosexism is rampant within profes­sional sports, and this remains true in liberal countries like the Netherlands as well. [5] Perhaps largely because there is greater homophobia directed at gay men compared to lesbian women, we find that, given their prevalence in the population, proportionately fewer gay men but proportion­ately more lesbian women participate in team sports. [6, 7]

I suspect that queer sports teams emerged for a myriad of reasons, and partly to deal with the difficulty of giving one's best when feeling diminished or ostracized for being queer. Being part of a team provides a sense of camaraderie.

The most famous of queer sports competitions is the International Gay Games, founded by Olympic gay athlete Dr. Tom Waddell. It was initially named the Gay Olympic Games, but the United States Olympic Committee successfully won their in­junction in court to prevent the word "Olympics" from being used. Since then, there have been a total of seven Games, the next to be held in Cologne, Germany, in 2010 (i.e., Gay Games VIII).

The seventh Gay Games were meant to be held in Mon­treal in 2006, but disagreements between organizing bodies led these games to be held in Chicago instead. The Montreal committee, however, did not let the dream disappear, and from their conflict emerged the first World Outgames. These Games, with over 12,000 participants, were held in Mon­treal from July 26 to August 5, 2006. Unfortunately, these Games lost a significant amount of money (to the tune of 5.3 million). Nonetheless, Copenhagen has agreed to host the second World Outgames in 2009.

Following on the heels of these other major queer sports competitions, Calgary will be hosting the first North Ameri­can Outgames during the first week of this month. An In­ternet source from 2006 predicted that about 2,500 people are expected to visit the city for the event, which is really a series of events as it offers a human rights conference, cul­tural festivities, and the athletic competitions themselves.

Such events as queer Games have the potential to do enormous good for queer individuals and for society at large. Psychologically, they enhance our sense of com­munity by creating the feeling of belonging to something larger than ourselves: people working and playing together with a common purpose and a common vision. There are demonstrable improvements in self-esteem for the athletes and others who become involved in some way. [9] Theorists have also suggested that such Games have the potential to improve society's tolerance and/or acceptance of the queer community and its diverse individuals. [10]

Let me extend a special thank you to the organizers of the North American Outgames. You have collectively provided an outstanding contribution to the queer community, and ultimately to the betterment of all. Now let's show the world a side of Calgary that ought to make us all proud'

Dr Alderson is an assistant professor of counseling psychology at the University of Calgary who specializes in gay and lesbian studies He also Maintains a private practice He can be contacted by confidential email at alderson@ucalgaryca or by confidential voice mail at (403) 605 5234

References:

1) Plymire, D. C., & Forman, P. J. (2000). Breaking the silence: Lesbian fans, the Internet, and the sexual politics of women's sport. International Journal of Sexual­ity & Gender Studies, 5(2), 141-153. [quote from p. 142[.

2) Cogan, K. D., & Petrie, T. A. (2002). Diversity in sport. In J. L. Van Raalte & B. W. Brewer (Eds.), Exploring sport and exercise psychology (2nd ed). (pp. 417-436). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

3) Plymire & Forman (2000).

4) Cogan & Petrie (2002).

5) Hekma, G. (1998). "As long as they don't make an issue of it: Gay men and lesbians in organized sports in the Netherlands. Journal of Homosexuality, 35(1), 1-2 3.

6) Elling, A., De Knop, P., & Knoppers, A. (2001). The social integrative meaning of sport: A critical and comparative analysis of policy and practice in the Neth­erlands. Sociology of Sport Journal, 18(4), 414-434.

7) Cogan & Petrie (2002).

8) Price, M., & Parker, A. (2003). Sport, sexuality, and the gender order: Amateur rugby union, gay men, and social exclusion. Sociology of Sport Journal, 20(2), 108- 126.

9) Krane, V., Barber, H., & McCung, L. R. (2002). Socia~ ps~cho~ogica~ ben­efits of gay games participation: A social identity theory explanation. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14(1), 27-42.