If you know my interests, it is no secret that my dream is to counsel and advocate for athletes. Given many athletes social statures, advocacy typically is not the first word that comes to mind when it comes to advocating for marginalized populations. With that said, the truth of the matter is that many of the athletes we see today come from marginalized backgrounds or have endured stigmatization of some sort. I hope to shed light on the marginalization that women and non-heteronormative athletes endure in sports.

Historically, women have been marginalized in sports. Traditional thought has lent itself to the notion that women have less skill and responsibility when it comes to playing sports in comparison to men. While this myth has been debunked, we still see women marginalized within sports. In regard to a real-world example, recently the United States Women’s National Team (soccer) filed a lawsuit for equal pay and gender discrimination. As the news came out, the women’s national team received immense backlash. The traditional mindset of women not being as skilled or watchable is still engrained in society today.  As a prospective counselor and advocate, I want to be a catalyst in moving towards a society that values women and women in sports. 

In regard to other marginalized groups, extant literature shows that non-heteronormative athletes perceive more negative experiences in sports than heterosexual athletes do. To add to this, non-heteronormative athletes also experience higher rates of depression, substance abuse, suicide ideation, and suicide attempts (NCAA.org). It is also common for coaches and teammates to use homophobic slurs. Matter of fact, literature portrays that hostility toward gay men and lesbians exists on nearly all teams (NCAA.org). I postulate that these reasons are a few of the reasons as to why there are so few non-heteronormative athletes in sports.

In my professional opinion, there are currently numerous pieces of legislation used to discriminate against women and the queer community. To combat faulty legislation, I plan to contact local and nationally elected officials by email, letter or phone to discuss issues that I have with current legislative policies. A bill that I am currently advocating against is House Bill 500 in Idaho. This discriminatory bill prohibits transgender women from playing on girls’ sports teams. This bill is disparaging towards those of non-normative sexualities and is not conducive to fostering a healthy environment for all identities

In the future, I hope to see sports to be more inclusive of women and those of non-heteronormative identities. I picture a world where sports are safe environments for marginalized identities. My dream is to see women’s sports televised and funded to the extent that men’s sports are. My goal is to catalyze a movement to create more inclusive environments for those who have traditionally not had voices. I hope that my advocacy will empower those that are marginalized hopefully leading to an influx of marginalized identities in sports. With diligent work, I believe that the landscape of masculinized sports can change. 

If you have been affected by marginalization or characterized based solely on your gender, sexual identity, race, or ethnicity, we have a team at NCTP that will band together and advocate for your experience. Please reach out to us with any questions or inquiries with respect to this topic (or others) and our counseling services.

Authored by: Intern, Andrew Milowsky