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- New research from The Trevor Project sheds light on the benefits and challenges LGBTQ youth face while participating in sports.
- An online survey of 34,759 LGBTQ youth ages 13 to 24 found that only 32 percent say they’ve participated in school/community sports, while 68 percent say they have never participated.
- A number of LGBTQ youth reported choosing not to participate in sports due to fear of LGBTQ-based discrimination.
- 但是，越来越多的报告他们对具有支持性同行和教练的肯定环境的体育运动有积极的经验。
For young people who are members of LGBTQ communities, participating in sports can be an affirming, community-building experience, while for others, it can mean navigating the difficult, painful waters of discrimination.
These experiences — both positive and negative — can have a broad effect on a young person’s mental health, sense of belonging, and overall physical health and well-being.
A newresearch briefreleased today fromThe Trevor Projectsheds light on the realities of LGBTQIA+ young people’s participation in sports.
它从Trevor项目中获取数据2021年LGBTQ青年心理健康调查，对35,000下的LGBTQ年轻人的调查。参与者从13至24岁到24岁，并回答了一系列问题。
要编制这篇新的简介，Trevor项目，一个全国非营利组织专注于LGBTQ年轻人的自杀预防，专注于多项选择问题，以评估受访者是否参与体育，然后是一系列开放式问题。
结果表明，3 LGBTQ青年中的近1人报告说他们参加了体育活动。他们发现32％的人报告是有组织体育活动，进出学校的一部分，而68％从未参加过一个。
Among those who were part of one of these activities, 18 percent reported they heard negative comments about LGBTQ people from a coach or similar leader of the activity, while 16 percent heard the opposite, positive comments from a coach or sports leader.
Even in circumstances of having a positive experience, the survey revealed that a lot of LGBTQ young people might not necessarily feel comfortable confiding in a coach.
只有4％的人表示，如果他们遇到抑郁，悲伤，压力或一般艰难的时间，他们会与他们的教练或体育领袖交谈。
Jonah DeChants, research scientist for The Trevor Project, told Healthline that he was surprised to find some of the more positive comments from these young people, especially from their answers to the open-ended short response questions.
He said he anticipated hearing a lot of comments about being bullied or harassed, of not feeling comfortable in a locker room.
“我并不期望一些answers to ‘why we play a sport’ had some emphatic, clear themes. LGBTQ young people play sports for the same reasons that straight people play sports and adults play sports, for their all-around physical health. These youth are very articulate about how sports benefit their mental health, help them cope with negative thoughts and gender dysphoria,” DeChants said.
He added that a lot of the positive comments also surrounded the strong sense of community that can come from being part of a sports team. Many discussed why it was meaningful to be included in these spaces, especially those that have often excluded (discriminately, violently, in some instances) trans and nonbinary people.
撤销解释说，LGBTQ年轻人与体育运动经历经常谈论作为支持团队的一部分，与他们的教练相连的支持团队的一部分。
撤销在过去的特雷弗项目中说，与接受年轻人性行为或性别认同的成年人的成年人的关系有多有影响，肯定的债券可以在减少自杀思想的经验中具有“令人难以置信的益处”。
On the flip side, negative experiences certainly persist. Some young respondents report feeling uncomfortable in locker rooms, especially if their peers know about their sexuality or know their gender identity and taunt, tease, and bully them because of it.
“Some say that they are uncomfortable if others ‘know I am bi or a lesbian,’ then those individuals won’t sometimes even bother to try to go out for a team,’ ” he said. “Some worry that if they are forced to stay on a team and not quit, people will judge them and face real discrimination and harassment. There’s a large perception that sports are not a safe space.”
David Rosenthal, D.O., Ph.D., the founding medical director of the Center for Transgender Care in New York City and New Hyde Park, New York; the medical director for the Center for Young Adult, Adolescent and Pediatric HIV in Great Neck, New York; and an attending physician in the Division of Allergy/Immunology at Northwell Health in Great Neck, said that physical activity is “essential to overall health.”
He described that the benefits of this kind of activity can improve fitness and foster long-lasting healthy habits.
When it comes to mental health, being part of a sport can improve one’s mood, activating the release of endorphins, embrace a sense of team collaboration and build confidence.
“An accepting sports environment for LGBTQ youth allows them to gain all of the benefits of sports and physical activities and allows them to be their authentic selves while doing so,” Rosenthal, who was not part of the Trevor Project’s research, wrote in an email to Healthline. “Bullying in school and in sports programs cannot be allowed, as it decreases confidence and is antithetical to the intent of team-based sports.”
他表示，对于LGBTQ青年来说，安全的环境参与体育是至关重要的。
“Safe spaces on and off the athletic field, such as in locker rooms, and in the dugout/sidelines need to be maintained for LGBTQ youth,” he wrote.
Rosenthal表示，一个年轻人参加了一项运动，或其他团体活动，如戏剧或辩论俱乐部，以及其他团队活动，建立自信，并允许一个人学习可以帮助他们驾驭工作场所或更高挑战的技能教育。
“这些活动有助于年轻人建立同行和朋友的社区与共同的目标进行互动。Rosenthal说，许多青年通过这些活动找到了各种活动并建立了帮助支持它们的人际关系连接。“
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DeChants said that the “macro-level” societal and cultural dynamics that can make youth sports inhospitable to some LGBTQ young people are hard to overcome.
他引用了最近的一波国家和国会立法，旨在作为一个例子排除来自体育的跨妇女。他说，即使禁止未通过，负面话语和谈话“仍然涓涓细流”到年轻人的耳朵。
“这可以与他们沟通，运动不是他们的选择，”他说。
On the more positive side, if you move to a more micro school level, the more schools that pass rules that allow trans and nonbinary young people to openly and proudly participate in sports activities can help communities heal, can make youth athletics a more inclusive and positive experience overall.
It might be hard to push back against the currents of national politics, but within schools, administrators can play a needed role in making sports safer for LGBTQ young people, especially trans and nonbinary people.
He said he would love to see more coaches get involved and be vocal supporters, citing that the low 4 percent of young people who reported a coach or sports leader was someone they could confide in.
For trans youth in particular, Rosenthal said school and sports settings can be hard in general.
对这些青年从“有社会压力many aspects of society. We need to create safe spaces for trans youth to thrive and to be the best athletes they can be in a supportive environment,” he wrote. “Trans youth are not identifying as transgender/gender-nonconforming/nonbinary because it is easy, or to win in sports. They are being their authentic selves and we should support and admire this.”
When asked what schools, sports leagues, and other groups can do to make more inclusive environments, Rosenthal said that “they should have a zero tolerance policy for bullying at any time, and coaches should encourage participation of LGBTQ athletes.”
“Structural barriers that prevent trans athletes from participating in sports should be re-evaluated, and health class should provide additional supportive information about both gender identity and sexual orientation to support LGBTQ youth,” Rosenthal said.
When it comes to looking ahead, DeChants said the Trevor Project hopes to continue this analysis of their survey research. Not every single member of the 35,000-member survey group responded to every short answer.
他说有很多信息可以通过他们接受这些问题的数千个回复来解析。
He also said it would be important to “look at deeper trends” and look at isolated subsets of people, such as trans feminine respondents in high school and middle school and how they are being impacted by bans on young trans athletes, for instance.
“对我来说，我觉得充满希望。我觉得体育是一个人们获得“为我的健康做到这一点的利益的地方，这样做是为了达到联系”的“颓废说。
“这真是一个干预的地方，看看我们是否可以训练教练，培训学校管理员为年轻人制作体育安全和肯定的空间，然后可以从这些东西中受益，以获得他们的身体健康，以获得社会利益。这是一个有机会，以确保这些计划是肯定年轻人并希望他们参加的机会。“