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Between Homohysteria and Inclusivity: Tolerance Towards Sexual Diversity in Sport

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Abstract

The small number of openly gay or lesbian people in top-flight sport raises the question about whether sporting or social context makes it easy or difficult for these sportspeople to come out. There are studies conducted in the UK and USA using the theory of homohysteria but the scarcity of studies in Spain on this subject, added to the lack of a tool with which to measure tolerance towards sexual diversity in sport, has led us to write this paper in which we analyze the suitability of a new tool for classifying the metacognitive profiles of two samples from different cultures, relative to the concept of homohysteria. This correlational study involved 879 men and women aged 16–78 (M = 28.45 years; SD = 13.08) living in either Spain or the United Kingdom, who were actively participating in or following sport of some kind. Results show that the new instrument has adequate construct validity and high reliability (Alpha = .95), facilitating the measurement of two dimensions of tolerance towards non-heteronormative sexualities in sport: non-rejection and acceptance. Results point to three metacognitive profiles in terms of fit of the level of tolerance in these two dimensions: low, high, and partial. Findings show high levels of both dimensions of tolerance in the UK, and higher percentages of partial tolerance in Spain, underlining the importance of cultural contexts and policies which may affect people’s levels of tolerance. We conclude that a pseudo-inclusive climate exists in Spanish society today.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departament of Physical Education and Sports, Universidad de Sevilla, C/ Pirotecnia s/n, 41013, Seville, Spain

    Joaquín Piedra

  2. Department of Educational Research Methods and Diagnostics, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain

    Rafael García-Pérez

  3. School of Sport and Service Management, University of Brighton, Brighton, UK

    Alexander G. Channon

Authors
  1. Joaquín Piedra
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  2. Rafael García-Pérez
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  3. Alexander G. Channon
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Correspondence to Joaquín Piedra.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

At all times, we respected the ethical principles of the Belmont Report: the principle of beneficence, the principle of respect for human dignity and the principle of justice. In addition, the study was approved by the regional ethical review board of the lead author’s university prior to commencing data gathering.

Informed Consent

All participants received a short information sheet at the front of the paper or online surveys, which explained the overarching aims of the project and specified participants’ right to withdraw at any time. Participants gave their consent to participate voluntarily by proceeding past the first page of the online survey. All responses were anonymized; no identifying information was gathered about participants or the clubs they were affiliated to.

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Piedra, J., García-Pérez, R. & Channon, A.G. Between Homohysteria and Inclusivity: Tolerance Towards Sexual Diversity in Sport. Sexuality & Culture 21, 1018–1039 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-017-9434-x

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