Engaged or excluded: LGBTQ youth's participation in school sports and their relationship to psychological well‐being

Abstract

AbstractSports participation has been shown to positively affect youth well‐being. However, research has also shown that sports environments can be unsafe for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth. Using data from a large study on school‐related experiences of LGBTQ secondary students who reported on their extracurricular activities in school, (N = 15,813), this study examined LGBTQ youth's participation in school sports, the effects of participation on well‐being and school belonging, and whether any such benefits of participation varied by transgender status and gender binary identity. Over a quarter of LGBTQ respondents in our study had participated in school sports, and being transgender and being nonbinary were related to a lower likelihood of sports participation. Transgender males and transgender nonbinary youth had the lowest likelihood of sports participation. In general, LGBTQ youth who participated in sports had increased well‐being and greater school belonging. However, in regard to self‐esteem, transgender nonbinary youth appeared to have greater benefit from participating in sports than did their transgender male and transgender female peers. Considering these results, schools have a responsibility to ensure that school sports are safe and welcoming for LGBTQ youth.