Non-binary people's experiences in Scotland: evidence review
Presents evidence which offers useful insight into the experiences of non-binary people in Scotland. Primarily, the evidence suggests that non-binary people face discrimination in multiple sectors of society such as education, communities, work, benefits and housing.
Sport
Research shows that trans and non-binary people experience discrimination at all sporting levels, from grassroots/community to professional sports [83].
Non-binary and trans people can face challenges in relation to accessing to sports[84]. In ‘Non-binary Inclusion in Sport’ 2020, LEAP Sports Scotland[85] found that binary gender norms, stereotypes and presumptions that characterise many sporting communities can be a barrier, not just for non-binary but also other gender diverse people.
Research by Scottish Trans in 2012[86] indicated that 54% of trans people felt excluded from sports or had, at some point, stopped participating in a sport because of discrimination around their gender identity. In the same study, 46% of trans people active in sport reported negative experiences. OutSport’s 2018 Europe-wide project ‘Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Sport’[87], found a similar picture for Scotland, with almost one third (31%) of LGBTI respondents feeling excluded from certain sports due to sexual orientation or gender identity, with trans people feeling excluded more frequently overall at 58%. The majority of respondents to the Outsport Scotland Report believe that homophobia and transphobia are problems within sport, and in the context of their own chosen sport, homophobic or transphobic language is witnessed by 45% of active sportspeople.
LEAP Sports Scotland suggests creating more gender-neutral or mixed teams, and training groups could help to mitigate some of the gender norms and presumptions that often characterise both men’s and women's sporting communities. This report suggested that sports need to be inclusive of non-binary gender identities and take steps such as providing gender neutral changing spaces, and visibly support diverse gender identities throughout sporting facilities[88]. Sporting bodies and individual sports clubs need to have clear and accessible policies about the inclusion of non-binary people within their activities as suggested by Scottish Trans 2016[89].
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