Fans Homophobia: Gay, Intergender, Transgender and How Special Cases Should Be Treated in Sports

 

The discuss on equal opportunity and the all inclusive environment for special cases such as gay, intergender, transgender has been a matter of such sensitivity and always end in heated arguments that draw bad blood among members of the divide. 

What will be equal opportunity? Is it to non-discrimate participations or create separate events like the Paralympics for intergenders and transgenders. 

Sex verification in sports (also known as gender verification, or loosely as gender determination or a sex test) occurs because eligibility of athletes to compete is restricted whenever sporting events are limited to a single sex, which is generally the case, as well as when events are limited to mixed-sex teams of defined composition (e.g., most pairs events).

 Practice has varied tremendously over time, across borders and by competitive level. Issues have arisen multiple times in the Olympic games and other high-profile sporting competitions, for example allegations that certain male athletes attempted to compete as women or that certain female athletes had intersex conditions that gave unfair advantage.

In November 2015, the IOC held a meeting to address both its transgender and hyperandrogenism policies. In regard to transgender athletes it stated that transgender athletes cannot be excluded from an opportunity to participate in sporting competition.

 Transgender athletes who identified themselves as female would be allowed to compete in that category as long as their testosterone levels were below 10 nanomoles per litre for at least 12 months prior to the competition. There would be no restrictions on transgender athletes who identify and compete as male. In 2019, the IAAF lowered the maximum level to 5 nmol/L. 

 According to Ellis Cashmore and Jamie Cleland in their research article titled "Fans, homophobia and masculinities in association football: evidence of a more inclusive environment

This article draws on 3,500 responses from fans and professionals involved in association football (soccer) to an anonymous online survey posted from June2010 to October 2010 regarding their views towards gay footballers. 

The overall findings are that, contrary to assumptions of homophobia, there is evidence of rapidly decreasing homophobia within the culture of football fandom.The results advance inclusive masculinity theory with 93 per cent of fans of all ages stating that there is no place for homophobia within football. 

Fans blame agents and clubs for the lack of openness and challenge football’s governing organizations to opposethe culture of secrecy surrounding gay players and to provide a more inclusive environment to support players who want to come out.