Speaker
Description
At the turn of the millenium the emergence of gay&lesbian (later lgbt+) sports clubs increased in the Netherlands, in the run-up towards and as a legacy of the Amsterdam Gay Games 1998. Apart from this katalysing international sports event, the foundation of gay sports initiatives were influenced by a flourishing activist/political gay rights movement lgbt+ subculture since the 1980ies. Sport participation in ‘separate’ clubs contradicts to mainstream (policy) discourse on integration and inclusion. Especially in a relative inclusive society for lgbt+ people like the Netherlands, the need and neccesity of lgbt+ sports initiatives has been contested. With our study we have mapped developments in numbers of Dutch lgbt+ sports clubs, their membership size and profile, personal meanings and social significance.
We collected data through desk and archive research, an online questionnaire among members (n=263) of 24 lgbt+ sports clubs and interviews with 28 initiators and board members of these associations.
Results show that since 2005 numbers and membership size of many ‘old’ clubs declined and aged. At the same time many clubs have opened up towards the broader lgbt+ community (eg by changing names) and new initiatives continued to emerge. Apart from serious training/competition and the sociability with ‘likewise people’ as the main personal motivations and meanings for members, lgbt+ clubs also contributed to the visibility of safe sport spaces that enforced emancipation and belonging. However, normative and exclusionary dynamics also exist within lgbt+ sports clubs and with ongoing lgbt+ inclusion in mainstream sports spaces, future perspectives constitute important challenges.
