Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Transgender Issues in Sport and Leisure

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Handbook of Feminism and Sport, Leisure and Physical Education

Abstract

The “transgender challenge” to the binary-based organization of most sport and many leisure activities is complex and potentially transformative. From relatively conservative campaigns and policies to enable binary-conforming and medically transitioned athletes to compete in their affirmed gender to more radical challenges to the very science of sex difference that naturalizes an ideologically constructed two-sex system, the world of sport is experiencing a shake-up. In this chapter, I describe and analyze changes at the policy level of key sporting institutions in terms of their conservative versus transformative potential.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 299.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 379.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    cisgender refers to the sex/gender identity of a person whose gender identity correlates with the reproductive organs that marked them as their birth sex (Aultman, 2014)

  2. 2.

    For an overview of transgender participation policies, by sport and country, see TRANS*ATHLETE resource.

  3. 3.

    For example, transgender 11-year old Tracey Wilson’s parents launched (and won) a human rights complaint on her behalf against the Vancouver area Catholic diocese and achieved the desired policy change to recognize transgender girls and boys as their affirmed sex (Canadian Press, 2014). Similarly, Maine’s highest court ruled in 2014 that a transgender student’s rights were violated when her school forced her to use a staff bathroom rather than the girls’ bathroom (Byrne, 2014). The recent passage of AB 1266 into law in California, signed by the Governor on 12 August 2013 allows children ‘to participate in sex-segregated programmes, activities and facilities’ based on their affirmed gender rather than their birth sex. The law allows students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their affirmed rather than assigned gender. Also see, San Francisco Unified School District, 2004; Toronto School Board, year; Edmonton School Board, 2011; Vancouver School Board, 2014 update of policy adopted in 2004.

  4. 4.

    Taking effect on 1 January 2016, a Calfornia statute ensures that students in grades K-12 have the right to participate in sex-segregated activities and spaces in a manner consistent with their affirmed rather than assigned gender.

References

  • Aultman, B. (2014). Cisgender. Transgender Studies Quarterly, 1(1/2), 61–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • BBC. (2015). Dutee Chand cleared to race as IAAF suspends ‘gender test’ rules. BBC Sport. Retrieved August 8, 2015, from http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/athletics/33683779

  • Bell Media. (2015). Record audience for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 opening match on CTV, TSN, and RDS. Bellmedia.ca. Retrieved May 2, 2016, from http://www.bellmedia.ca/pr/press/record-audience-fifa-womens-world-cup-canada-2015-opening-match-ctv-tsn-rds/

  • Berkowitz, D., & Ryan, M. (2011). Bathrooms, baseball, and bra shopping: Lesbian and gay parents talk about engendering their children. Sociological Perspectives, 54(3), 329–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birrell, S., & Cole, C. L. (1990). Double-fault: Renee Richards and the construction and naturalization of difference. Sociology of Sport Journal, 7, 1–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birrell, S., & McDonald, M. (Eds.). (2000). Reading sport: Critical essays on power and representation. Boston: Northeastern University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broad, K. L. (2001). The gendered unapologetic: Queer resistance in women’s sport. Sociology of Sport Journal, 18, 181–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bullough, V., & Bullough, B. (1993). Cross dressing, sex and gender. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burstyn, V. (1999). The rites of men: Manhood, politics and the culture of sport. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Butler, J. (1990). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler, J. (2004). Undoing gender. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport. (2012). Sport in transition: Making sport in Canada more responsible for gender inclusivity. Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canadian Press. (2014). Human rights complaint prompts new gender policy in Vancouver Catholic schools. Retrieved August 29, 2014, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/human-rights-complaint-prompts-new-gender-policy-in-vancouver-catholic-schools-1.2709429

  • Canadian Teachers Federation. (2012). Supporting transgender and transsexual students in K-12 schools: A guide for educators. Ottawa: Canadian teachers Federation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrington, B., & Mcdonald, I. (2009). Marxism, cultural studies and sport: Mapping the field. In B. Carrington & I. Mcdonald (Eds.), Marxism, cultural studies and sport (pp. 1–12). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carter, T. (2008). The quality of home runs: The passion, politics, and language of Cuban baseball. Durham and London: Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Caudwell, J. (2014). [Transgender] young men: Gendered subjectivities and the physically active body. Sport, Education and Society, 19(4), 398–414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cavanagh, S., & Sykes, H. (2006). Transsexual bodies at the Olympics: The International Olympic Committee’s policy on transsexual athletes at the 2004 Athens summer games. Body and Society, 12, 75–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crenshaw, K. (1998). Fighting the post-affirmative action war. New York: Essence Communications Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Douglas, D. (2013). Forget me…not: Marion Jones and the politics of punishment. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 38(1), 3–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dowling, C. (2000). The frailty myth. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehrensaft, D. (2012). Gender born, gender made. New York: The Experiment, LLC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fausto-Sterling, A. (2000). Sexing the body: Gender politics and the construction of sexuality. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • FIFA. (2015). Record-breaking FIFA Women’s World Cup tops 750 million TV viewers. Fifa.com . Retrieved May 2, 2016, from http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/news/y=2015/m=12/news=record-breaking-fifa-women-s-world-cup-tops-750-million-tv-viewers-2745963.html

  • Griffin, P., & Carroll, H. (2010). On the team: Equal opportunity for transgender student athletes. co-Sponsored by NCLR, Women’s Sports Foundation, and It Takes a Team.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halberstam, J. (1998). Female masculinity. London: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, M. A. (2002). The girl and the game. Toronto: Broadview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hargreaves, J. (2002). Sporting females: Critical issues in the history and sociology of women’s sport. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hellen, M. (2009). Transgender children in schools. Liminalis, 3, 81–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill Collins, P. (2005). Black sexual politics: African Americans, gender, and the new racism. New York and London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kane, M. J. (1995). Resistance/transformation of the oppositional binary: Exposing sport as a continuum. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 19, 191–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kidd, B. (2009). Interview with CTV.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirby, S., & Huebner, J. (2002). Talking about sex: Biology and the social interpretations of sex in sport. Canadian Woman Studies, 21(3), 36–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemert, C. (2002). Dark thoughts: Race and the eclipse of society. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lenskyj, H. (2013). Inside the Olympic industry: Power, politics, and activism. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lenskyj, H. (2003). Out on the field. Toronto: Women’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Love, A. (2014). Transgender exclusion and inclusion in sport. In J. Hargreaves & E. Anderson (Eds.), Routledge handbook of sport, gender and sexuality (pp. 376–383). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Love, A., & Kelly, K. (2011). Equity or essentialism? US courts and the legitimation of girls’ teams in high school sport. Gender and Society, 25(2), 227–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lovett, C. (1997). Olympic marathon: A centennial history of the games’ most storied race. Westport: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macionis, J., & Gerber, L. (2011). Sociology. Toronto: Pearson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, B., & Martin, J. (1995). Compared perceived sex role orientations of the ideal male and female athlete to the ideal male and female person. Journal of Sport Behavior, 18(4), 286–302.

    Google Scholar 

  • McArdle, D. (2008). Swallows and amazons, or the sporting exception to the gender recognition act. Social and Legal Studies, 17(1), 39–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDonagh, E., & Pappano, L. (2008). Playing with the boys. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Messner, M. (2007). Out of play: Critical essays on gender and sport. Albany: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Messner, M. (2011). Gender ideologies, youth sports, and the production of soft essentialism. Sociology of Sport Journal, 28, 151–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, E. (2010). Gender and sexual diversity in schools. New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • NCAA Office of Inclusion. (2011). NCAA Inclusion of Transgender Student-Athletes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nyong’o, T. (2009). The unforgiveable transgression of being Caster Semenya. Bully Bloggers. Retrieved February 15, 2012, from http://bullybloggers.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/the-unforgivable-transgression-of-being-caster-semenya/

  • Pascoe, C. J. (2007). Dude, you’re a fag. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pilgrim, J., Martin, D., & Binder, W. (2002). Far from the finish line: Transsexualism and athletic competition. Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal, 13(2), 495–549.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pronger, B. (1990). The arena of masculinity: Sports, homosexuality and the meaning of sex. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Puar, J. (2007). Terrorist assemblages: Homonationalism in queer times. Durham and London: Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Public Health Agency of Canada. (2010). Questions and answers: Gender identity in schools. Ottawa: Public Health Agency of Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ring, J. (2008). Stolen bases: Why American girls don’t play baseball. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, L. (2009). The Olympics, an all boys club? Winnipeg Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothblatt, M. (1995). The apartheid of sex: A manifesto on the freedom of gender. New York: Crown Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, C. (2011). Gender verification and gender policies in elite sport: Eligibility and ‘fair play’. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 3(5), 400–419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sykes, H. (2006). Transsexual and transgender policies in sport. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 15(1), 3–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Symons, C., & Hemphill, D. (2006). Transgender sex and sport in the gay games. In J. Caudwell (Ed.), Sport, sexualities, and queer/theory (pp. 109–128). London and New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tagg, B. (2012). Transgender netballers: Ethical issues and lived realities. Sociology of Sport Journal, 29(2), 151–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teetzel, S. (2006). On transgendered athletes, fairness and doping: An international challenge. Sport in Society, 9(2), 227–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Travers, A. (2006). Queering sport: Lesbian softball leagues and the transgender challenge. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 41(3/4), 431–446.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Travers, A. (2008). The sport nexus and gender injustice. Studies in Social Justice Journal, 2(1), 79–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Travers, A., & Deri, J. (2010). Transgender inclusion and the changing face of lesbian softball leagues. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 46(4), 488–507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Travers, A. (2013). Thinking the unthinkable: Imagining an ‘un-American,’ girl-friendly, women- and trans-inclusive alternative for baseball. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 37(1), 78–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Travers, A. (2016). Transgender and gender nonconforming kids and the binary requirements of sport participation in North America. In M. Messner & M. Musto (Eds.), Child’s play: Sport in kids’ worlds. New Brunswick, NJ and London: Rutgers University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • US Transgender Law and Policy Institute. (2009). Guidelines for creating policies for transgender children in recreational sports. US Transgender Law and Policy Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeigler, C. (2012). Caster Semenya qualifies for London Olympics in 800 m. Outsports.com . Retrieved October 12, 2015, from http://www.outsports.com/2012/5/1/4053048/caster-semenya-qualifies-for-london-olympics-in-800

  • Zeigler, C. (2015). Dutee Chand wins three national titles as HBO Real Sports explores her story and gender testing. Outsports.com . Retrieved October 12, 2015 from http://www.outsports.com/2015/9/21/9369643/dutee-chand-hbo-real-sports-gender-testing

  • Zirin, D. (2007). Welcome to the terrordome: The pain, politics, and promise of sports. Chicago: Haymarket Books.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Ann Travers

  2. Department of Sociology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA

    Ann Travers

Authors
  1. Ann Travers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Brunel University, London, United Kingdom

    Louise Mansfield

  2. Bournemouth University, Poole, United Kingdom

    Jayne Caudwell

  3. University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Belinda Wheaton

  4. Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, United Kingdom

    Beccy Watson

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Travers, A. (2018). Transgender Issues in Sport and Leisure. In: Mansfield, L., Caudwell, J., Wheaton, B., Watson, B. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Feminism and Sport, Leisure and Physical Education. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53318-0_40

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53318-0_40

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-53317-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-53318-0

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation