Driving down participation: Homophobic bullying as a deterrent to doing sport

Abstract

Drawing on previous work in education and the wider community, this chapter opens with an examination of different meanings of bullying, homophobia and homophobic bullying. This discussion is set within a paradigm wherein we argue that sexual identities are socially constructed, multiple and malleable, built upon the needs and understandings of the individual but set with a cultural framework (Rivers, 1997). Consequently, we acknowledge that to adequately gauge the prevalence of homophobic bullying within sport, it is important to review and build upon those studies that provide the social, educational and professional contexts within which sport is played. In providing this background, our intention is to demonstrate how awareness of the issue far exceeds observers’ readiness to act upon or against it (by intervening, challenging or reporting perpetrators).