Transgender Athletes in Competitive Sport

While efforts to include gay and lesbian athletes in competitive sport have received significant attention, it is only recently that we have begun examining the experiences of transgender athletes in competitive sport. This book represents the first comprehensive study of the challenges that transgender athletes face in competitive sport; and the challenges they pose for this sex-segregated institution. Beginning with a discussion of the historical role that sport has played in preserving sex as a binary, the book examines how gender has been policed by policymakers within competitive athletics. It also considers how transgender athletes are treated by a system predicated on separating males from females, consequently forcing transgender athletes to negotiate the system in coercive ways. The book not only exposes our culture’s binary thinking in terms of both sex and gender, but also offers a series of thought-provoking and sometimes contradictory recommendations for how to make sport more hospitable, inclusive and equitable.

Transgender Athletes in Competitive Sport is important reading for all students and scholars of the sociology of sport with an interest in the relationship between sport and gender, politics, identity and ethics.

Eric Anderson is Professor of Sport, Masculinities and Sexualities at the University of Winchester, UK. He holds four degrees, has published 17 books, over 60 peer-reviewed articles, and is regularly featured in international television, print and digital media. Professor Anderson is recognized for research excellence by the British Academy of Social Sciences and is a fellow of the International Academy of Sex Research. His work shows a decline in cultural homohysteria and promotes inclusive attitudes toward openly gay, lesbian and bisexual athletes as well as a softening of heterosexual masculinities

Ann Travers is Associate Professor of Sociology at Simon Fraser University, Canada. She has published two books, 13 peer-reviewed articles, is a regular presenter at conferences relating to sport, embodiment and sociology more generally. She has received over $200,000 in funding for her research relating to sport and gender and transgender issues in sport