Tommy is a Youth Leadership Practitioner and Muay Thai and MMA Coach at Fight for Peace and a key member of our Inclusion Working Group. We caught up with him to explore his views on what more should be done within the sporting world to improve access to sports for the LGBTQ+ community, and the importance of unlearning discriminatory attitudes and behaviours.

What is your involvement in the Fight for Peace Inclusion Working Group? Why did you feel compelled to join?

“After I became involved in martial arts sessions I realised there’s a lot of barriers to becoming involved in sports that we can do a lot to address. There’s a clear gender difference between men and women that are involved in sports. 

As a charity working with young people providing free boxing and martial arts services, we’re in a great position to make a positive impact. There’s a lot we can do in this context to get young people involved in sporting activities, despite what their identity may be. 

Our inclusion group is a team of staff and young people who come together every two weeks to discuss ways we can build on inclusivity as an organisation. It originally began as a women’s inclusion group, and soon established a broader inclusion focus, identifying ways to improve accessibility for anybody who may be marginalised, or face barriers because of their identity or the way they live their lives.

We soon identified gaps for young people with disabilities being able to access our sessions, as well as transgender people, and all those who would fit under the umbrella of LGBTQ+.”

What role do you think sports organisations play in supporting young LGBTQ+ athletes? 

“I would say organisations should take a stance on inclusion for LGBTQ+ people and take a position on what they think of gender, sexuality, and their acceptance of people regardless of how they identify. I think this is something that shouldn’t be hidden, and that organisations should be proud to display. 

For LGBTQ+ young people, we want them to be proud of who they are, we want them to be happy and feel included, and it’s our duty to meet them, and be proud of our inclusion of them.

I think there needs to be sessions centred around this marginalised group which could bring young people in because if we are particularly speaking to young people with this particular identity, I think it would be an effective way to break down some of those stereotypes and barriers.”

What are some of these barriers you think LGBTQ+ young people face when accessing sports?

“I see a lot online, not only to LGBTQ+ athletes, but to women, or anybody who is not a man (or a straight man). People get all kinds of abuse online like being called names, and being told they shouldn’t be doing sports, particularly transgender people. There’s a lot of abuse we see online towards professional athletes and amateur athletes which I don’t think helps in creating a comfortable environment for those who may want to get into sport if they identify as transgender, or not a man.

Through sessions I’ve been to, and through speaking to other coaches, the misogyny is very noticeable, amongst both male and female coaches. There’s also a comfortability around making jokes about someone being LGBTQ+, or anything related to being transgender or gay.

In the sporting world, from what I’ve witnessed, people are very comfortable making fun of, and discriminating against people who are LGBTQ+ and it’s not right. It doesn’t create an environment for young people to access and thrive in sports.

I think this dissuades young people from being involved in sports, it could dissuade them from coming out, or exploring their sexual identity, they may have to hide it or even develop self hatred which could lead to mental health problems which could ultimately impact their career as a sportsperson. It really blocks them from becoming who they want to be.” 

What steps do you think should be taken on a wider scale to support LGBTQ+ athletes?

“The sporting world needs to have more education, especially for coaches and gym workers who work with young people. There should be more focus on gender, sexuality and inclusive practice, and it’s not just about having the knowledge, but to be able to apply that knowledge and use the appropriate language, and encourage people to be involved, and maintain their involvement in the sport.

There also needs to be greater accountability for coaches in terms of how they are practising discrimination against transgender and LGBTQ+ people. It should be treated as seriously as racism would be treated, or sexism would be treated (which to be honest, are not taken as seriously as they should be either).

I think all kinds of discrimination should be treated very seriously, especially for coaches working with young people because they’re in such a position of influence that their behaviours could not only influence the people from a marginalised identity, but for the young people who may look up to this coach and be exposed to developing these kind of harmful and discriminatory ideas and practices and ideas.”

Looking to the future of LGBTQ+ representation in sport, what would you say is the ultimate goal?

I think the ultimate goal would be that all sessions are inclusive regardless of gender or sexuality. Maybe having a specific session catered towards this marginalised group would be a step towards that, because we’re only one organisation in a society that discriminates, so for us to provide a safe space would be beneficial.

A lot of education is important. Education for staff, education for the young people that come here, maybe a code of conduct to follow around discrimination for those who come here, especially for staff defined rules on practising non-discriminatory behaviour. 

Ultimately, I think it comes down to education, conversation, and taking young LGBTQ+ people’s leadership in this as well because their ideas would be the most pertinent to this problem, as they are the ones who would be facing marginalisation and discrimination. 

I’d like to see governing bodies of sport take a stronger stance on inclusion as well, those who have influence across the sector. For them to take a strong stance on anti-discrimination will have a trick-down effect on the organisations, especially if it’s something they’re actively working on and supporting organisations to implement in their practice.”