Sport and transgender people: a systematic review of the literature relating to sport participation and competitive sport policies
Background Whether transgender people should be able to compete in sport in accordance with their gender identity is a widely contested question within the literature and among sport organisations, fellow competitors and spectators. Owing to concerns surrounding transgender people (especially tra...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Springer
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38089/ |
| _version_ | 1848795594945986560 |
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| author | Jones, Bethany Alice Arcelus, Jon Bouman, Walter Pierre Haycraft, Emma |
| author_facet | Jones, Bethany Alice Arcelus, Jon Bouman, Walter Pierre Haycraft, Emma |
| author_sort | Jones, Bethany Alice |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Background
Whether transgender people should be able to compete in sport in accordance with their gender identity is a widely contested question within the literature and among sport organisations, fellow competitors and spectators. Owing to concerns surrounding transgender people (especially transgender female individuals) having an athletic advantage, several sport organisations place restrictions on transgender competitors (e.g. must have undergone gender-confirming surgery). In addition, some transgender people who engage in sport, both competitively and for leisure, report discrimination and victimisation.
Objective
To the authors’ knowledge, there has been no systematic review of the literature pertaining to sport participation or competitive sport policies in transgender people. Therefore, this review aimed to address this gap in the literature.
Method
Eight research articles and 31 sport policies were reviewed.
Results
In relation to sport-related physical activity, this review found the lack of inclusive and comfortable environments to be the primary barrier to participation for transgender people. This review also found transgender people had a mostly negative experience in competitive sports because of the restrictions the sport’s policy placed on them. The majority of transgender competitive sport policies that were reviewed were not evidence based.
Conclusion
Currently, there is no direct or consistent research suggesting transgender female individuals (or male individuals) have an athletic advantage at any stage of their transition (e.g. cross-sex hormones, gender-confirming surgery) and, therefore, competitive sport policies that place restrictions on transgender people need to be considered and potentially revised. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:34:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-38089 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:34:35Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Springer |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-380892020-05-04T19:58:01Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38089/ Sport and transgender people: a systematic review of the literature relating to sport participation and competitive sport policies Jones, Bethany Alice Arcelus, Jon Bouman, Walter Pierre Haycraft, Emma Background Whether transgender people should be able to compete in sport in accordance with their gender identity is a widely contested question within the literature and among sport organisations, fellow competitors and spectators. Owing to concerns surrounding transgender people (especially transgender female individuals) having an athletic advantage, several sport organisations place restrictions on transgender competitors (e.g. must have undergone gender-confirming surgery). In addition, some transgender people who engage in sport, both competitively and for leisure, report discrimination and victimisation. Objective To the authors’ knowledge, there has been no systematic review of the literature pertaining to sport participation or competitive sport policies in transgender people. Therefore, this review aimed to address this gap in the literature. Method Eight research articles and 31 sport policies were reviewed. Results In relation to sport-related physical activity, this review found the lack of inclusive and comfortable environments to be the primary barrier to participation for transgender people. This review also found transgender people had a mostly negative experience in competitive sports because of the restrictions the sport’s policy placed on them. The majority of transgender competitive sport policies that were reviewed were not evidence based. Conclusion Currently, there is no direct or consistent research suggesting transgender female individuals (or male individuals) have an athletic advantage at any stage of their transition (e.g. cross-sex hormones, gender-confirming surgery) and, therefore, competitive sport policies that place restrictions on transgender people need to be considered and potentially revised. Springer 2017-04 Article PeerReviewed Jones, Bethany Alice, Arcelus, Jon, Bouman, Walter Pierre and Haycraft, Emma (2017) Sport and transgender people: a systematic review of the literature relating to sport participation and competitive sport policies. Sports Medicine, 47 (4). pp. 701-716. ISSN 1179-2035 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs40279-016-0621-y doi:10.1007/s40279-016-0621-y doi:10.1007/s40279-016-0621-y |
| spellingShingle | Jones, Bethany Alice Arcelus, Jon Bouman, Walter Pierre Haycraft, Emma Sport and transgender people: a systematic review of the literature relating to sport participation and competitive sport policies |
| title | Sport and transgender people: a systematic review of the literature relating to sport participation and competitive sport policies |
| title_full | Sport and transgender people: a systematic review of the literature relating to sport participation and competitive sport policies |
| title_fullStr | Sport and transgender people: a systematic review of the literature relating to sport participation and competitive sport policies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sport and transgender people: a systematic review of the literature relating to sport participation and competitive sport policies |
| title_short | Sport and transgender people: a systematic review of the literature relating to sport participation and competitive sport policies |
| title_sort | sport and transgender people: a systematic review of the literature relating to sport participation and competitive sport policies |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38089/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38089/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38089/ |