The project examines norms and regulations of sports that are based on a highly limiting binary segregation of male/female sports, assume masculine/feminine characteristics and then often project hetero-normative constructs – like mixed pair duos/pairs as elementary teams. These norms and constructs are also often conflated with sex characteristics. Access to those who identify or act outside of these systems or who have one or more of a range of variations in sex characteristics, are hard or sometimes non-existent altogether in mainstream sport. As such, this project will look in particular at experiences of trans*, including non-binary and gender non-conforming people, intersex people and those who identify as queer.
With grassroot LGBTIQ+ community sport competitions and environments there are opportunities to co-own, experiment and develop new more participatory and inclusive relations to sport, based on self-identification, self-regulation, as well as on setups for safe and supportive spaces. By looking at intersections of discriminations in mainstream sport (that includes also class, age, ability, race/colour, body type and more) and potential of breaking down the prevailing binary logic – we hope to point to wider spectra of options to achieve more diverse and inclusive sport environments.
This project will collect experiences from exceptional pioneering practices across different contexts in Europe and try to forge an alliance of sport practitioners, organisers and academic researchers to come up with set of recommendations for inclusive aquatic sport events and environments.
An online multimedia resource will summarise these experiences and support knowledge transfer and dissemination in live events (seminar, workshops or competitions) for diverse and inclusive sport.
