Study: Majority of LGBTQ+ athletes accepted by teammates

A new study by Outsports has found that 95% of LGBTQ+ American athletes received a neutral or positive response after coming out to their teammates, with a total of 820 participants sharing their stories. The research was conducted by Outsports, the University of Winchester and the Sports Equality Foundation, and found that only 4.6% of athletes had a bad coming out experience.

On the other hand, 24.8% said the response from teammates after coming out was “perfect or near perfect.” LGBTQ+ college athletes reported having a better coming out experience compared to high school athletes, with 88.4% of college respondents saying they had a “good” response from teammates. Conversely, 71.3% of high school participants reported a “good” coming out experience.

Out of all the experiences discussed by participants, only 29 were by athletes who said they came out to their teammates as trans, with Outsports due to release a trans-specific report in the coming days. Researcher Dr Eric Anderson, from the University of Winchester, said the results are not surprising, adding: “This reflects years of research that I have conducted on smaller scales, all showing athletes are more comfortable with gay teammates than anyone thought possible.”