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Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer physical activity access and engagement

University of British Columbia. Campus and Community Planning

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Queer (hereafter referred to as LGBQ) students face many obstacles in university campus recreation and physical activities. The project outlines inclusion and participation for LGBQ students in physical activity on campus. We worked with two community partners, Liska Richer and Rachael Sullivan. In Spring of 2014 the project was created by Kat Cureton and former fourth year kinesiology students after they recommended its construction. The project is important because the University of British Columbia (hereafter referred to as UBC) strives to be a culturally diverse and inclusive place. Sexual orientation should not be a barrier to participation and all students should feel comfortable to self-identify as LBGQ, while prospering in the UBC community. Fostering and accepting an open environment is implicitly related to interculturalism. We discuss LGBQ issues with 11 participants (5 male, 6 female; mean age 23). Transgender individuals were not included in the discussion due to the limited scope of the project. Information was gathered through discussion questions. After the discussions were completed, using our literature review as reference, we performed a thematic analysis of the qualitative information. The study yields a wide variety of findings; making physical activity a unique experience for each participant on campus. Not one participant felt that there were any physical activity initiatives on campus that were targeted towards LGBQ individuals. Our findings show that a majority of participants want to see an increase in LGBQ advertising. Although a majority do not perceive their gender identity or expression to have affected their participation in physical activity, all males commented on the hegemonic masculinity inherent in sport. The project suggests four general recommendations. Incorporating queer content and competency training into staff orientation, creating a queer-friendly sport and social league, creating more safe spaces, and partnering with UBC Pride Collective would be all be steps to promoting LGBQ inclusion in campus recreation and physical activities. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

Text

University of British Columbia. KIN 465; UBC Social Ecological Economic Development Studies (SEEDS) Student Report

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0228117

Education, Faculty of; Kinesiology, School of

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/