About this Research Topic
While the presence of transgender and non-binary athletes in sports is becoming more common, we also see a backlash from other competitors, coaches, commentators, and governing bodies that seek to challenge the place of individuals who identify in this way under the guise of fairness on the one hand or explicit forms of prejudice on the other.
It is essential to understand what that experience is like for the individuals most impacted by local, national, and international policy and decision-making regarding inclusion, fairness, and equity.
This Research Topic offers an opportunity to publish research centered around the lived experiences of transgender and non-binary athletes. We are particularly interested in work that has an intersectional lens and draws on examples from the Global South, Inter-Asian communities and/or Pacifica, or that focus on the experiences of Indigenous athletes globally. We seek work that reflects how policy development and decision-making across elite, recreational, and community settings influence the experiences of transgender and non-binary athletes. Studies that focus on the experience of trans men, people of color, and a broad range of sporting activities are highly welcomed.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
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- The shaping of national governing body responses to transgender and non-binary calls for inclusion
- The implementation of international guidance around transgender and non-binary participation in local settings
- The need for research to employ an intersectional lens to transgender and non-binary participation in sports
- How transgender and non-binary individuals are actively engaged in facilitating access to sports for their community members
- The role of allyship in supporting transgender and non-binary participation in sports
- The lived experiences of transgender and non-binary athletes in sport
- How specific sports direct/change the conversation around transgender and non-binary participation in sports
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We invite original research, systematic reviews, case studies, as well as position statements.
Keywords
transgender athletes, non-binary athletes, sports, prejudice in sport, athletes
Topic Editors
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- Kate Russell, Associate Professor, University of East Anglia, UK
- Bonnie Pang, Associate Professor, University of Bath, UK
- Rohini Balram, Researcher, Western Sydney University, Australia
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Participating Journals
Manuscripts can be submitted to this Research Topic via the following journal:
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
About Frontiers Research Topics
Submission Deadlines
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- April 25, 2025 | Abstract
- November 28, 2025 | Manuscript
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