Beyond the Rainbow: A Discourse Analysis of English Sports Organisations LGBT+ Equality Diversity and Inclusion Policies

LGBT+ issues and advocacy are becoming more considered in various policies throughout society. However, sport is often described as a resistive space to such policies. This paper examines the effectiveness of current LGBT+ equality policies within English sports organisations. Specifically, 188 National Governing Body (NGB) policies were reviewed as well as 67 policies from other relevant organisations. We utilised a Foucauldian discourse analysis to identify the dominant narratives within the policies. From our analysis we suggest that what is explicit throughout the policies is a partial stasis. This stasis takes the form of organisations gesturing towards change but failing to implement it concretely in their policies. We describe this process using the concept of ‘equality-proofing’ where just enough is done by organisations to gesture towards change or equality. Finally, recommendations for future policy praxis are considered.

Citation

Spurdens, B., & Bloyce, D. (2022). Beyond the rainbow: A discourse analysis of English sports organisations LGBT+ equality diversity and inclusion policies. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 14(3), 507-527. https://doi.org/10.1080/19406940.2022.2080245

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Journal

International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10034/626882

DOI

10.1080/19406940.2022.2080245

Type

Article

Description

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics on 31/05/2022, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/19406940.2022.2080245

ISSN

1940-6940

EISSN

1940-6959

Additional Links

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19406940.2022.2080245