A Qualitative Inquiry into the Experiences of Transgender Youth on High School Sports Team

In the world of athletics, a hetero-masculine culture rules, and for many transgender athletes this can be a challenging environment. Transgender students face unique challenges in nearly every aspect of school life, and in many cases transgender students face opposition from ill-informed coaches and faculty members. This qualitative, phenomenological case study research explored the experiences of transgender athletes. The study is grounded in three theories: queer theory, social constructivism and critical theory. The purpose of this research is to examine lived experiences of recently graduated transgender students in order to promote understanding and facilitate the development of best practices for making high school campuses and athletic teams more welcoming for transgender students. The main research question is how do transgender, or gender variant recently graduated students reflect on their high school experiences as athletes competing on high school sports teams? This qualitative phenomenological study was conducted using open ended interview questions to collect qualitative data from transgender students who were asked to reflect on their experiences as a transgender high school athlete. The findings from the interviews include; misconceptions of the term transgender; lack of knowledge of transgender and gender variant individuals; teachers' and coaches' misperception of transgender; and a general lack of knowledge of biology and sex as it pertains to transgender. The participants' experiences are presented in two narrative forms composed across the participants' interviews but comprised entirely of their own words: (a) background profiles and (b) multiple, short narratives addressing various themes. This study is critical to help build understanding and empathy among all the students about transgender identity and issues; and to help transgender and gender non-conforming students feel more comfortable in school and develop positive self-esteem. Helping all students to be more knowledgeable, understanding, and empathic serves all constituencies in creating safe, welcoming, and more humane schools and communities.