Building Bridges 3 Conferense

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With Sports Against Homophobia

• Building Bridges 3 Conferense
• Den Haag, 6th march 2009

• Håvard B. Øvregård
• Project Manager

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With Sports Against Homophobia

• Topic
• Living conditions and quality of life for lgbt
  individuals
• Arena
• Organised sport

Norges idrettsforbund og olympiske og
paralympiske komité
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Aim

• Sport as an open and secure arena where lgbt
  feels at home as athlets, coaches, referees and
  fans
• Prevent and fight discrimination based on sexual
  orientation at all levels in society, through
  work within organised sports
• Improve living conditions and quality of life for
  lgbt individuals.

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Strategic aims

• Increase awarenes about discrimination based on
  sexual orientation.
• Promote sport politics against discrimination
  based on sexual orientation..
• Develop and promote measures hindering
  homophobia, including awareness-raising and
  attitude-challenging methodology
• Through Sports promote good role-models and
  healthy attitudes towards different sexual
  orientation.
• Make work on discrimination based on sexual
  orientation included in the daily work of sport
  organisations.

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Project partners

• Sports
• NIF
• LGBT
• LLH
• Anti-discrimination
• NPAID
• The project is partly funded by the Norwegian
  Ministry of Children and Equality

Norges idrettsforbund og olympiske og
paralympiske komité
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• Project proposal developed autumn 2006
• By NPAID and LLH
• NIF joined spring 2007
• Project secretariat established 1/5-07 (NPAID)
• Project Manager (80)
• Project secretariat moved to NIF 1/3-08
• Department of Sports Development, Section for
  diversity and activity development
• Project ends 31/12-09
• Financed by NIF/Sport Federations and Ministry

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Sport Policy Document 2007 2011 (NIF)

• 1.6 Tolerance and equality
• Aim
• Foster tolerance, understanding and recognition
  for equality in order to avoid discrimination and
  harassment.
• Strategy
• There shall be zero-tolerance for discrimination
  and harassment regardless gender, ethnic origin,
  religion, sexual orientation, and disability.
• Lesbian, gay and bisexual are differing from
  many other minorities an invisible group. It is
  therefore an extra challenge to contribute to
  dissemination of knowledge and information in
  order for this group to be fully accepted within
  Sports.
• Responsibility
• All organisational entities.
• http//www.idrett.no/t2.aspx?p66791

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Challenges for LGB in Sports in Norway

• Little knowledge and research
• Heidi Eng
• Doctoral thesis 2003 Sporting Sexuality
• Data interview with gay/lesbian athlets at high
  level within 13 sports
• Some conclusions

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Lesbian and gay athlets in Norway

• Are not open about their sexual orientation in
  sports contexts
• Feel that a career in sports can not be combined
  with living as gay/lesbian
• 
  

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• Underachieve as competing athlet due to
  conditions related to their sexual orientation
• Are attracted to more gay/lesbian-friendly social
  arenas
• Quit sports

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Today there are no open gay male (elite)
athletes. It is also documented that elite sports
loose many talents among gay men, due to the
costs of being open within sports. (Eng 2003)
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Despite there being far more open heterosexual
football players than lesbian, the myth of women
football as a lesbian sport is still alive.
This leads to increasing homophobia and fear of
too many lesbian at the team. Leadership/coaches
and athletes in general can be afraid that this
will harm recruitment, that parents will be
sceptic towards sending kids to football training
etc.One of the informers chose to sacrifice
and remained hidden because there were so many
open lesbian at the team
(Eng 2003)
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Explanatory factors

• Strict view on masculinity and femininity
• Locker-room culture
• H. Eng

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It concludes that separate gay/lesbian sport
clubs is an expression for gays and lesbians
lacking comfort in the heteronormativity in sport
environments. White paper. nr. 25 (2000-2001)
The Norwegian Government Living condition and
life-quality for gay and lesbian in Norway
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What causes prejudice towards gay/lesbian?

• Fear of the unknown
• External
• Internal
• Fear of being labelled as gay/lesbian

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A topic that has not been adressed?
why?
You avoid meetings with gay/lesbian as topic,
as you are afraid of being labelled as gay
yourself.
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What causes prejudice towards gay/lesbian?

• Fear of the unknown
• External
• Internal
• Fear of being defined as gay/lesbian
• Heteronormativity
• Strict gender roles

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Challenges

• Focus away from the gay/lesbian
• Get more straight people on the field
• Everyone can be victim of homophobia
• Gender roles
• Female sport v.s. male sport
• Football v.s. other sports
• Consistency with and integration in other areas

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Strategy

• Anchoring in policy and formal decisions
• Statutes / Work-plan
• Rules, sanctions regulation and actual
  sanctioning
• Educating key actors
• coaches / judges/referees / technical staff
• Challenging attitudes and stereotypes
• children and youth
• Information channels and visibility
• Channels and routines for reporting homophobia

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2009

• The final year of the project
• Harvest from the work 2007-08
• Ensure anchoring in Sport Federations
• Plans and mechanisms for continuing work on
  lgbt-issues within NIF / Sport Federations (SF) /
  District level (IK)
• Disseminate project experience
• Media / public institutions / other

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2009 - measures

• Mailing to all Sport Clubs (12500)
• Special edition BLIKK (24p) / Brochure (8p) /
  Letter from the president
• Inform about e-mail homohets_at_idrettsforbundet.no
• Develop methodology
• Produce material for coaches / leaders
• Present experiences internationaly
• Conference (autumn)
• Summarise / follow-up

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2009 Anchoring i SF / IK / NIF

• Anchoring in decisions
• Statutes, aims and plans
• Anchoring in education/training
• Coach- and leadership education,
• Key common arenas (meeting-spaces)
• Anchoring in the organisation
• Responsible unit / person?
• Coordination with other work on gender
• Coordination with other work on
  diversity/inclusion

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Norges Basketballforbund
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Norges Basketballforbund

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Håvard B. ØvregårdProject ManagerPhone 47 91
77 31 57E-mail havard.ovregard_at_idrettsforbunde
t.nohomohets_at_idrettsforbundet.noWeb
www.idrett.no