Exploring the Relationship between Homophobia and Participation in Core Sports among High School Students

Abstract

This article assesses the relationship between participation in extracurricular activities and homophobia in a population of high school students. During their transition from junior high to high school, participants ( N = 1,470) completed a series of phone interviews that included questions regarding homosexuality. Logistic regressions on these data indicated that males who participated in core sports (e.g., football, baseball, basketball, and/or soccer) were nearly three times more likely than individuals who did not participate in core sports to express homophobic attitudes (β = 2.967, p < .10). Conversely, females who participated in nonathletic extracurricular activities (e.g., debate club, science club) were half as likely as individuals who did not participate in nonathletic extracurricular activities to express homophobic attitudes (β = 0.599, p < .05). Future studies should focus on the rigid masculine/heterosexist identity that is perpetuated in core sports.