Sports club members becoming less tolerant of homosexuality

Acceptance of homosexuality in Dutch sports clubs has declined significantly in the last generation, according to a survey of attitudes by the Mulier Institute.

The organisation found that 66% of people had no objection to a fellow member of a sports club being gay, while in 2008 the figure was 85%.

Just over half (55%) of respondents said they had no problem sharing a shower with a gay team-mate of the same sex, which also represented a drop from 73% in 2008.

The Mulier Institute said the findings reflected a social trend that has also been seen in schools, where the proportion of boys aged between 12 and 16 with a positive view of homosexuality has dropped from 40% to 22% since 2021.

The Dutch Olympic Committee NOC*NSF said the findings were “highly regrettable” and pledged to step up its efforts to make sport more inclusive.

But the John Blankenstein Foundation, which campaigns for LGBT emancipation in sport, said it had noticed declining enthusiasm for its workshops and growing numbers of parents who voiced objections.

Karin Blankenstein, who set up the organisation in 2008, told NOS: “I get the sensitivity around transgender people in sport at the top level, but this is about amateur sport.”