The Declining Existence of Men’s Homophobia in British Sport.

This research provides the first-ever quantitative account of British university athletes’ attitudes toward having a gay male teammate. We use a four-year longitudinal study to investigate athletes’ attitudes concerning gay men in their sporting spaces. Using questionnaires of 216 male athletes from all university sports offered upon entry (2006), and then again upon exiting the university (2009), we show that attitudinal dispositions of homophobia have decreased from minimal (upon entrance) to non-existent (upon exit). We find that the strength of one’s athletic identity is associated with lesser degrees of support for gay teamsport athletes upon entering the university, but that this effect does not emerge upon exiting. We highlight the study’s results, situating them within inclusive masculinity theory, and discuss how results might vary at other institutions.