Participation, community and affirmation: parent accounts of supporting transgender children in sport and dance participation

Introduction Transgender (trans) young people participate in sport at lower rates than their cisgender peers. Whilst barriers and enablers to participation have been identified for trans adolescents and adults, we know little about the participation in sport of trans children. Parent accounts of supporting trans children are a rich source of knowledge about accessing health and education, but to date have had little to say about participation in physical activity. Methods Data comprises interviews with 16 parents of trans children and young people in Australia about how they have supported their children to participate in physical activity such as sport and dance, and how they navigate these community environments. Results We find that children communicate and affirm their gender through their choice of sport or dance, and what they wear when participating. Parents undertake a significant amount of work as allies for their children in community sport and dance environments. Limitations on participation are the increased importance of competition as children get older and the impact on children's mental health of their broader experience as trans people in the world. Access to inclusive sport and dance environments for trans children enables community participation and gender affirmation. Kindness in supportive community is important, with competition much less so. Discussion Sport and dance continue to be dominated by cis-normative gender binary practices including uniforms and administrative processes. As a result, opportunities for non-binary participation are restricted. Deploying normative resistance and inventive pragmatism, parents navigate balancing privacy and disclosure to navigate access to participation and find their place in a community.