It Was Genuinely Quite Unpleasant: Male Transgender Experiences in Physical Education

Gender is an ever-changing construct that is becoming increasingly more complex and fluid. Historically, the heteronormative organisation of society and physical education (PE) have marginalised those who do not fit within dominant gendered expectations. These experiences of marginalisation continue to be a barrier for individuals looking for a place within sporting structures and research has not extensively focused on transgender males’ experiences. In turn, our purpose was to explore transgender males’ experiences of physical education to add to growing knowledge and facilitate more inclusive practices in PE. A group interview focusing on individual experiences in PE was undertaken with two self-identified transgender male undergraduate students. Participants were in their early twenties and from different school backgrounds. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and a thematic analysis was conducted. Three themes were identified from participant reflections; Changing room bullying reflects on how participants experienced bullying and felt vulnerable during the changing room environment. Lack of ability identifies how participants believed their low physical capabilities highlighted their vulnerabilities to teachers and created barriers between themselves and their classmates. Lack of teacher awareness demonstrates that the participant’s PE teachers often did not know what best practice was when working with transgender pupils in the subject. By exposing these participants' experiences, we contribute to the growing knowledge of transgender experiences in physical education and provide a range of recommendations for PE teachers to support transgender pupils by creating inclusive practice. We suggest methods educators may use to challenge transphobic bullying and develop a flexible transgender inclusion policy that will support the safety and inclusion of transgender pupils.