Who's Coming Out to Play: Disruption and Disorientation in Queer Community Sports

Queer community sports leagues are changing the energy and space of school gyms and community recreational spaces, disrupting notions of gender and community and prioritizing fun, socializing, and inclusivity over competing or winning. They reflect new ways of being in and with bodies, different ways of embodying gender, and new or different forms of engagement within sporting arenas.

Format: Hardback
Length: 160 pages
Publication date: 24 February 2021
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press

Queer community sports leagues are transforming the energy and space of school gyms and community recreational spaces, with some leagues being well-established and others relatively new. This book explores the potential of queer community sports to disrupt notions of the embodiment of gender and community, while maintaining an awareness of numerous factors that limit this potential. It focuses on leagues that have previously identified as women's or lesbian and are now becoming trans and genderqueer inclusive. Queer community leagues are based on a commitment to community building, prioritizing fun, socializing, and inclusivity over competing or winning. As a result, these spaces and the people who come to play in them reflect new ways of being in and with bodies, different ways of embodying gender, and new or different forms of engagement within sporting arenas. Who's Coming Out to Play paints a vivid picture of the lived experiences of queer bodies in queer sporting spaces, exploring both the possibilities and the continued problems they face.

Dimension: 216 x 140 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780228005544