The Year 10, No. 6 edition of the Ottawa Sports Pages is now available. The December issue is our first under the Sports Pages banner and also features Part 2 of our Inclusion in Sport Series.
Following up on our October edition, which sought to spotlight stories about race and sport in Ottawa, we dedicated this newspaper to LGBTQ+ issues in sport.
READ MORE: Inclusion in Sport Series: Topic #1 – Race
There’s little debate that the sports world is lagging behind society in terms of combating homophobia, transphobia and other forms of discrimination, which many of the local voices featured in this edition highlight.
But there are also stories of acceptance, progress and hope for the future.
We attempt to elevate the stories of local LGBTQ+ athletes and coaches and share thoughts from leaders about how they’ve seen sexual orientation and gender identity viewed by their sporting peers and the larger community.
It’s not lost on us that these stories – ones of devastation when inclusivity is disregarded in favour of bullying, and others of progress on topics that have long-gone ignored – only scratch the surface of what LGBTQ+ people face in the world of sports.
We certainly welcome your feedback on how we can best continue to shine a light on these topics as the Inclusion in Sport Series continues. Please send your thoughts to Editor@OttawaSportsPages.ca.
–Charlie Pinkerton & Dan Plouffe
Here are links to the stories of Part 2 of our Inclusion in Sport Series:
Ottawa’s bid to host inclusive rugby tournament bumped to 2022
Evelyn Sifton and the tug-of-war of the trans athlete
Long-time coach’s experience highlights the importance of LGBTQ+ representation
How a Glebe grad navigated sports while coming out as trans
You can also read the online edition of the newspaper here.