32 results found, showing 21–32
News
Homophobia is putting LGBT students off participating in university sports, a report by the National Union of Students (NUS) has found. Only one third of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students play organised team sports at college or university, while 14.3 % of those surveyed said that experiences of homophobia, biphobia, or transphobia meant that they did not want to take part. The figures suggest that the problems begin at school: over 40 % of those surveyed cited a negative experience before university as a reason for not wanting to participate. 37.8 % of LGBT students who do play university team sports said that they were not open about their sexuality with teammates and coaches. One in five said that this was due to fears about being subjected to verbal or physical abuse. Nearly 13 %t were concerned that they would be ostracised within the team, not get picked or be ejected. The report reflects wider concerns about the visibility of LGBT students in sport, especially in football where there are currently no openly gay professional players in Britain. In 2009, the Leagues Behind report by Stonewall revealed that 70 %of fans had heard homophobic abuse at matches and that more than a quarter considered football to be an anti-gay sport. At the London Olympics earlier this year, only 23 athletes – less than 1% of all competitors – were openly gay. Commenting on the NUS report Charlie Bell, Chair of CUSU LGBT said: “LGBT people not participating in sport is perhaps seen as a bit of a stereotype, but this survey by the NUS seems to show some truth behind it.” However he also pointed out that “there are plenty of LGBT people at Cambridge who are involved in sport at the very highest levels” and suggested that “as the report shows, homophobia in sport begins at school, and there must be people put off ever starting a sport for that reason.” In response to the question of whether Cambridge is as prone to homophobia in its sporting culture as elsewhere in the country, Bell said: “I would hope that Cambridge is a bit more grown up than to continue that prejudice, but it’s something we should be vigilant about and something we should maybe talk about a little more.” The NUS’ Out in Sport campaign would like teams to be clear that they have a zero-tolerance policy on homophobia. The report recommends that all universities offer more mixed-gender sports options, provide training for sports teams, societies and coaches, and additionally to promote LGBT role models. Sports players themselves have added their voices to the campaign Gareth Thomas, former Wales rugby union captain, said:“NUS’ Out in Sport project is truly ground breaking and I am delighted to support it. Attitudes have changed and the time is right for sport to start accepting openly gay people in the same way other areas of society have in recent years.”
News
14.3 per cent of those surveyed said that experiences of homophobia, biphobia, or transphobia meant that they did not want to take part in University sport
News
47% of respondents in a recent survey knew “not very much” or “nothing at all” about the elections.
News
Emily Chan reports on the government’s plan to ask academics help in developing new qualification
News
A low turnout is feared for the election of Cambridgeshire’s first ever Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), which is taking place next month.
News
The University will receive £2.8 million from the Department of Education for a new project to assist in the teaching of maths at post-16 level.
News
33.4% of successful undergraduate applicants for science subjects in the 2011 cycle were female, compared to 37% the previous year.
Arts
Emily Chan talks to the cast and director of a new play which takes as its inspiration the famous Milgram experiment
Arts
Emily Chan talks to the mind behind a surrealist new piece of writing
Arts
The Michaelhouse café in St Michael’s Church is the perfect setting for an exhibition that seeks to open up conversations about art and interfaith relations.
News
New initiative offers mentoring and laboratory facilities to enterprising companies
