Policing Gender and Sexuality in High School Sports: The Mediating Impact of Hearing Anti-LGBTQ + Language on High School Athletes’ Self-Esteem Across Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, and Race

Participation in sport is often assumed to promote the healthy development of youth. However, research suggests that gender and sexuality policing in sports negatively impacts the self-esteem of LGBTQ + youth. Using moderated mediation analyses, findings suggest that hyper-surveillance and policing of sexual and gender norms, specifically masculinity, through the use of anti-LGBTQ + language in sport not only marginalizes LGBTQ + individuals, but can harm all youth. Among straight cisgender youth, the conditional direct effect of playing sports on self-esteem was positive for only girls, across race, indicating a positive moderated mediation for girls. The positive effect of playing sports on self-esteem had a comparatively lower effect for white boys, when mediated by the frequency of hearing anti-LGBTQ + language. Implications are discussed.