A Narrative Inquiry into the Physical Education and Youth Sport Experiences of Gay Male Rugby-Players from a Bourdieusian Perspective

Emerging within the Physical Education (PE) and Youth Sport (YS) context is literature that runs counter to a previous focus on the negative treatment and outcomes for gay pupils (Monk, D. 2011. “Challenging Homophobic Bullying in Schools: The Politics of Progress.” International Journal of Law in Context 7 (2): 181–207; Anderson, E. 2011b. “Masculinities and Sexualities in Sport and Physical Cultures: Three Decades of Evolving Research.” Journal of Homosexuality 58 (5): 565–578), as they negotiate their way through a predominantly heteronormative environment (Landi, D. 2018. “Toward a Queer Inclusive Physical Education.” Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy 23 (1): 1–15). While it would be false to assume that a vast number of gay young people do not suffer at the hands of gendered expectations and homophobic abuse (Stonewall. 2017a. Schools Report Scotland: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans Young People in Scotland’s Schools in 2017.), there remains an absence of research into those who have successfully negotiated this – at times – toxic climate (Marshall, D. 2010. “Popular Culture, the ‘Victim’ Trope and Queer Youth Analytics.” International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 23 (1): 65–85; Monk, D. 2011. “Challenging Homophobic Bullying in Schools: The Politics of Progress.” International Journal of Law in Context 7 (2): 181–207).