Gender inclusive sport: what's in it for (all) women?

The inclusion of trans athletes and athletes with natural sex variations can be broadly beneficial for all sports stakeholders. In this chapter, we interrogate the claim that the inclusion of sex and gender minoritized groups in women’s sport constitutes an existential crisis for the category. As an alternative to this zero-sum framing, we ask: how can gender inclusive sport be beneficial for all women? We explore research demonstrating the clear benefits of inclusion, and further amplify the work of various women’s organizations who support inclusion. Finally, we discuss how the inclusion of trans athletes, gender diverse athletes, and athletes with sex variations could help to interrupt and reconfigure the gendered hierarchies, practices, and ideologies of masculinity and sex difference that continue to undermine the equal place of all women in sport and sport organizations.