This year, conversations about gender equality and inclusion in sport have been gaining new visibility.
Women’s sports have seen a surge in popularity, and North American audiences have embraced the Canadian queer hockey romance Heated Rivalry.
At the same time, U.S. President Donald Trump recent comments about risking impeachment if he failed to invite the gold medalist women's team to the White House suggest progress remains uneven.
On March 12, a free symposium at Allard Law will examine the path forward. Speakers include Heated Rivalry’s Harrison Browne – author, filmmaker and professional hockey’s first transgender athlete – and legal experts who will shed light on next steps towards genuine gender equality and inclusion in sport.
In this Q&A, Professor Debra Parkes explains why the fight for equality in sport is far from over.
What inspired you to organize this event?
Parkes: It's an exciting time for women’s sports. Finally, women are starting to get paid and recognized for the amazing athletes that they are.
At the same time, we’re seeing that we haven’t yet achieved meaningful gender equality. We continue to see gender stereotyping, inequity in pay and investment, and abuse that has not been meaningfully addressed.
We're also seeing the weaponization of law in terms of exclusion. In international athletics, sex-testing laws target Black women from the Global South for exclusion. Here in Canada, Alberta’s Fairness and Safety in Sport Act limits girls’ and women’s sports to athletes whose birth certificates identify them as female. This law excludes trans athletes but also subjects all girls and women who want to play sports to unnecessary and invasive policing of their bodies.
What do you hope people take away from this event?
Parkes: We have a fascinating group of speakers who can shed light on these issues from a number of perspectives – as lawyers, scholars, and athletes.
Harrison Browne will be discussing his new book, Let Us Play: Winning the Battle for Gender Diverse Athletes. It looks at the benefits of participating in sports and the fight for inclusion in sporting spaces where the gender binary is often quite rigidly enforced.
Ann Peel, a lawyer and retired athlete, will reflect on some successes – such as the expansion of women’s events like hammer throw, longer distances and pole vault – and on the persistence of gender stereotypes and abuse in the Canadian sporting space. You’ll also hear from law professor Michele Krech about sex-testing rules in international sport and from lawyer Ridan Cunningham about the impacts of trans-exclusionary sports laws.
On a broader level, I hope this event will be an opportunity to think about the role of law in addressing issues of inequality in sports and the ways we can mobilize change through a human rights lens. But of course the law can only take us so far – we also need cultural change.
Does the popularity of shows like Heated Rivalry suggest there’s a growing support for cultural change in sport?
Parkes: There’s an interesting contrast here, because the idea of queer, bisexual or gay hockey players in men's hockey is still relatively rare. In the NHL, there has never been an openly gay player.
I think Heated Rivalry shows we’re at a certain cultural moment. Having a queer story about joy and love set in that space, and having it be so well received, is really positive. It shows there’s real interest in more equality and inclusion in the sports space. And that's kind of exciting.
Register now to attend More Than a Game: The Fight for Gender Equality and Inclusion in Sports in person or online on March 12.
