Mental Health, Community Connection and 2SLGBTQ Recreational Sport Participation Among Transgender, Nonbinary and Gender Diverse People In Canada

Background and Purpose: Transgender, nonbinary and gender diverse (trans) people experience worse mental health outcomes in comparison with their cisgender peers, owing to experiences of marginalization and discrimination. Despite transphobic policies that seek to exclude trans people from sports, many trans people use sport participation to support their mental health and transition processes. Community sport is increasingly identified as a strategy to support mental health and wellbeing and Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer (2SLGBTQ) community sports may offer unique opportunities to support the mental health of trans people by encouraging physical activity, fostering connection with 2SLGBTQ communities and strengthening social networks and support.

Methods: Our study examined if trans people’s participation in 2SLGBTQ community sports has an impact on trans people’s mental health, sense of connection with the 2SLGBTQ community, and social support. Data for this analysis were drawn from the 2019 and 2022 cycles of the community-based cross-sectional survey Sex Now, which recruited participants aged 15+ living in Canada. Both cycles were conducted in English and French, and the 2022 was also offered in Spanish. Participants for the 2019 cycle were recruited through social media and partnered community-based organizations and social service provider networks, while the 2022 cycle additionally included in-person recruitment at Pride festivals across Canada. We conducted a series of logistic regression analyses to assess whether participation in 2SLGBTQ community sports was associated with higher community connection and improved mental health outcomes for trans participants. Financial strain was identified as a potential confounder and was controlled for in our analyses.

Results: Of 1,882 trans participants, 125 (6.6%) reported participation in 2SLGBTQ recreational sports in the previous six months. Participation in 2SLGBTQ community sport was associated with lower reporting of depressive symptoms and higher satisfaction with their relationship to the 2SLGBTQ community; however, no association was found between sport participation and anxiety symptoms. The relationship between 2SLGBTQ community sport participation and both community satisfaction and depressive symptoms remained significant after controlling for financial strain.

Conclusions and Implications: 2SLGBTQ recreational sport participation may complement social service efforts to support the mental health and social needs of trans people. Ongoing education for service providers on the mental health and social support benefit of 2SLGBTQ community sport is needed to address social isolation, improve community connection and support the mental health of trans people. Our findings also highlight how policies to limit trans people’s participation in sport may further exacerbate existing mental health disparities by limiting access to the health promoting benefit of sport. Future intersectional research is needed to better understand how 2SLGBTQ community sports may differentially impact the health and wellbeing of diverse groups of trans people and to understand the effects of trans-exclusionary policies on access to community sports.