Monitoring “inclusive masculinity” in sport in the Netherlands 2008-2021: No problems with gay men, but no gay-inclusive cultures

The Netherlands has been a frontrunner in legislation for equal rights for gay and lesbian people, also in relation to sport. In this chapter, we provide an overview of policy directed towards gay-inclusive cultures in men’s team sports since 2008 and research into monitoring developments towards inclusive masculinity. The findings were somewhat ambivalent. In general, we found a large self-declared gay tolerance among (elite) male team sports participants, similar to the overall Dutch population. Moreover, we witnessed an increase in policy attention regarding homo-acceptance at club level, while most players supported actions contributing to more inclusion. However, the findings suggested that homonegative speech acts and microaggressions were more prevalent and more accepted as normal in men’s team sports, with male team sports athletes being the most reluctant to sanction gay talk. Therefore, while we remain sceptical of the arrival of inclusive masculinity in men’s team sports, we remain hopeful regarding the potential for realising further change.