Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, Vol 58(3), Jul 2026, 169-179; doi:10.1037/cbs0000457
A debate is raging over whether transgender athletes should be allowed to participate in elite sports. The present study examined the attitudes of 118 varsity athletes from three universities in Western Canada towards transgender athletes’ participation in varsity sports. Participants were supportive of transgender individuals generally and transgender athletes participating in sports specifically. That support for transgender individuals and athletes was especially true for those participants who knew someone transgender personally and those participants of a minoritized sexual orientation. There was less support for transgender athletes competing in the gender category of their choosing. Participants higher in religious fundamentalism and right-wing authoritarianism, and participants with a conservative political orientation, expressed more negative attitudes than other participants towards transgender individuals and transgender athletes. Surprisingly, self-compassion was unrelated to attitudes. The implications of these results are discussed for researchers studying attitudes towards transgender athletes and for psychologists treating and supporting transgender and cisgender varsity athletes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)