Managing Heteronormativity and Homonegativity in Athletic Training: In and Beyond the Classroom‪.‬

The athletic trainer (AT) provides health care for a highly diverse population, including athletes in secondary schools, colleges and universities, and professional sports and for physically active individuals in rehabilitation clinics and industrial settings. Traditionally, the word diversity has been used to define different characteristics, including race, sex, gender, class, ability, and sexual orientation. (1) Some characteristics, such as race, sex, and ability, are more visible and historically have received more attention than those that are less obvious, such as sexual orientation. In fact, as women increasingly have participated in sport, as race relations and the racial makeup of American culture have changed, and as people with a variety of physical abilities have demonstrated the ability to participate in sport, ATs and other health professionals have made efforts to improve their health care via professional development on topics such as sexual harassment, multiculturalism, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. (1) Although the AT's sensitivity to issues relating to sex, race, and ability has been heightened, the AT often overlooks issues related to sexual orientation or views them through social stereotypes (that is, male athletes are strong, powerful, and obviously heterosexual, and female athletes are strong, powerful, and lesbian). (2-4) These stereotypes are as detrimental to the athletic training profession as they are to the larger society, and they need to be addressed systematically.