Physical activity and sport among Spanish trans persons. Participation data and personal and sociocultural factors

Notwithstanding the potential benefits of Physical Activity and Sport (PAS) for trans people, there is a lack of participation data on these issues and also a lack of knowledge of the personal and sociocultural factors that contribute to facilitating or inhibiting their participation. This knowledge is of great importance for establishing PAS promotion strategies among trans persons based on sound evidence. This is the reason why we present, in this chapter, the main results of two studies developed within the same project but in different phases, one quantitative and another qualitative follow-up study. PAS can benefit trans persons’ health and social involvement, and it can fuel their recognition and self-affirmation. However, to accurately assess this affirmation, it must be taken into account that the umbrella term “trans” gathers around a cluster of diverse gender identities, transition moments, and embodied experiences which determine diverse and, eventually, contrasting experiences in PAS contexts. It is important to establish a clear order of priorities: political, sports, and educational actors must put the right to participation first, and take care to guarantee the effective and satisfactory practice of this right to all people, entailing whatever it takes to make PAS suitable for trans people, not trans people suitable for PAS.