Introduction: Situating gender diversity and sport

Gender has been leveraged throughout history to explain and justify inequality. Most notably, early psychology and neuroscience provided ‘evidence’ of inherent differences between the sexes, with women having marked deficiencies compared to men. Sporting contexts are often characterised by exclusivity rather than inclusivity and can ‘completely negate the possibility of inclusion for people with non-binary or intersex identities’. This chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the history of sex segregation in sport, focused on the Northern America context and international sports stage, particularly the International Olympic Committee and World Athletics. It develops the theme of exclusion in their discussion of the law pertaining to human rights, inclusion and sports participation. The book articulates the importance of voice as a significant enabler for participation.