106 Official Journal of the NIRSA Foundation www.RSJ-Journal.com ORIGINAL RESEARCH Recreational Sports Journal, 2013, 37, 106-122 © 2013 NIRSA Foundation Anderson is with the Dept. of Kinesiology and Sport, University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, IN. Mowatt is with the Dept. of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. Heterosexism in Campus Recreational Club Sports: An Exploratory Investigation Into Attitudes Toward Gay Men and Lesbians Austin R. Anderson and Rasul A. Mowatt This study investigated attitudes toward gay men and lesbians among recreational club sport participants, including an investigation of differences in attitudes across sport clubs, team and individual sports, gender, and contact with gay men and lesbians. This study used a modifed version of the Attitudes toward Lesbians and Gay Men scale administered online to acquire overall attitudinal scores of participants, as well as two parallel subscale scores. Utilizing MANOVA and ANOVA statistical testing procedures, signifcant differences (p < .01) in attitudes toward gay men and lesbians were found based on gender, contact with gay men and lesbians, and among different recreational club sports. Signifcant statistical differences (p < .01) between attitudinal subscale scores were also found across demographic levels. Keywords: diversity, homophobia, sexual identity, sport participation The equitable distribution of sport and recreational opportunities focused around differing measures of diversity has been examined throughout leisure research concerning organized sport participation. Participation in organized sport plays a signifcant role in modern American society by allowing a wide variety of individuals to participate in physical activity at many levels, including university- sponsored recreational sports programs. Due to the historically diverse range of participants involved in these sporting activities, these environments have become suitable grounds for investigation into inclusiveness toward participants on the basis of demographic diversity, including sexual orientation. The overriding purpose of recreational sports programs is to provide sporting opportunities to a wide variety of participants from all levels of interest and skill (Mull, Bayless, & Jamieson, 2005). To ensure that campus recreational sporting programs fulfll this purpose on university campuses, administrators must work to provide an environment that is open and accepting of the numerous forms of diversity that are present in a modern university campus, including that of sexual