In a week when issues of gender and sexuality in sport have been in the spotlight, new research has found many LGBT athletes feel unsafe and vulnerable but attitudes are changing. The study, by Adelaide’s Flinders University, found that almost 40 per cent of respondents who participate in sports “have felt unsafe or vulnerable in a sporting environment as a result of their gender identification or sexuality”. “There was this feeling of intimidation when they first went to clubs,” Professor Murray Drummond, who conducted the research, said. Btwhen they actually went to the club and immersed themselves in the culture generally the clubs were quite good. The majority were quite open and welcoming.