NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2025
EDITORIAL
Welcome to the very first Fier-Play newsletter! This edition marks a new stage for our association, which continues to transform and develop. Today, Fier-Play is reinventing itself to go further: supporting, raising awareness, and mobilizing the world of sport around the inclusion and visibility of LGBTIQ+ people.
Through this newsletter, which we plan to publish every two months, you will find the essentials of our actions, projects, profiles, and news. It’s an easy way to follow our commitments and stay connected to those who are making a difference.
Feel free to share this newsletter with your friends and family, and invite your loved ones, colleagues, or partners to subscribe to expand the Fier-Play community.
Together, let’s make sports more inclusive, fairer, and prouder!
Frédérique Vidal, President of Fier-Play
🚀 Let’s move forward together!
Working with sports stakeholders
Fier-Play is collaborating with the Ministry of Sports, the CNOSF, the CPSF, the FS LGBT+, OUTrans, and the Alice Milliat Foundation on a first joint webinar for disciplinary committee leaders. Hosted by several speakers last Tuesday, this exchange provided an opportunity to discuss specific situations of discrimination in sports and to reflect on appropriate and coordinated responses between institutions.
Resumption of LAB work
A direct legacy of Pride House · Paris 2024, LAB Fier-Play will soon resume its work. This new session will focus on the place of non-binary people in sport, with the aim of identifying existing barriers and proposing concrete solutions for better consideration of all gender identities in sporting practices and federal regulations.
Partnership alert: Nike joins forces with Fier-Play!
We are proud to announce our first partnership with Nike, based on a shared goal: to make sport a safe and welcoming space for everyone, especially LGBTIQ+ people and younger generations. Together, we will support sports organizations in implementing concrete actions to promote inclusion and respect for diversity. Because fair play begins with respect for everyone. 💪🏳️🌈
Proud Champions: giving LGBTIQ+ athletes a voice and visibility
Launched last September, Proud Champions is Europe’s first network of LGBTIQ+ athletes and role models, developed by Fier-Play in partnership with Compete Proud.
This project aims to promote diversity in sport and provide a platform where athletes can share their stories, talk about their experiences, and inspire younger generations.
By giving visibility to those who are committed to a more inclusive sport, Proud Champions helps to break down stereotypes, combat discrimination, and encourage a climate of acceptance and respect within the sporting movement.
Fier-Quiz of the month
What is the name of the first transgender athlete to compete in the Olympic Games?
Portrait of the month
This month, Fier-Play highlights two inspiring journeys to mark Transgender Awareness Week, which took place from November 13 to 19:
Sandra Forgues, Olympic canoeing champion who has become a key voice for the visibility of transgender people in sport. Her testimony highlights the importance of a sporting environment where everyone can flourish without having to hide their identity.
Maho Bah-Villemagne, the first transgender man to earn a degree in French boxing, embodies a new generation of athletes who are pushing boundaries. Through his commitment and career, he is helping to change perceptions of transgender people in the sporting world and promote a sport that is fairer and more inclusive for all.
Find their full interviews on the Fier-Play YouTube channel to discover their inspiring stories.
ANSWER TO THE FIER-QUIZ
Laurel Hubbard, a New Zealand weightlifter, became the first transgender athlete to compete in the Olympics in 2021, in the +87 kg category at Tokyo 2020. Although she did not validate any attempts and was therefore not ranked, her participation marked a historic milestone for the visibility of transgender people in sport.
Halba Diouf and Valentina Petrillo are also pioneering transgender athletes.
- Halba Diouf is a French sprinter who is engaged in a legal battle to have her right to compete in the women’s category recognized. Her journey highlights the regulatory and human challenges that trans athletes still face in high-level sport.
- Valentina Petrillo is an Italian sprinter with visual impairment. She made history by becoming the first trans woman to compete in the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.
They enable our actions to be funded, thanks to our partners.
They support us and work alongside us.
Comments are closed