As Rainbow Laces launches, YouGov survey reveals three times as many LGBTQ+ people still face discrimination while exercising
Stonewall has re-freshed its iconic Rainbow Laces campaign, under the banner #MovewithPride and will focus on building a visible network of belonging over 2026. The campaign has launched with support of Olympian Dame Kelly Holmes and footballer, Josh Cavallo, as a YouGov survey released today shows three times as many people in the LGBTQ+ community experience discrimination while exercising.
The new YouGov survey, released today, has found that 76% of people identifying as members of the LGBTQ+ community surveyed have experienced, or were currently experiencing, mental ill-health, compared to 44% of ‘all’ respondents.
With the widely accepted connection between exercise, sport and movement and mental wellbeing, and at a time of year when many are resolving to begin or re-start a fitness routine, these statistics give cause for concern, particularly when viewed alongside the survey’s other key findings:
- 37% of LGBTQ+ respondents said they “had experienced discrimination by someone else’s behaviour, attitudes or language while exercising or trying to exercise”.
- More than a third of LGBTQ+ people felt that their sexuality was a barrier to participation in sport, exercise or other forms of movement.
- 45% of those from LGBTQ+ communities are not meeting Government-recommended levels of vigorous exercise.
The statistics confirm the vital importance of movement and exercise for the wellbeing of the LGBTQ+ community, while demonstrating the barriers that remain for many LGBTQ+ people.
Olympic gold medal holder Dame Kelly Holmes is supporting the Rainbow Laces campaign and will be hosting a roundtable in partnership with Stonewall to explore how barriers preventing LGBTQ+ people – including trans people - from getting involved in sport and exercise can be removed.
She said: ‘Movement and exercise remain essential to my wellbeing, they support both my physical and mental health. “I’m supporting the Rainbow Laces campaign because I believe movement and exercise should be accessible to everyone in the LGBTQ+ community. When people feel they belong, confidence grows and taking part in sport supports this to become easier and more joyful.”
Professional footballer Josh Cavallo said:
“Being a sportsman is as integral a part of my identity as being a gay man. I am saddened that other members of the LGBTQ+ community are not always routinely able to access the great enjoyment, wellbeing and mental and physical benefits that sports and exercise - at all levels - can bring. “Everyone should feel like they belong in sport and exercise, and Rainbow Laces and the Proud Pledge are tangible ways of addressing this, so I am really pleased to be able to support this important campaign.”
Simon Blake, OBE, Stonewall’s Chief Executive, added:
"From my own experience as a keen equestrian, I know the joy and sense of wellbeing that taking part in movement brings. The Rainbow Laces campaign is working to make sure that this feeling and its benefits are available to everyone including the LGBTQ+ community. If you are a sporting or exercise organisation, I would encourage you to sign up to Proud Pledge, show your support and enable everyone to feel that can move with pride.”
With the re-launch of Rainbow Laces, individuals across the UK are being invited to help grow a visible network of belonging through a range of activities including wearing the Rainbow Laces, displaying the Rainbow Laces badge and sharing moments of movement, participation and play across digital channels. Organisations are being invited to signal that they are welcoming to everyone in the LGBTQ+ community by signing the Proud Pledge.
