‘Small things, small impact’ is the mantra badminton player Kirsty Gilmour is choosing to live by.
But the 31-year-old three-time Olympian does not give themselves enough credit for the positive influence they have across their sport and beyond.
Gilmour’s run to the second round of this week’s YONEX All England Open coincided with calling for a rule change to allow players to leave the court to deal with their periods.
Similarly, as one of only a handful of out players in badminton, Gilmour, who uses both female and non-binary pronouns, is used to being a voice for those who do not always see themselves represented within sport.
“I do have a strong sense of justice, but I am in no way a confrontational person,” Gilmour said.
“I try to say things without calling people out. I try to come with facts and speak from personal experience and not try to make anyone feel a certain way.
“But if it is listened to and it does have some sort of impact then that is great. It is better to say something than nothing.
“And if my quiet small voice has some kind of positive impact then that is the least I can do rather than sweep it under the rug because all of these things are being swept under the rug so often.
“Some of it might be quite cliché like things around pro-LGBT rights but actually in this current world that we find ourselves it is more important than ever to be loud about being pro these things.”
Even though Gilmour admits they want to spend less time on their ‘pesky phone’, one glance at their Instagram account shows their mantra in practice.
The women’s singles world no.33 includes both sets of pronouns in their bio and, with a small scroll down, and you’ll see the LGBTQ+ flag.
They added: “It is something I am always trying to figure out, it is hard to be a woman in sport but then I kind of question the womanhood of it all.
“I don’t think I am ready to have the full conversation around wanting to change pronouns. I am figuring it out and I always want to be vocal on trans women’s rights as well.
“It is an ongoing journey but one I am happy to talk about as I do that journey.
“I feel like I have a small responsibility to be open about that and it means so much to some people and absolutely nothing to others and that is the sweet spot to me.
“It was quite a big thing for me to put the silly little rainbow flag in my Instagram bio, it means nothing to some people and means the world to others.
“The amount of super sweet and really ‘get me’ messages that I have from that one stupid little act is incredible.
“So tiny little positives impacts are what I am going for, I don’t want to get on a soapbox and shout about it, but teeny tiny acts of positivity go a really long way.”
Even Gilmour’s nod of support for trans women as they talk around their own gender identity is a sign of their commitment to keeping sport and society at large a place for everyone.
With debates around trans inclusion in sport so toxic, Gilmour’s simple but no-nonsense approach is refreshing.
“I don’t have a personal experience of competing against a trans person in a professional capacity so therefore I can’t have an opinion on that,” they said.
“But I think especially in grassroots, community and the fundamental level of sport, the beauty of sport is that it is for absolutely everyone.
“It’s baffling to me why you would want to exclude anyone from moving their body and being part of a group or a team or a set-up or a community.
“That is the point of us living in society is to help everyone. If you don’t want to be a part of society, go live in the woods. Bugger off and live in the woods.
“It seems counterproductive to humanity to stop people from being who they are especially when they are not hurting anyone else.
“I am all for trans inclusion I think it is fundamental for the ethos of the entire sporting world.”
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