I was giddy with schadenfraude this past weekend when I flipped on ESPN and saw a special piece on the new accusations against Rene Portland, head coach of the PSU women's basketball team. They interviewed fairly extensively (enough to draw out some tears) a former player who was forced off the team in the early 80s because Portland threatened to reveal her homosexuality.
Another player--not gay, but sister is--from the 90s has also come forward to dicusss the homophobic comments and atmosphere Portland made.
PSU students are starting to protest. [Alas PSU is not playing at my Big Ten university this season so we cannot stage a protest here.]
Jen Harris's lawsuit has finally set off all the furor over Portland's overtly discriminatory ways that should have been dealt with years ago. I am buoyed by this activism yet also cautious as I think about all the coaches who are not as obvious as Portland and harm just as many people who, because of the often covert homophobia in athletics, will go virtually unnoticed.
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