about Penn State basketball coach Rene Portland? Have almost three decades of anti-gay recruiting policies and various levels of subtle and not-so-subtle harassment finally caught up to her? We shall see. The National Center for Lesbian Rights has demanded the Penn State president look into the allegations after the latest incident of harassment forced one of the Lions best players off the team and to another school. The former player, Jennifer Harris, allegedly isn't even gay. Of course this is her mother saying this and denial, especially publicly, of homosexuality isn't exactly a foreign concept in women's sports.
Of course what actually comes of this remains to be seen. We should note that while the NCLR is a worthy group, usually we hear about organizations such as Lambda or even the ACLU intervening in cases such as this. While Harris does have a lawyer, I have not heard of any actual suits being brought yet. And we must also remember that Portland has not been subtle all these years about her anti-gay beliefs. She has been quoted saying she does not want lesbians on her team. And the university does nothing besides point to their policy about discrimination as if to say "well she can't possibily be discriminating because we have an anti-discrimination policy." Seems similar to the same kind of administrative blind eye that allows pink visiting team locker rooms in football stadiums to go unaccounted for.
It is time--no it is way past time--that Portland be called on what she has been doing and continues to do. Because I just can't deal with having to choose who to root against if the Lions play Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in the NCAA tourney again this year.
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