Rene Portland was the head coach of the women’s basketball team at Penn State University. She was a very successful coach and seen as an icon to the school because of the win-loss records and championships she coached her teams to. She had three rules that her players had to follow if they wanted to play for her: no drinking, no drugs and no lesbians. She made it clear to her teams that if she suspected a person to be a lesbian or found their names to be associated with any lesbians, she would take away their scholarship, cut them from the team and make transferring impossible. Lesbian players had to make the tough decision to either leave what they had worked so hard for or try and hide who they really were so the coach wouldn’t find out. However, whichever decision they chose, it is obvious that Portland affected these women’s lives forever. Jennifer Harris was one of those women who was a star on the team, but when Portland believed that she was a lesbian because of her style of play, dress and braids, she cut her from the team. Harris was one of the first people to stand up for herself in public and show them who Portland truly was as a person, not as a basketball coach, that ultimately brought the end to her career at Penn State.
Homophobia continues to exist in the sport world, mainly in women’s sports and especially in women’s basketball. It is the fear of gay or lesbian people and is not appropriate in society. Homonegativity is displaying negative attitudes or behaviors towards LGBT people. Although it is more appropriate in society, it still isn’t fair. I don’t understand how a person can believe they have so much authority to jeopardize a person’s education because of their personal life. There is no connection between how well a person plays a sport, or does anything in life, to the types of people they are interested in. Poorer shooting percentage or defense is not the result of a girl liking a girl. There should be no reason to cut someone from the team if they aren’t doing anything detrimental to the team and it’s obvious that Harris wasn’t, or any other lesbian, wasn’t. Another thing that boggles my mind is that Penn State is not the only place where discrimination or abuse happens (e.g. Paterno, Sandusky), and that it happens every day across the country. I believe that the public unconsciously uses a coach’s achievements as an excuse for why they shouldn’t be punished and deny that the coaches are still normal people who have the potential to do wrong. It is unfortunate that society has brought people to appreciate sports more than the reality of people who play them. Coaches are still people and shouldn’t receive special treatment because they are given the label of “coach”. It is wrong for people to judge others and even more so, for coaches to use their public support and power as an advantage and they need to realize the entire world isn’t under their control.
I thought the documentary was very good, not in its content but in its attempt to share a small story of what happens daily. The thing that bothers me the most is that society has allowed people to believe this type of nonsense. One of the women in the documentary said that if the term “lesbians” was replaced with a certain race, that Portland would have been gone a long time ago. Homonegativity is a serious issue that is shadowed by racism and feminism, but just as equal in consequence and it needs to be treated that way.
-Chelsea Oshimo, sec. 1
1 comment:
I feel the same way. Rene Portland portrayed to be a very great coach but yet the school team has never won a title under her coaching. I believe if her focus was somewhere other than being homonegative to the players then the outcome and success of the team would have been way different. it was very sad to see the many lives that she ruined and so many women that had to hide in the "glass closet" because of being afraid of her judgemnt. it is so true that society has adopted this way of thinking and though some of the lesbians voices were heard it was not enough to actually make a change within society and its constructs. the part that stood out to me the most was when the woman said that if the term "lesbian" was replaced with certain races, then Rene Portland would have been fired a long time ago, and i find that to be so true. It is sad that only certain types of discrimination is reprimanded when sexual oritentation is just as serious. Any type of discrimination can ruin someone life and its up to us to be more sensitive in such cases.
J. Nettles
Kin 338I sec 01
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