I remember hearing the issues about Rene Portland at Penn State regarding her policy about not allowing lesbians play on her basketball team. As the perception is that there are more lesbians playing competitive women's sports than homosexuals playing men's sport, I was slightly taken back by her policy. When I first heard about it, I guess I just assumed that since the perception was there, people would be more tolerant towards the situation. I also felt like if there had been any policy put in place on a team dealing with sexual orientation, it would have come from a men's team rather than a women's team.
Regardless of what my perception was at the time of Portland's incident, my views about this topic have become more informed since entering college. Playing volleyball at Ohio Northern, I have had one gay teammate and my coach for four years is a gay man. The teammate was a sophomore my freshman year. After the school year, he had quit the team and transferred to Findlay. It was during the summer that he had come out to a few of his upperclassmen friends on the team. Ironically, even with a gay coach, he was unable to come out during the season or while he was still a member of the team. I would assume that this had something to do with his thought that his teammates might treat him differently.
Having a gay head coach, moreso than a gay teammate, helped myself along with my teammates understand more about the issue. Without sport, I am not sure that I would have had the understanding that I have now. Sport has always been somewhat of a comfortable thing for me. Sport is what I knew, and it has always been the one avenue that I could better understand life lessons. This situation was no different. What I learned is that people often times place judgment without really knowing a person. This situation helped me wait to pass judgment until I saw what a person is really about. Before, it was easier to labels on people such as 'gay' or 'straight' or 'popular' or 'athletic.' Now, I think its much better to not label anyone unless you get a chance to know them yourself.
The one other big thing I learned is that sport allows you to simply compete and be an athlete or coach. When it came down to it, never once in a game or a practice did I think of my coach as being gay. Rather, I just thought that he was my coach who was trying to make our team better. With that outlook, I had much success and learned many coaching lessons throughout my years. If I had been blinded by something that really did not matter when dealing with sport, I would have hindered myself immeasurably in achieving my potential.
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Steven,
ReplyDeleteWow! Very good blog! Your comments have definitely resonated with me. I admire your open, accepting attitude towards both a gay coach and gay teammate. Unfortunately, not many are that willing to be so accepting. It's sad but in my experience as an athletic trainer I saw far less accepting individuals and instead more closed minded coaches, teammates, and medical professionals in and around the athletic environment.
Like you, sport has always been the one place where I could better understand life lessons. Growing up in a small, rural town in Ohio, I wasn't exposed large amount of gay or lesbian individuals. GLBT issues were just something that didn't get discussed in school or over the dinner table. Although I was actively involved in two sports, I don't remember having one teammate or coach that was openly gay or lesbian. If an athlete or individual in my area was gay or lesbian, he or she would have been most likely afraid to come out. This may be an assumption; however, I don't think the area I grew up is all that accepting, or open-minded. Rather our community operates largely on stereotypes and the "we" versus "they" comparison. Gays and lesbians would have been in the minority, and viewed as different. Because of this, I have a feeling that a gay or lesbian individual would have been criticized and discriminated against. Again it's sad, but individuals in my area that were perceived as being gay or lesbian were often ridiculed whether they truly were or not. Athletics, especially in my community, were looked at very highly, and boys were expected to play masculine sports like football, basketball, and baseball.
As an athletic trainer at Ohio State I got introduced to diversity in a big way. GLBT issues were often discussed and we were even taught how to interact with GLBT athletes. I had several athletes on various teams that I worked with who were openly gay and lesbian, and like you, I avoided passing judgment. It wasn't my place to judge others. GLBT athletes deserved the same medical treatment as heterosexual athlete. While I took this open-minding accepting approach, unfortunately others around me did not always do the same.
I hope athletics continue to expand, grow, and widen their acceptance of GLBT athletes. In my opinion, sports should be for everyone, and exclude no one.
This was a great post, Steven, and I agree with Mallory that your openness toward your coach and gay team mate were refreshing. I liked the statement you wrote about your coach, when you said, "he was my coach who was trying to make our team better." That ought to be the crux of the matter.
ReplyDeleteI think your assumptions about the Rene Portland situation were not that unusual. One might think that there would have been more openness on Portland's part. I think what surprises me the most about this situation was how long she was able to stay in her position as coach without being challenged or asked to step down. Why did it take so long to confront her on this? In fact, Joe Paterno was the Athletic Director for a time when knowledge about Portland's policies initially came out--and he apparently did not address them, which bothered a lot of people.
I just heard about a movie that documents what happened at Penn State, i.e., Training rules. Here is the link to the website: http://www.trainingrules.com/
From the clip that is included it looks like it will be good!