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QUOTE
October 13, 2005 (AP) A gay rights advocacy group has accused Penn State women's basketball coach, RenePortland, of forcing a player to transfer earlier this year out of bias against lesbians. The National Center for Lesbian Rights asked Penn State president Graham Spanier on Tuesday for a meeting to discuss Portland's policies and the transfer of former player Jennifer Harris.
Karen Doering, Harris's attorney, said that for decades Portland has harassed players she believes are lesbians, told other players not to associate with them, and described other programs as pro-gay to recruits. "Jen loved Penn State, loved playing for Penn State, and again, had no problems on the court or with Coach Portland except for with regard to the hounding about, 'Are you a lesbian, and maybe you should dress differently so others don't think you're a lesbian,"' said Doering, regional counsel for the lesbian rights center.
Portland said she was unaware of the request and declined to comment on either Harris's transfer to James Madison University or the accusations of antigay bias. "I'll just wait until the school brings the facts to me, and we'll go from there," she said by telephone Tuesday.
Portland has a 578-204 record in 25 seasons at Penn State. She has won five Big Ten championships and made an NCAA Final Four appearance in 2000.
Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said the school had found no evidence that Harris ever complained to the university or any campus groups about her treatment by the coach. "This is a surprise that a half-year later suddenly a lawyer's contacting the university making such a claim," he said.
Doering said Portland has maintained a "no-alcohol, no-drugs, no-lesbians" policy for decades, citing a 1986 interview in the Chicago Sun-Times in which the coach said she talked with recruits and their parents about lesbians. "I will not have it in my program," she was quoted as saying. "I bring it up, and the kids are so relieved, and the parents are so relieved."
Doering's letter to Spanier said a meeting could avoid "what undoubtedly will be painful, costly, and protracted litigation."
Harris, a guard, started 22 games and averaged 10 points per game as a sophomore last season for the 19-11 Lady Lions. As a transfer to James Madison, she must sit out one season at the Virginia school.
At last! Rene's homophobia has been a topic of conversation among gay and gay-friendly women's basketball players and fans for decades. Hurray for Jen Harris and NCLR!
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some of my best friends are lesbians.. so this statement isnt meant to be offensive.... but Portland looks and acts like a big lesbian. It cracks me up everytime people talk about how much she is against lesbians coz I always thought she was one.
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Keep your words sweet, you may just have to eat them
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Ditto here! I can't stand her even more now that I find out what a homophobe she is. No wonder she hates playing the Golden Gophers (where I am from) so much! What an old bag!
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It is so sad to hear these stories. I have heard other reports of Portland's nasty homophobia. This is true of other women's coaches as well -- notably Sylvia Hatchell at North Carolina. They use the L-card when talking to parents to recruit, and use it to try and belittle their players once they are on campus.
I know that these coaches have accomplished incredible things for their programs. I am sure in some ways they are good role models for their players. But in the world of higher education where we are teaching young folks how to deal with issues of respect and tolerance -- NOBODY should be allowed to express these types of views to the univerity community. PSU (and I am pretty sure UNC) have anti-discrimination clauses at their universities. I think you have to fire these people and make it clear that no matter how much "glory" their teams bring the schools, this will not be tolerated.
I had heard rumblings of this back at the end of the season in April. That is when the PSU player was driven off the team and away from the school.
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I know that Sylvia (UNC) promotes that she has a "Christian program" and has a "Christian atmosphere". We all know what "Christian" translates to = non-lesbian.
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UPDATE Portland's, Harris' attorneys to meet Monday, Oct. 17, 2005 -- The Digital Collegian -- By Jon Blau Collegian Staff Writer (excerpts)
Attorneys representing Penn State and former Penn State women's basketball player Jen Harris will meet via teleconference tomorrow afternoon to discuss possible legal action regarding Harris' release from the program, according to Harris' attorney Karen Doering.
Doering said she hopes the initial meeting will eventually result in a face-to-face encounter between the two sides. The proceedings should start around noon, continuing a process that began after the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) sent a letter to Penn State President Graham Spanier threatening a lawsuit against the university if action isn't taken against Penn State women's basketball coach RenePortland.
Some Penn State students also plan to take action tomorrow. A rally, organized by the Student Stonewall Coalition, will be held at noon on the ground floor of the HUB-Robeson Center to show support for Harris and "demand Rene Portland's dismissal from Penn State," according to a press release.
There is a fear among Harris' representation that a personal back and forth between a coach and former player might ensue. Doering said Penn State has assured her that the process would not come to that -- Harris' word versus Portland's -- where the coach would have the advantage.
"We're not playing on a level playing field here," Doering said.
Harris started 22 games last season while averaging 10.7 points per game, which ranked third on the team. Doering said Harris had about a 3.1 cumulative grade point average at the end of the fall 2004 semester. She said Harris' GPA fell to around 2.9 in spring 2005, but Doering attributed that to emotional stress from the situation with Portland. NCAA and Big Ten guidelines permit a minimum 2.0 GPA for athletic eligibility.
Doering said her concern lies with which authorities helped to produce Portland's statement. She said she felt that if it was a singular act by Portland, Penn State should investigate the claims. She added that each of Portland's allegations has little proof. Doering re-emphasized that everything Harris has said to this point has substantial evidence.
"The university said it would investigate, and if they helped this come out without an investigation, that would be completely inappropriate," Doering said.
As the legal process unfolds, Harris, now a member of the James Madison University women's basketball team, has said she has felt an emotional toll because of the events up to now.
"She's very hurt. It's very upsetting, but she expected this and knew it was going to be difficult," Doering said.
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QUOTE
Joe in Philly Should this thread go into "Gays In Sports" instead?
I think this thread is just fine where it is. After all, the prejudice in question is directed at women, lesbians in particular. Women's sports receive little attention; it helps to have our athletic pursuits kept somewhat separate from men's.
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Boston Globe has done a huge piece on Portland and the allegations of homophobia.
QUOTE
They echo through the years, voices from a generation of female basketball players who say their lives were marred by a powerful college coach's campaign against homosexuality. Their legacy of pain began in 1982, when, Cindy Davies says, Penn State coach Maureen T. ''Rene" Portland threatened to expose her as a lesbian. The legacy endured as Portland in 1986 publicly espoused her opposition to coaching homosexuals and reaffirmed her stance in 1991, all the while allegedly engaging in a pattern of bias based on sexual orientation. And the legacy grows as Jennifer Harris pursues a federal discrimination claim that Portland cut her from the Penn State team last year in part because the coach considered her a lesbian.
Even if the Harris case is untrue, the facts against Portland are bad enough that it is sick Penn State has not done anything to handle the situation. I wonder what will happen the first time she finds herself recruiting a player with gay parents?
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This may be a naive question, (being foreign I ask them a lot) but is it acceptable for a coach to declare their program "Christian" at all? I haven't got the impression that these are Christian-only colleges, (if I'm wrong, see disclaimer above. And tell me, please.) so why are these coaches able to openly state that Jewish, atheist, Moslem, Druid, Whatever players are less welcome?
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Not naive at all Rosgana (did I get your name right?) A private college may be Catholic, 7th Day Adventist, Jewish, Muslim, whatever. But a public college, and so far as I know Penn State is, is supposed to be non-sectarian. But there are other ways. They can't say "this is a Christian program" but they can say to potential recruits that the athletes in this program are all Christian, do you feel comfortable with that? The UCLA men's team that won the national title a few years back used to do that. It's just within the law. Because they are not saying you have to be Christian, just stating the fact that they all are.
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Shows that homophobia is still different. I bet if they had incontrovertable evidence that Portland had said "I won't have any Blacks on my team" or "I won't have any Jews on my team" or somesuch she'd be gone. Still I am glad there is some vindication, although not nearly what she deserves. May her teams always lose.
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From USA Today: On Monday, [May 15,] the parties will meet face-to-face for the first time in Harrisburg, Pa., at a court-ordered mediation, where they will try to resolve the case before its scheduled May 2007 trial. ...
Harris' 71-page complaint asks for an undisclosed amount in damages. In addition, Harris asks the court to order Penn State to conduct mandatory non-discrimination training for all athletic department employees, as well as to create policies to help student-athletes report discrimination without fear of retaliation. ...
The San Francisco-based advocacy group NCLR estimates Harris' attorney's fees are already about $400,000, on their tab.
Agreeing to a settlement can often be the most positive outcome... making the terms confidential actually can facilitate more far-reaching positive changes. (The) settlement probably means that Penn State, in addition to agreeing to a financial payout to Jen Harris, has also agreed to other terms that have far greater potential to change the climate at Penn State for future students. ...
Thank you, NCLR, and thank you, Jen Harris, for leading us further down the path toward sports equality for all.
Attorney Kate Kendell, NCLR's Executive Director, commented, "We have heard from many people who have told us that the visibility and dialogue sparked by this case have changed the national climate. Across the country, universities and national sport leaders are no longer asking if they should address homophobia in sport, they are taking affirmative steps to do so."
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QUOTE(FedererExpress @ Oct 15 2005, 04:43 AM)
Ditto here! I can't stand her even more now that I find out what a homophobe she is. No wonder she hates playing the Golden Gophers (where I am from) so much! What an old bag!
Have you heard anything about Indiana University? They had a lesbian player released from their team last year. Its not clear that was the reason. Interestingly enough Portland now lives in Bloomington and her daughter is married to a coach on the IU team. IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack seems to be a person of deep faith, so i don't know if thats why the player left???
Rene Portland's Homophobia Challenged
Oct 13 2005, 06:13 AM
