When the Women’s Sports Foundation lost funding for the It Takes a Team project earlier this year, we were worried that the venerable Pat Griffin would be limited in the work she could do to combat homophobia in sports. Fear not. In addition to co-authoring a great report on transgender athletes, now comes news that GLSEN has hired Griffin to build a program addressing sports homophobia in elementary, middle and high schools across the country. We’re super excited to see what Griffin develops there: GLSEN couldn’t have chosen a better person to helm the project!
More information from a GLSEN press release after the jump.
When the Women’s Sports Foundation lost funding for the It Takes a Team project earlier this year, we were worried that the venerable Pat Griffin would be limited in the work she could do to combat homophobia in sports. Fear not. In addition to co-authoring a great report on transgender athletes, now comes news that GLSEN has hired Griffin to build a program addressing sports homophobia in elementary, middle and high schools across the country. We’re super excited to see what Griffin develops there: GLSEN couldn’t have chosen a better person to helm the project!
More information from a GLSEN press release after the jump.
GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, is pleased to announce that Dr. Pat Griffin, former Director of It Takes a Team Education Campaign for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Issues in Sport at the Women’s Sports Foundation, has joined GLSEN to develop and direct a program to address homophobia in K-12 sports.
The GLSEN Sports Project, which will launch next year, will assist K-12 schools in creating and maintaining an athletic and physical education climate that is based on the core principals of respect, safety and equal access for all students and coaches regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.
“We are thrilled to work with Pat Griffin to ensure that GLSEN’s efforts to create safe and enriching schools extend to playgrounds, playing fields and locker rooms,” GLSEN Executive Director Eliza Byard said. “Every child should have the opportunity to experience the positive benefits of sports in a safe and affirming environment, and Pat is a sports icon who has dedicated her career to making that dream a reality.”
Griffin is a Professor Emeritus in the Social Justice Education Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is author of Strong Women, Deep Closets: Lesbian and Homophobia in Sports and co-editor of Teaching For Diversity and Social Justice: A Sourcebook for Teachers and Trainers.
The former three-sport athlete at University of Maryland brings more than 25 years of experience as a coach and educator working to change the sports culture so that younger generations of LGBT athletes can live openly, be recognized for who they are and respected for their character. In 2007, Griffin was recognized as 100 most influential sports educators by the International Sports Institute.
“I am excited to work with GLSEN on this important project,” Griffin said. “I have great respect for what GLSEN does to make schools safe for LGBT students, and I look forward to creating a top notch resource for athletics and physical education.”
