Another Title IX Retaliation Case With Homophobic Overtones

The NCLR Sports Project is representing the former head women’s basketball coach and her partner, the team director of operations, at Mesa Community College in San Diego. Lorri Sulpizio and Cathy Bass have been at Mesa for seven years. They allege that they have been subjected to hostile treatment because of their sexual orientation and that they were fired after coach Supizio complained about gender inequity in the athletic department. Is this starting to sound familiar?

The number of Title IX retaliation cases in which coaches and administrators who complain about gender inequity in the athletic department are fired seems to be growing. In almost all instances the firings occur despite outstanding performance records. These lawsuits indicate the continuing resistance among some male administrators to ethical and legal requirements that women and men should receive equitable treatment in athletics. These cases also highlight the stunning arrogance behind administrative decisions to fire coaches solely because they have the audacity to demand equality. How dare these uppity women challenge the status quo!

The interconnections between homophobia and sexism in these cases keep popping up too. The cases often include charges that administrators in these situations use the L-word to intimidate women coaches, regardless of their sexual orientation, create a hostile climate for lesbians or they accuse women coaches of “inappropriate relationships” with women athletes or student managers without credible evidence to back their charges. In the Mesa Community College case, the plaintiffs are lesbians and charge that they were fired in part because of their sexual orientation.

Here’s the Dishonor Roll of Title IX retaliation cases so far: Fresno State, University of California Berkeley, Feather River Community College, Florida Gulf Coast University, Montana State, University of Hawaii, and now, Mesa Community College. Jill Lieber of USA Today recently wrote a great article about these cases. The Title IX Blog is also an excellent place to visit if you want to keep up the most recent development on Title IX.

The good news is that coaches and administrators who choose to challenge Title IX retaliation, with or without a little homophobia thrown in for good measure, are winning big time in court or receiving settlements that should make other athletic departments sit up and take notice. “Should” is the operative word here. You’d think that the Fresno State jury awards to the coaches and administrators who filed lawsuits there would at least give other administrators pause. Unfortunately that has not been the case at Florida Gulf Coast University. The school and athletic administrators there seem determined to go down in flames rather than acknowledge that there are any problems at all with gender equity and homophobia in the athletic department. There are so many lawsuits filed and apt to be filed at FGCU that the lawyers will need to take a ticket to determine who gets to rake the school and athletic department over the coals first.

As activist and author Suzanne Pharr said, “homophobia is a weapon of sexism.” The truth of her statement is clear in the noxious mix of these two social diseases in many of these cases. It’s a good reminder that we cannot only fight sexism and we cannot only fight homophobia and heterosexism. Neither can we only fight racism or classism or only fight transgender oppression. They are all connected and grow from the same root: the desire to hoard power and resources for the few at the expense of the many.

Some schools and athletic departments have to learn the hard way that these inequities will no longer be tolerated. Coaches and administrators as well as athletes who experience discrimination because of sex, sexual orientation or gender identity are speaking up more often. They get lawyers. They sue. They often win. The old days when administrators and coaches who enforce discrimination could count on intimidation, submission and fear are gone.


It’s too bad really. Equality is not as painful as some folks apparently think it is. Surely it is not as painful as a public trial with multi-million dollar jury penalties or years of bad press and large financial settlements. Ask Fresno State. Ask Penn State. Unfortunately, I have a feeling you might be able to ask FGCU and Mesa CC about this too in the not to distant future.

Honoring Openly Lesbian and Gay Coaches: Vote for Your Choice

Outsports.com has teamed up with Logo, the LGBT TV channel, to nominate four openly gay or lesbian coaches for Logo’s NewNowNext award honoring “the best of the best in today and tomorrow's gay culture.” Thanks to Logo for including sport among the categories for the awards.


Cyd Zeigler of Outsports asked me for suggestions for nominees and I am happy to say that three of the nominees are folks I suggested: Jenny Allard, women’s softball coach at Harvard University, Shannon Miller, women’s ice hockey coach at University of Minnesota Duluth, and Kirk Walker, women’s softball coach at Oregon State University. The fourth nominee is Kyle Hawkins, former men’s lacrosse coach at the University of Missouri.


All of these coaches are pioneers and deserve recognition. There are still not that many publicly out lesbian and gay coaches at any level. More and more coaches are openly gay, but what distinguishes these four is their willingness to speak out publicly as gay. They have spoken on “homophobia in sport” panels and had news articles written about them and their families. In doing so they help to dispel the myth that lesbian and gay coaches pose a threat to their program’s reputation or to the athletes they coach.


Jenny, Shannon and Kirk are all successful coaches who head up well known collegiate programs and do so as openly gay coaches. Kyle is currently coaching in Germany. When prospective athletes and their parents see openly gay successful collegiate coaches who are supported by their schools, their teams and the parents of their team members, it sends a strong message that counteracts the stereotypes that thrive in silence and invisibility.


Go to Outsports.com to learn more about the four nominees and cast your vote for which of these four coaches should be honored with the NewNowNext award. It’s a shame really that they can’t all be honored. As pioneers, all four of them deserve our recognition and our thanks for helping to make sport a better place for the LGBT athletes and coaches who will come after them.

I Feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty!

Multiple Choice Question:

The WNBA rookie orientation took 1/3 of its time focusing on:

A. Fitness and Nutrition
B. Media Training
C. Make-up Application and Fashion Tips
D. Financial Advice


If you picked C, you would be correct. That’s right, according to a Chicago Tribune article, one third of the orientation was focused on helping the new pros look more feminine and sexy. Here we have a 2008 class of incredible athletes led by Candace Parker, Candice Wiggins, Sylvia Fowles who can, as demonstrated in Tampa, bring fans into the stands and get them to turn on the TV based on their ability to play ball and what does the WNBA focus one-third of the orientation time on? That same old tired, disproven, apologetic and insulting strategy of “let’s sell their femininity and heterosex appeal.”

Now, I don’t give a rat’s patoot if women (or men for that matter) want to wear lipstick, eye shadow, blush or eyeliner. If you want to wear stiletto heels and evening gowns that show cleveage down to your navel, go for it. But for the WNBA to include this in their rookie orientation? Seriously, is this the best marketing strategy they can come up with? For Pete’s sake, these are some amazing athletes, does the WBNA really think lipstick and Gucci stiletto heels will draw more fans?

It feels so defensive…so desperate. Renee Brown, WNBA VP of player personnel said (with my interpretations in parentheses), “ The league aims to show its players as mothers, daughters, sisters, nieces and entrepreneurs (but not lesbians!) and their womanhood (heterosexual femininity) is important to promote the league (so fans don’t notice the lesbian players or the ones who are not so feminine). Later, she says, “You’re a (heterosexual) woman first. You just happen to play sports. They enjoy dressing up and trying on outfits, when back in the day (when all women athletes were lesbians), everyone just wore sweats. Call it what you want, we are just celebrating their womanhood (heterosexual femininity).” Does that help everyone to understand what this is about?

Since the WNBA is going down this tired old path, after all, the All-American Girls Baseball League used this strategy back in the 1940’s, I have a suggestion. Let’s have the new WNBA tag line this year be, “I Feel Pretty.” They can do TV promos with the song from West Side Story. Here are some of the lyrics:

I feel pretty
Oh so pretty
I feel pretty and witty and gay (whoops, maybe not so gay, we’ll need to change that one)
And I pity
Any girl who isn't me today
I feel charming
Oh so charming
It's alarming how charming I feel
And so pretty
That I hardly can believe I'm real
See the pretty girl in that mirror there?
Who can that attractive girl be?
Such a pretty face
Such a pretty dress
Such a pretty smile
Such a pretty me!

Whaddaya think? Am I on to something here, or what?

A Little Reminder About What It’s All About

This post doesn’t have anything to do with LGBT issues in sport and it has everything to do with LGBT issues in sport. Last week in a conference softball game between Central Washington and Eastern Oregon that determined which team would move forward to the post-season, a 5’2” senior on the Oregon team, Sara Tucholsky,came to the plate. Hecklers in the stands went to work on Sara as she dug in to the batter’s box. The diminutive Sara, like a female Dustin Pedroia, took a big swing and hit the first home run of her collegiate career that would her team the lead. As she rounded first base, Sara stumbled and fell in agony with what turned out to be the dreaded ACL injury.

In an extraordinary act of compassion, sportswomanship, empathy, selflessness – call it what you will – Mallory Holtman, a senior on the Central Washington team, offered that she and teammate Liz Wallace could carry Sara around the bases, and make sure her uninjured foot touched each base so that the home run and the RBIs that went with it would stand. So, they did it as the fans on both teams cheered.

I have to tell you when I saw the report of this incident on TV last night, I got all teary-eyed. I am kind of sap anyway, truth be told, but something about Mallory Holtman’s offer and the sight of her and Liz carrying Sara around the bases just got to me on some fundamental level. I am tearing up again now writing about it.

I spend so much time writing about and fighting against outrageous acts of bigotry, selfishness, ignorance and stupidity in sport by fans, coaches, athletes, athletic administrators. Even those amazing moments when I am working with a group of coaches or athletes and they are engaged and I feel their intention and commitment to sports equality for all women and men do not affect me the way this story did.

No one would have criticized Mallory Holtman if she had not offered to carry Sara Tucholsky around the bases. Breaks of the game, right? We win. You lose. Sorry about your knee. I’m not sure I would have offered to carry Sara around the bases had I been in Mallory’s spikes. Post-season play was at stake. It was her senior year. A chance to play another game. Wear that uniform one more time. Maybe more.

Maybe that’s it. Her offer so countered what we expect in sport these days. Her offer was so spontaneous, so natural. She was surprised later by all the fuss over it. She just thought it was the right thing to do and she did it.

It reminds me of playing in the Mary V. Softball league here in Northampton, MA. A league dedicated to “feminist” softball played by mostly lesbians. Despite the score of the game, everyone on our team got equal playing time regardless of skill or experience. I believed in this ethic with all my heart, but I have to tell you sometimes when the game was on the line, I cringed with regret when I saw a fly ball heading toward a teammate who I knew from experience was as likely to duck it as catch it. One day this happened. Bottom of the seventh, we are in the field, two outs, two runners on, we are ahead by one run. The ball was hit to right field. Our rightfielder stumbled hesitantly, but gamely under the ball, I held my breath as the base runners whizzed past me on third base heading for home. She stuck her glove out…and caught the ball. Third out. Game over. We win. The look of surprise and accomplishment on my teammate’s face when she turned the glove around and saw that ball nestled in the pocket was priceless. I felt a little ashamed that my desire to win the game, at least for that moment of regret, was stronger than my commitment to her opportunity to go for it, to have the chance to succeed (or fail). Seeing the joy in her eyes and that wide smile of accomplishment was one of those pure moments in sport like the one that happened on that softball field on the west coast last week. We need those little reminders every now and then. I do anyway.

More on Homophobic Sports Fans…And Ways To Address the Problem

In my February 18 blog I commented on the disgraceful fan behavior at the men’s basketball game between UCLA and Oregon where UCLA freshman Kevin Love and his family in the stands were subjected to a barrage of homophobic and other degrading taunts from Oregon fans. Unfortunately, this event is not an isolated incident. It seems like a trend that has become more common in both men’s and women’s sports at all levels.

Recently, the homophobic atmosphere created by fans at New York Rangers Ice Hockey games has been in the news. It turns out that Kevin Jennings, the executive director of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network, a national advocacy organization for addressing LGBT issues in schools, is a Rangers fan. He found the homophobic atmosphere at Madison Square Garden so uncomfortable that he stopped going to games. Then Kevin, being the incredible activist and educator that he is, did something about it: He arranged a meeting with representatives from the New York Rangers and the Garden.

According to an article in the New York Times, the Rangers and Garden staff agreed to implement a specific action plan based on recommendations provided by Kevin and Jeff Kagen, the director of the New York City Gay Hockey Association (Apparently fans erupted in a chorus of boos when the group’s name appeared on monitors above the ice). I’m not sure what the specific action plan is, but I hope other professional and college officials follow suit.

This is not a problem limited to men’s sports. Last year the Mills College soccer team (Mills is a women’s college) was subjected to homophobic and racist taunts from opposing players during a game with another school in their conference. In response, the Mills soccer team introduced a proposal to the NCAA for legislation that bans derogatory behavior during sporting events. The legislation was passed.

That’s the first part of the battle – developing a policy. The tough part is getting schools and professional teams to adopt and enforce policy. As I have said before, I think it is way past time for professional team and college administrators to set some standards (and enforce them) on what is acceptable fan behavior. I hope the New York Rangers’ willingness to set such policy is a good start.

You don’t need to be Kevin Jennings or a leader of a national GLBT advocacy organization to make a difference. If you attend a game and are subjected to homophobic, racist or sexist behavior by other fans, call the school AD or the team management. Some fans of European football, where the same fan behavior plagues games, have organized mass actions at games to indicate that they do not accept homophobic, sexist and racist taunts as part of cheering for (or against) teams. Similar group actions organized by local fans could make an important statement and let the goons who engage in this offensive behavior that it will not be tolerated.

If we don’t let sports leaders know what we think, our silence is interpreted as comfort with the hostile, and potentially violent, climate that is created when offensive behavior is tolerated.

A Short Blogging Hiatus

Just a quick note to say I am on a short blogging hiatus until April 27. I am in California and have limited internet access, but I'll be back in two weeks. I went to the Billies Tuesday night. The Women's Sports Foundation media awards event in LA. It was really fun and inspiring. Elton John gave us an amazing mini-concert at the end that was great. Plan on coming to next year's event. It is really fun. Now I am on to Northern California for a family visit after spending two days in Pasadena geocaching with my pals the geogirlz.

“The Lesbians Are Coming! The Lesbians Are Coming! Everyone To Get From the Street!”

Remember the 1966 comedy, “The Russians Are Coming”? Maybe not, it was a long time ago. A Soviet sub runs aground near a small New England coastal town. The sub captain sends a bunch of Russian sailors ashore to steal a boat so they can try to pull their sub off the sandbar without being detected by the locals. They try to get everyone living in the town off the street by going door-to door pretending to be Americans warning families to hide from hostile Russians who have landed on their shore (This was during the Cold War). They do this in some hare-brained scheme to steal the boat and get their sub back out to sea without being detected or something like that. They knock on doors and try to scare people into hiding by shouting in their limited English, “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! Everyone To Get From the Street!”

In the days leading up to the Final Four the St. Petersburg and Tampa newspapers have each published articles describing large numbers of lesbians descending on the Bay Area for the NCAA women’s final four and the parties that local lesbian entrepreneurs have planned to capitalize on the event. The articles seem to have been modeled on the movie. I remember a similar article in a Cleveland paper last year.

Wild estimates in the paper claim that 75% of the fans are lesbians and that the other 25% are closeted. The Final Four is described as the Lesbian Super Bowl. Are there lots of lesbians in town? Yes. Should this be a big whoop? No. Perhaps a side story, but above the fold as a major story about the Final Four? I don’t think so. The focus should be on the four teams who have made it through the tournament and are here to compete. Some of players are gay and some of them are straight, but this weekend, they are all basketball players, elite athletes who deserve to be celebrated for their athletic achievements. The same goes for the fans: some of us are gay, some of us are straight, and this weekend we sit elbow to elbow in the St. Pete’s Forum to cheer on the teams we support, united by our enjoyment of the games.

I’m trying to image a similar story in a San Antonio paper this week where the men’s final four is, “Alamo Under Siege as Hoards of White Heterosexual Men Descend on the City for Partying and Basketball, Hooters Looks to Cash In on Thirsty Men.” Or how about a story that speculates on why these men are so devoted to watching other men in baggy shorts and tank tops play basketball.

In one of the articles an NCAA spokesperson was quoted, “To say any NCAA championship appeals to a certain percentage of a particular segment of the population, especially without any scientific backing, is without merit. The truth is each tournament appeals to a core group of fans but that core is as diverse as the American population itself.”

Is that a tortured comment or what? I wonder how many people it took to come up with that. If they had to comment at all on these stupid “lesbians are overrunning our city” stories, I wish they could have acknowledged the lesbian fan base and taken the opportunity to state their organizational position on homophobia in sport, discrimination against lesbian coaches, athletes and fans and cited some the initiatives they have undertaken to address these issues. An editorial in an Orlando paper does address this.


In a variation of the words of LGBT activists at pride marches everywhere, “We’re here, we’re queer, we cheer…get used to it.