It is not uncommon for the following circumstances to be encountered in women’s sports:
- A coach suggests to a recruit that the coach of the team at another school she is considering is a lesbian.
- A candidate for a coaching position is asked whether she is single or married (despite the fact that such a question is not legal) and, if single, is assumed to be a lesbian and is not considered for employment.
- Women who play on varsity teams are labeled as “lesbians.”
- Prospective student athletes are deterred from choosing a particular school because someone suggests there are lesbians on the team on which they would play.
Use of society’s fear of homosexuality is one of the only tools left to keep young women from playing sports or from choosing to play for certain coaches. Coaches who want an “edge” in recruiting and do not think that negative recruiting is unethical, will use a true or untrue label, like “homosexual” against another coach. Those who feel threatened by Title IX, the federal law guaranteeing women equal opportunity in sports, are using fear of exposing women coaches as lesbians to deter them from talking about unequal treatment of female athletes.
There are gays and lesbians in every population so it would be not be surprising to learn there are lesbian members of women’s athletics teams, or any other college team or group of people for that matter. What is surprising is that similar tactics are not used to scare boys away from playing sports.
We must all work to overcome the perpetuation of homophobia—the fear of homosexuality. We cannot allow its use as a powerful tool to scare both homosexual and heterosexual women away from taking part in sports. By implying or stating outright that women who play sports, or women who play sports at a particular school, are lesbian, you can ensure that most women, straight or lesbian, will avoid that school or avoid sports entirely. As a result, women deny themselves opportunities that may indeed be positive and healthy experiences.
The presence or absence of gays and lesbians is not the issue. Any label applied to an entire group wrongly stereotypes every member of the group and is patently unethical. All football players are not dumb. All female athletes are not lesbians. All male dancers, artists and designers are not gay.
The bottom line is that we are educated people who must understand how homophobia is “used,” by those who would like to destroy the reputation of a program or school or coach or to remove the opportunity to play or work. What is important is that we focus on people’s strengths rather than their weaknesses and respect all people who are honest and who, by their actions and words, respect the rights of others.
It is also important for us to distinguish between homophobia and sexual harassment. We cannot and should not discriminate on the basis of sexual preference in the provision of any educational program or activity. Conversely we must oppose and punish sexual harassment at all times.
Any male or female student, whether they participate in athletics or not, should not be subject to unwanted sexual advances—from a member of either sex. In fact, the possibility of being propositioned by a lesbian student-athlete is not the only uncomfortable situation that female student-athletes may face. Sexual harassment by male students or male student-athletes are other situations that occur even more frequently to female students. Sexual harassment or even sexual assault by male coaches of female student-athletes is a significant problem in school and open amateur sport settings across the country that often goes unreported.
Rather than focus on the presence or absence of lesbians, perhaps parents and coaches should focus on helping young women student-athletes to know that they can turn down any unwanted advances and should not put up with sexual harassment from any source—male or female.
