Fostering a tolerant playing field

A panel of athletes and athletics experts spoke last night to bridge two often distinct groups -- athletes and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

"Coming Out to Play: The Experience of the LGBT Athlete" was part of QPenn's continuing montage of events, which ends on Friday.

"There are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender people on your teams," panelist and Graduate School of Education Senior Fellow Douglas Toma told audience members. "Believe it."

Yet when he put forth the challenge for the audience to think of an LGBT professional athlete, it took a full three minutes to generate the name of a Women's National Basketball Association player.

This discrepancy was the issue that the panel -- sponsored by new student organization PATH, or Penn's Athletes and Allies Tackling Homophobia and Heterosexism -- hoped to identify and begin to alleviate.

Panelist and former collegiate athlete Elise Betz revealed her own encounter with homophobia during her playing years.

"In my experience, it just wasn't safe to be out," the Penn Fund assistant director said. "You did everything you could not to be one of those dykes on the basketball team."

Former Penn varsity swimmer Blake Martin, who graduated in 2001, portrayed a slightly improved situation from the time Betz was in school.

"I never felt unsafe... but you don't want to be made fun of, you don't want to be ostracized," he said of revealing his sexuality to his team.

To confront these problems, the panelists proposed an array of solutions they hope to implement.

"It doesn't have to be a big thing -- I don't expect the Athletic Department to hang a sign that says, 'We Love You, You Queers,'" Betz said.

Instead, she stressed the importance of smaller improvements that could be made within athletic departments.

"I think we would all agree language is huge," Betz said, as the panel discussed the use of the word "faggot" and the phrase, "That's so gay."

"The coach plays such an incredible role" in establishing a positive team dynamic, Martin added.

For others, it's the players themselves who must foster a better environment and an accepting attitude.

"It has to start with athletes," College junior and track team member Erin Rhoades said.

But regardless of who should implement modifications, people are listening.

Calling the panel "enlightening," Associate Athletic Director Mary Di Stanislao saw the student accounts of personal experiences as reason for change.

"I like to think that we are sensitive, that our coaches are sensitive," she said. "But I think [student] perception is reality."

And as long as concerns over safety and acceptance are a reality to LGBT athletes, work remains to be done.

"My predominant reaction at having heard all this tonight is sadness," Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center Director Robert Schoenberg said.

Yet the panel and the proposals made last night inspired some optimism within the audience.

"I thought it was really constructive," QPenn Committee Chairwoman Amanda Nordstrom said.

The panelists aimed to find ways to help not only athletics free itself from homophobia, but also for LGBT athletes to free themselves from the fear of not being accepted.

"When I let go of all that," Betz said, "then I really saw my true potential as an athlete."

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