An LGBT and ally group on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania will stage a series of events next week that seek to raise awareness about the prevalent homophobic environment in college athletics and encourage students, faculty and staff to speak out against such attitudes.
Penn Athletes and Allies Tackling Homophobia will host Homophobia in Athletics Awareness Week beginning Feb. 15, with activities that shed light on the challenges gay athletes face both on and off the court and what still needs to be done to create a more welcoming atmosphere for all college athletes.
Kelsey Wolfe, co-chair of the group and a sophomore softball player, said this is the first time the organization has devoted an entire week to spreading its message throughout the Penn campus.
PATH was founded in the spring of 2003 by a freshman swim-team member who Wolfe said “couldn’t deal with the homophobia he saw on the team” and decided to create an advocacy group to address the issue.
Wolfe, who is openly gay, said the organization now has about 25 members who belong to the LGBT and athletic communities and some who are members of both.
“A lot of what we do is trying to break the homophobic climate in the athletic community,” Wolfe said. “A lot of our social events pull together varsity athletes and people from the LGBT community and give them all a safe place to come together.”
Wolfe, who said she has encountered homophobic attitudes from a few of her fellow players, noted that such a mindset is common to many of the campus’ sports communities.
“A lot of athletes are closeted,” Wolfe said. “People feel they can’t be out because it might ruin their relationships with their teammates or with their coaches.”
Throughout Awareness Week, PATH will have an organizational banner hanging on Locust Walk, one of the campus’ main thoroughfares, where all Penn community members can sign their names and pledge their support for PATH and its mission.
PATH members and supporters will gather for a pickup game with gay rugby team the Philadelphia Gryphons at 3 p.m. Feb. 15 at Hill Field, 34th and Chestnut streets, and afterward will head to Mikey’s Bar & Grill, 31st and Chestnut, where participants will enjoy food and drink specials.
On Feb. 17, PATH will encourage all of its members to wear PATH T-shirts so the group’s message is carried to classrooms across campus.
The following night at 6:30, PATH will welcome a collection of athletic representatives from area colleges for a panel discussion, “It’s Not Whether You’re Gay or Straight, It’s How You Play the Game: A Discussion on Homophobia in Athletics” in the Dunning Coaches’ Center.
The discussion, which will analyze why LGBT college athletes often choose to stay in the closet, will be led by panelists Jen Moore, openly gay assistant coach of women’s softball at Swarthmore College; Michael Muska, openly gay former athletic director at Oberlin College; Sean Smith, openly gay former assistant swim coach at Rutgers University; Paul Richard, head coach of men’s swimming at Dickinson College; Denis Elton Cochran-Fikes, compliance coordinator in Penn’s department of recreation and intercollegiate athletics; and Amanda Kammes, assistant coach of women’s basketball at Penn.
Wolfe said the discussion will bring attention to an issue that is one of the most taboo subjects in the college-sports world.
“The lack of visibility is why this panel is so necessary,” she said. “No one is talking about this issue, so it continues to be a problem.”
For more information about PATH, visit www.vpul.upenn.edu/lgbtc/path/.
JJen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].