Pat Griffin

The Guiding Light Griffin Leads Fight Against Homophobia
By Judy Van Handle, Boston Globe from the Web, July 25, 2003

The first National Gay and Lesbian Athletics Conference was in full swing, and Pat Griffin was in full force. Whether it was speaking at a kickoff dinner, addressing an opening-night reception, serving as a panelist, engaging in a lively debate about perceived sexism in photographs of women athletes, or participating in a book signing, Griffin was omnipresent, if not omniscient, at the three-day event held last spring at MIT. Actually, there was no reason to expect any other level of enthusiasm and involvement from Griffin, who was completely in her element -- a groundbreaking individual at a landmark event geared toward much of her life's work.

Pat Griffin is many things -- on her website, she refers to herself as an ''educator/activist/scholar'' -- but she also is an athlete, coach, author, lecturer, academic, and a founder of a curriculum of study at the University of Massachusetts. But when she says, ''I am a pioneer,'' she is referring to her status as an original authority on sexism and homophobia in athletics, with an emphasis on women's sports. For nearly two decades, Griffin has made hundreds of public appearances, written, studied, run seminars and workshops, and is a sought-after consultant and spokesperson.

Her book, ''Strong Women, Deep Closets,'' was the first to analyze the lesbian experience in sports and the prejudice that has often marginalized the athletes, their achievements, and even their existence. ''Pat was one of the first and one of the best in bringing the issue of homophobia in sports to the forefront,'' said Jim Buzinski, a co-founder of outsports.com, a website for gay sports fans and athletes. ''She is such a voice and such an authority.''

Most recently, Griffin has collaborated with the Women's Sports Foundation and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in developing projects designed to educate while eradicating homophobia in athletics. ''I'm so moved and so impressed by Pat's ability,'' said Maureen Groden, a friend for nearly 30 years whom Griffin coached at UMass in the mid-1970s. ''When someone is able to educate people without offending them, that's a gift.''

''It's very gratifying to me that people are taking this on as an issue,'' said Griffin. ''The cultural climate has changed. Athletics won't be able to put it back in the box. The younger gay and lesbian athletes are less likely to take it [discrimination]. That gives me a great deal of hope.'' Remembering what it was like to grow up in a less-progressive time is one of the most important reasons behind her work: ''My hope is that no other gay or lesbian athlete has to go through what I went through.''

Growing up in Silver Spring, Md., in the 1950s and early 1960s, Griffin, now 57, was a gifted athlete who played collegiate basketball and field hockey (and later was a member of the 1971 US field hockey team). But she carried a secret, agonizing that her friends and teammates would discover the truth about her sexual orientation. She closely guarded her lesbianism, even to the point of dating the wrestling coach at the high school where she taught physical education upon graduating from the University of Maryland in 1967. Griffin has told the story many times of how, when she spotted a newspaper story in an airport lounge in the summer of 1969 about the Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village that sparked the gay movement, she nervously checked that no one could see what she was reading, afraid they would suspect she was gay. But when she arrived in Amherst to begin her graduate studies in 1970, the personal was about to become political. ''I was a deeply closeted coach in high school and my first few years at UMass,'' said Griffin, now a professor of Social Justice Education. ''I remember the first time I attended a public event [at the school's women's center], I thought the entire athletic department would be lined up watching me.''

When she coached women's swimming at UMass from 1971-76, many lesbian athletes on campus would confide in her about their lives, seeking guidance and a sympathetic ear. It angered Griffin that the secrecy and guilt, so predominant in her youth, still existed, and it fueled her desire to effect change. Her chance was not long in coming. After organizing workshops on homophobia for educators and joining a gay and lesbian speakers bureau in nearby Northampton, Griffin's presentation at the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance annual conference in 1987 was called ''Doing Research on Controversial Topics: Homosexuality and Homophobia in Physical Education and Sport.''

Her public persona was born, and as Griffin's reputation began to grow, so did the visibility of lesbians and gay men in sports. ''Through the '80s, there was basically nothing in the mainstream press,'' said Griffin. ''You'd see articles on things like the secret lives of athletes. But then there was a real turning point in the early 1990s with the Rene Portland firestorm. There was a real shift in the mainstream press, the perspective that Penn State has a problem.'' Portland, the Penn State women's basketball coach, had been quoted as saying she did not recruit nor allow lesbians on her team. In 1992, after a public furor over Portland's stance, Griffin was asked by the school to conduct a workshop on homophobia for the school's athletic staff.

A decade later, the changes that have swept through society have been slower to arrive in sports. Very few professional athletes, among them Martina Navratilova, were openly gay when the Portland controversy erupted; since then, that number was increased by only a handful (including tennis player Amelie Mauresmo, former major leaguer Billy Bean, and ex-WNBA player Sue Wicks). ''Athletes have a level of single-minded focus,'' said Griffin. ''They don't want to have distractions, and don't want to deal with more issues. Political athletes are the exception.''

Griffin's work challenges and attempts to change the attitudes that discourage gay and lesbian athletes and coaches from being open about their sexual orientation. ''People often assume that it's [sports] a wonderful place to be a lesbian, but some often don't know how to act with a lesbian teammate or roommate. They go straight back to the stereotypes that are used against progress in women's sports, and that hurts all female athletes, straight or gay. ''Coaches still use negative recruiting [stressing that their program is run by heterosexuals and that other schools may not be]. I know lesbian coaches have been afraid in the past to show up at my workshops. There are coaches who are also partners that go into restaurants and sit at separate tables, then leave separately, so no one will think they're together.''

Griffin, in her eight-year relationship with Kathy Neal, a former professional softball player, is one of the authors of ''It Takes a Team! Making Sports Safe for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Athletes,'' a publication used as part of an educational project sponsored by The Project to Eliminate Homophobia in Sports. Backed by the Women's Sports Foundation, the NCAA, and five other organizations, the program is being used by a growing number of colleges. ''Pat's idea is not just what can be done to make athletics safe for gay people, but what athletes can do to make sports safer for everyone,'' said Buzinski. ''It's great to see people stepping up to the plate for us; the whole movement is picking up such momentum,'' said Griffin. ''It's a challenge for sports organizations to take seriously their responsibility to create an environment that produces respect and an educational policy.'' ''Pat has a wonderful sense of humor, but lots of times, when you're trying to educate people, the most hateful and ignorant things are said,'' said Groden. ''I asked Pat, how do you stand it? She said, `My hope is to move someone in the right direction.' '' This story ran on page E13 of the Boston Globe on 7/25/2003.