Rene Portland, a prominent college basketball coach, was inimical to lesbians in college basketball.
Rene Portland was her name. Perhaps that name doesn’t ring a bell. That happens a lot in sports played by women—even among those who’ve distinguished themselves.
Immaculata returning to Philly after winning the 1974 AIWA championship. Rene Portland is pictured in the front row, second from the right. (photo, Immaculata University)
And Rene Portland did just that, both as a college basketball player and, later, as a coach.
She played for the ‘Mighty Macs’ (Immaculata College, now University) where she won three national championships. It was during an era when women’s college basketball was administered by the AIAW, not the NCAA.
Later, Portland won nearly 700 games as a head coach, most of them at Penn State. She coached there for nearly 30 years, reaching The Final Four in 2000, and ending her career in the all-time top ten nationally in wins.
Portland died from cancer last month. She was 65 years old.
The New York Times paid tribute to Portland in an obituary written by sports journalist, Richard Sandomir—a tribute the Times rarely pays to women’s college basketball coaches.
In her obit, Sandomir gave lengthy commentary to “it”—the issue that put Portland in a national spotlight for reasons beyond wins, titles, and championships.
From The Daily Collegian, Penn State University (May 1991): “Carrying signs reading ‘Homophobia has no place on the Lady Lions basketball team,’ more than 50 students and town residents paraded in a wide circle in front of Rec Hall to protest Coach Rene Portland’s alleged policy of barring lesbians from her team.”
That storyline, which reverberated for decades, was “like a toothache that you try to ignore.” That’s the way ESPN’s Mechelle Voepele described it in 2005 while writing a story about Portland and PSU. “Maybe you chew on the other side of your mouth or take some aspirin. Maybe some days, you ignore it better than others. But it doesn’t actually go away. It’s always there. And in this case, the toothache belongs to all of Division I women’s basketball.”
Rene Portland in 2006 (photo courtesy 247 Sports)
It was an uncomfortable story for sure, but it was also a big story, an important one, too. The LGBT Sports History Timeline lists the beginning of it—an investigative report published in The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1991—as one of the most important events in LGBT sports history.
The context associated with the story represents what happens time-and-time again in sports—the juxtaposition of team success with an issue that’s outside-the-lines.
In 1991, the Lady Lions were 29-2, ranked #1 during the season, and Portland was named coach of the year. But rumors circulated that Portland had “negative attitudes about players who were gay.” That’s the way The Inquirer phrased in 2007.
In fact, Portland was outspoken about her feelings. As The New York Times obit reported, Portland told The Chicago Sun-Times in 1986 that “she raised the subject of ‘lesbian activity’ when she recruited prospective players. ‘I will not have it in my program.’”
The NYT obit continues: “In 1991, Patti Longenecker, who played at Penn State from 1983 to 1986, told The Philadelphia Inquirer: “She tells you flat out, ‘I don’t have any appreciation for the homosexual lifestyle. I won’t have that on my team.’”
That was 1991. In 2007, Portland resigned as Penn State’s head coach. Resigned, not fired.
There were lawsuits in the years between, changes in university policy, and engagements with PSU personalities better known for their involvement in the Sandusky case—Joe Paterno, the AD who hired Portland, and Graham Spanier, the president who sanctioned/fined Portland for discriminatory attitudes and behaviors.
But the issue—at its most fundamental level—was never resolved at Penn State.
It came up again, publicly, in 2017 when Portland was nominated for the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. But on what criteria do you base a HOF nomination?
Portland was inducted. “For athletic success,” concluded Alex Bauer in PSU’s Onward State. But what about “allegations of discrimination and homophobia” he asked?
I think Voepele had it right: this story is a lot like a toothache. And this toothache turned into an infection.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPkO-fEIHKY
