Ohio State Law hosting event on homophobia in sports, Monday, April 16

On Monday, April 16, the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law will be hosting a panel discussion on “Homophobia in Sports and Developments in Policies at the Institutional Level.”

The event will be from 12:10 p.m. to 1:15 p.m., and the event is free, open to the public, and lunch will be served.  The law school is located in Drinko Hall at 55 West 12th Avenue.  (Facebook event with all the details here; RSVPs are appreciated for planning purposes.)

I am very pleased that this event is coming together, and the two speakers that will be on the panel are great: Professor Erin Buzuvis, a Title IX guru, and Brian Kitts, a co-founder of You Can Play.  (Their complete bios are below.)  Oh, and yours truly will be moderating the discussion.

I also had a wonderful meeting with Sr. Associate Athletics Director, Miechelle Willis, yesterday about the event.  Ms. Willis focuses on student-athlete wellness and was very receptive to the slated message for the event.  So receptive, in fact, that she agreed to send out an invitation of the event to all the student-athletes and coaches at Ohio State! I have no idea if any will accept the invitation and attend, but the possibility excites me!

While the exact questions and topics for discussion have not been finalized, this is the preliminary list of ideas I have come up:

- NCAA’s new policy for transgender athletes: what are the rules, how did it come into effect, etc.

- Does Title IX apply to issues of sexual orientation and gender identity in college athletics?

- Culture of masculinity in men’s sports and resulting sexist/homophobic conduct (Iowa’s pink visitor locker room, Ohio State ‘lavender jersey’)

- Perceptions and stereotypes of sexuality of men versus women athletes

- Impact and importance of allies in sports

- Negative recruiting in women’s sports: what is it, how prevalent is it, and how does it affect players?

- Implications of NFL, MLB, and NBA adding ‘sexual orientation’ to class of people protected from discrimination in collective bargaining agreements

- State of homophobia and growing numbers of allies in professional sports

I hope to see you there on Monday!

Oh, you may not be in Columbus or have a prior commitment?  Don’t worry, we have arranged to have the event recorded and I will be uploading it here as soon as I can.  (I plan to splice the video into parts for each question asked, hoping it will be more user-friendly.)

Here are complete bios for the speakers:

Brian Kitts is co-founder of the You Can Play Project, an international effort to promote respect for LGBT athletes in sports. Brian spent more than 10 years in the front offices of professional sports teams in the NHL, NBA, MLS and the NLL.  He is the marketing and communications director for the mayor’s office of Arts & Venues in Denver, and teaches sports and entertainment marketing at the University of Denver.

Professor Erin Buzuvis researches and writes about gender and discrimination in sport, including such topics as the interrelation of law and sports culture, intersecting sexual orientation and race discrimination in women’s athletics, retaliation against coaches in collegiate women’s sports, the role of interest surveys in Title IX compliance, participation policies for transgender and intersex athletes, and Title IX and competitive cheer. Additionally, she is a co-founder and contributor to the Title IX Blog, an interdisciplinary resource for news, legal developments, commentary, and scholarship about Title IX’s application to athletics and education. In addition to a seminar about sports, law and culture, she also teaches administrative law, employment discrimination, and property.  Prior to joining the faculty in 2006, she clerked for Judge Thomas Ambro of the Third Circuit and practiced law at Goodwin Procter in Boston. She also spent time as a Visiting Professor at the University of Iowa College of Law.

Brian Kitts, Erin Buzuvis, Miechelle Willis, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University, OutLaws, Scarlet and Gay, SELA, Title IX, Title IX Blog, You Can Play Hide