Courtney Graham said everything was going smoothly with her assistant coaching job with Drake University's women's basketball team. The Bulldogs were building the program, and Graham said she was handling her recruiting and scouting responsibilities well, resulting in bonuses and positive performance reviews.
That changed, she said, when she brought her now-wife to a game to sit in the family section in November 2014.
In a federal lawsuit filed in late December, Graham alleges that as a result, head coach Jennie Baranczyk ostracized her from the team, told her she was not acting like herself, diminished her duties and asked her to resign in May 2015.
Graham turned in her resignation a month later after, she said, undue pressure from Baranczyk.
"She loves coaching," Graham's attorney, Tina Muhammad, told the Tribune. Graham, now married with children, declined to comment to the Tribune directly. "If you think of a traditional coach who is only focused on scouting, games, plays, what are we doing next week _ that's her focus.
"She wasn't on any type of agenda. She wasn't looking for homophobic behavior. It did blindside her. She was just there doing a job."
Drake has denied the allegations. A university statement in reply to the suit said the school and Baranczyk "have a strong commitment to diversity, tolerance and non-discrimination."
Regardless of the suit's outcome, the case has stirred lingering questions about homophobia in college athletics and the specific challenges lesbian coaches face. Stereotypes about women in sports lead to a don't-ask-don't-tell atmosphere that keeps many closeted, coaches and advocates told the Tribune.
"There is still a lot of fear out there among lesbian coaches about coming out and suffering professional consequences as a result," said Pat Griffin, a Massachusetts Amherst professor who has studied and written about homophobia and sports.
"There's this whole stereotype that there's a lot of lesbians in sports and it's a big paradise and everyone is happy and nobody has a problem anymore. I often hear we have to focus on homophobia in men's sports because women's sports is so terrific. It's a little bit of sexism and homophobia."
While public support has strengthened in recent years for college athletes who come out _ including former Missouri football player Michael Sam, UMass men's basketball player Derrick Gordon and Purdue women's basketball player Bree Horrocks _ Griffin said gay men and women in sports must navigate homophobia differently.
WNBA star Brittney Griner came out after her college career at Baylor and said her coach, Kim Mulkey, had told players to remain closeted. Stereotypes about female athletes, Griffin said, can cause coaches to fear how they and their program will be perceived.
"If a gay man comes out on his team, there isn't the assumption that, 'Oh, my god, the rest of them must be too.' In some ways, it's perceived as less of a risk (than for female players)," Griffin said. "And as (a male coach, you) do not have to worry: 'Will this affect my ability to recruit as a straight ally (to gay players)?' The stakes are different because of the different ways homophobia works in men's and women's sports."
