Coach Thinks Basketball Turns Women Into Lesbians

Nature vs. Nurture? That debate is so twenty years ago. Try basketball vs. no basketball. At least that's how a Louisville coach frames the subject of homosexuality. Because according to Jaye Collins, who coaches a Christian basketball team known as the Louisville Legends, basketball turns women into lesbians if they're not properly protected.

That's why Collins started the Louisville Legends, to create a special team where rejection of homosexuality would be as normal as an assist from a point guard. Take it away, Coach Collins.

"I started the Lady Legends program with the support of my wife, Kari, in hopes of encouraging young girls to be proud and secure in not being part of the lesbian and homosexual lifestyle which is so prevalent in woman's/girl's athletics," says Collins on his web site. "Many girls, as early as middle school, are being influenced or 'tested,' or converted and convinced that if they play sports, specifically basketball, they must be, should be, or need to be gay."

Great, the secret is now out. Gay people have been using an orange, bouncy orb for generations to recruit new people into our club. And now this Kentucky coach knows.

The excellent Pat Griffin has a piece about the Louisville Legends on Opposing Views, where Griffin notes how tremendously silly (albeit dangerous) Coach Collins' philosophy is.

"Coach Collins claims to be providing some kind of Christian refuge for basketball players from the 'tests' they need to endure presumably from evil lesbian teammates and coaches who try to 'convince or convert them' that they need to be gay to play women’s basketball," Griffin writes. "Clearly Coach Collins has a personal problem with lesbians in sport. This hysterical and bigoted perspective is an important reminder that homophobia is alive and well in girls and women’s sports, particularly basketball."

Oddly enough, Coach Collins includes a picture on the web site of the Louisville Legends with him standing next to NBA all-star Isiah Thomas. Why is that odd? Because earlier this summer, Isiah Thomas (and his son) posed for a picture with No on H8's Adam Bouska, where he endorsed marriage equality. It's somehow hard to see how Thomas' support for gay marriage meshes with Coach Collins' bizarre theory that athletics breed homosexuality.

Coach Collins seems like he's a good coach. He's certainly got the resume, both as a player in high school and college, and as a coach on both the high school and college level as well. It's just a shame that he's much more interested in policing the sexual orientation of women, rather than teaching basketball.

As Griffin notes at Opposing Views, "Providing girls with opportunities to play basketball and get college scholarships is a terrific goal and volunteer coaches who are committed to working for young women in this way are to be applauded. However, coaches owe it to their team members to check their personal prejudices at the gym door and do the best they can to create a climate of respect and safety for every team member – gay, straight, Christian, Jew, atheist, black, white."

Now that's a principle we should all say "Amen" too.

Photo credit: chillihead