The film Training Rules is directed by Mosbacher and Yacker. Mosbacher is a lesbian feminist activist who wanted to show how women in sports are discriminated against and some of the consequences that come with as identifying as a lesbian or being a part of the LGBT community. They directed this film so their audience can learn to be tolerant of others decisions and to encourage equal treatment among individuals which are portrayed in the film. After watching the film I could say that sport is not a safe space for LGBT athletes. It was a problem in the 1980's and continues to be a problem today. In the film it is made clear the sport is not supportive of athletes who identify within the LGBT community. In the film we are reminded by Portland that there are 'No Lesbians' allowed on her team. She enforces this by threatening, intimidating and doing anything in her power to make sure her lesbian athletes cannot pursue their basketball career once it's over at Penn State. Today, some may argue that sport is a safe place for LGBT athletes but I'm not sure how I feel about that. I only question it because we don't have a lot of professional athletes who have come "out" and that may be because their gender identity doesn't influence how they play the game and it's no one's business or it could be kept private because they don't want their identity to effect their game negatively as Robbie Rogers has explained in his interview.
To make sport a more inclusive environment for all, I would implement some type of training on how to be an ally to the LGBT community and whether people want to supportive of others choices, is their choice. Whether people want to be inclusive or not is ultimately up to them. All I can do is provide the information, enforce it and how they process it is up to them but I will not tolerate any discrimination. I read a scholarly article about how to create an Inclusive Organization and I liked some of the explanations it gave to create an inclusive environment. They are as follows:
1. Be a learner
2. Be inquisitive
3. Set the vision
4. Model inclusive behaviors
5. Be an advocate for the change
6. Speak out when necessary
7. Hold each other accountable for all of the above
I liked these recommendations for becoming a more inclusive community because it encourages individuals to be accountable for their actions and to respectfully challenge others who have an opposing opinion. Although I'd like to say that how one person identifies doesn't effect their game, it does unfortunately in the society we live in and we need to work towards being a more accepting and supportive community for them.
References:
-Training Rules
- Jason Collins came out; NBA should let him play
- Robbie Rogers: why coming out as gay meant I had to leave football
-The 7 actions for leading or creating an inclusive organization
