The "sissy" in
pink

Can the mere presence of the color pink be considered homophobic? After officials at the University of Iowa upheld a long tradition recently by redecorating a visitors' locker room at Kinnick Stadium with the traditionally feminine color, visiting law professor Erin Buzuvis accused the school of perpetuating negative stereotypes. Other professors and students then demanded the color be changed. "It's equivalent to painting the word 'sissy' or 'girlie man' all across the walls," Buzuvis said.

The original perpetrator of the pink was legendary former University of Iowa football coach Hayden Fry. Hired in 1979, he saw pink walls as a way to pacify opposing teams. During a renovation over the summer, school officials decided to also make the lockers, carpeting, sinks, urinals, walls, and showers pink. When Buzuvis complained, some supporters of Fry's legacy were so angry, they threatened her with rape and even death. University president David Skorton and other school officials condemned the threats but said they have no immediate plans to redo the locker room.

Riki Wilchins, executive director for the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition, was surprised by the locker room brouhaha. "LGBT and straight kids are dying, being bullied, and killed because they don't [portray] the ideal of a 'real' man or woman. We don't need to worry about a locker room color," she said, noting that before the turn of the last century "pink was considered a boy's color."