Gay High School Coach Threatened, Called An “Abomination”: “It Nearly Destroyed Me”

"I kept looking for someone, anyone, to rise up and save me." 

by Matthew Tharrett 9/23/2016

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A California Catholic high school’s former athletic director opens up about a year of “horrifying and devastating” anti-gay harassment she suffered after people found out she was gay.

Although she wasn’t fired from her job at Mission Prep High School in San Luis Obispo, Bailey Brown said in an op/ed for Out Sports that she ultimately stepped down because the harassment became so aggressive that she was “scared for [her] life.”

To make matters worse, Brown said she was hurt most by the LGBT community’s unwillingness to help her in a time of desperate need.

Bailey Brown

 After being outed by a conservative local newspaper, Brown described suffering a string of jarring anti-gay attacks, most often in the form of of her personal property being vandalized.

“When my car, which was parked directly in front of my home, was destroyed with an ice pick and green spray paint one early spring morning in 2012, it in turn nearly destroyed me,” said Brown.

“Someone had followed me home, stalked me and laid in wait until I went to bed. When I went to work the next morning, I discovered the damage. It was horrific and the car was totaled.”

Bailey Brown was the victim of this attack, in addition to other intimidation aimed at driving her from her school and community for being gay.

Brown said local police didn’t take the crimes seriously until she reported them to the FBI, which launched an investigation of its own.

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“I kept looking for someone, anyone, to rise up and save me,” Brown wrote. “My community, my school, law enforcement.”

Compounding her stress was the fact that Brown felt like she wasn’t being supported by her local or national LGBT community. “I did feel abandoned by the people whom I had always believed were supposed to save me,” she wrote.

“There was no community outrage or concern, just the usual party planning for Pride. The system seemed broken and I became very aware what victims must feel like when no one seems to be listening.”

Ultimately, Brown said she was able to persevere because the crimes “triggered a much-needed course of healing.”

Said Brown: “I have now started to honor my past, the loss of my dear father, my many amazing accomplishments and, lastly, I have finally learned to not seek praise from others as the way of self-fulfillment.”

You can read her full op/ed at Out Sports.

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