The other shoe has finally dropped.

Jennifer Harris, kicked off Penn State by coach Rene Portland last year amid bizarre circumstances, is alleging anti-gay discrimination.

"Because Portland thought I was gay, I was treated in a very demeaning manner," Harris said yesterday. "Whether I'm gay or not shouldn't matter."

The National Center for Lesbian Rights is handling Harris's case. "Coach Portland's anti-gay recruiting methods and infamous 'no lesbians' policy has continued for nearly three decades. Coach Portland's behavior not only violates the school's anti-discrimination policy, it is illegal. It is time for Penn State to step up and put an end to this overtly illegal activity," said NCLR Regional Counsel Karen Doering in yesterday's press release.

Harris also claims that Portland used anti-gay recruiting tactics to discourage her from going to Virginia.

Portland and the school have so far denied comment, but PSU spokesman Bill Mahon expressed "surprise that a half-year later suddenly a lawyer's contacting the university making such a claim." The NCLR has asked for a meeting with the school; if it doesn't get results, it will sue.

The story has already been picked up by papers around the country this morning.

Said Harris, who now plays for GMU:

My departure from Penn State was very painful. I struggled with whether I should just walk away and try to forget what happened. I finally realized that I could never put this incident behind me as long as other students were being subjected to the same sort of humiliation and discrimination I experienced from Coach Portland. In the end, I knew I had to speak out. Coach Portland very nearly destroyed not only my athletic career, but also my dream of completing my education and becoming a doctor. I do not want to see a single other student damaged in this way.