Conference encourages LGBT-friendly fraternities and sororities

By Joseph Erbentraut -

Shane Windmeyer, Shane Windmeyer,
founder of the Lambda 10 Project,
will be among those at the OUT &
Greek National LGBT & Ally Fraternity
& Sorority Leadership Conference at
Indiana University on Friday, Nov. 12.

For many LGBT youth experiencing harassment and bullying in their middle and high schools, college provides much-needed hope for something better, and Dan Savage’s popular YouTube channel and other national campaigns have concurrently trumpeted the message it will, indeed, "get better". Such proclamations, however, appear to fall short of the reality facing students on campuses across the country, particularly those who wish to join a fraternity or sorority.

Two Vanderbilt University students were reportedly asked to leave the Christian fraternity Bet Upsilon Chi earlier this month because they violated the organization’s policy against openly gay members. And an Emory University said he was literally dragged out of a Sigma Nu fraternity party last month after he admitted he was gay.

The Greek system would appear to be living up to its stereotype of resisting openly LGBT leaders and members, but one organization is attempting to turn this perception on its head with a national conference specifically addressing the concerns of LGBT fraternity and sorority members while also attempting to foster a more accepting Greek system. Campus Pride’s Lambda 10 Project initiative launches its third annual OUT & Greek National LGBT & Ally Fraternity & Sorority Leadership Conference at Indiana University in Bloomington on Friday, Nov 12.

Shane Windmeyer, who founded the Lambda 10 Project as an IU grad student in 1995, told EDGE the project has attracted a lot of interest, though economic conditions have hindered the number of campuses who are able to travel to this year’s conference. He said they expected 50 attendees to participate.

"We want to create a paradigm shift in terms of changing attitudes and behaviors from what we’ll call the ’traditional’ sororities and fraternities," said Windmeyer. "They’ve always had gay members but have never really embraced that aspect of diversity within their organizations."

And just as recent headlines have shed light on lingering homophobia within the Greek system others show signs of progress.

Members of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity at Rutgers University were among the on-campus groups that led efforts to speak out against the alleged anti-gay harassment that reportedly prompted Tyler Clementi to take his own life last month. Windmeyer is optimistic the Rutgers fraternity’s outspokenness will serve as an example to other Greek organizations.

"Our goal is to get fraternities and sororities to realize they can be visible and out as allies to the LGBT community, in either responding to bias or hate crimes when they happen or by being proactive in their chapters, making sure their members know they don’t tolerate any type of discrimination and anti-gay behavior," he said.

Conference sessions will include CAMPUSPEAK CEO T.J. Sullivan speaking on "the new gay Greek" and activist Brian Johnson addressing the importance of multicultural interaction. Other panels will address strategies of becoming a stronger campus leader and fostering safe spaces for LGBT people within the Greek system.

The conference’s goals are doubly timely following the release of the organization’s first-ever national study of the experiences of LGBT people in higher education; including 5,000 students, faculty and staff, The report found nearly one-quarter of lesbian, gay and bisexual respondents experienced harassment that interfered with their ability to work or learn. And nearly half hid their sexual identity to avoid intimidation.

Findings from the report’s transgender respondents were even more alarming. Thirty-nine percent of students, faculty and staff reported experiencing harassment on the basis of their gender identity or expression. Nearly half of the study’s trans respondents reported fearing for their physical safety on campus, dwarfing the only 13 percent of LGB respondents reporting the same experience.

Windmeyer said trans inclusion is a message he will also address more in this year’s conference than previous sessions. He said the Greek system has "never really dealt with the issue" though more trans men and women have attempted to join sororities and fraternities in recent years.

Above all, Windmeyer hopes the Bloomington conference will only be the beginning of a continued dialogue on the ways LGBT and Greek groups can work together on college campuses.

"I think we’ve had some really good success in creating change over the last 15 years," said Windmeyer. "But we want to work toward both starting those inroads [between Greeks and LGBT students] and pushing those inroads forward to make institutional change."

-end-