Which fraternities allow openly gay men to join?
 

I have a feeling this will be a controversial thread, but im curious as to which other fraternities allow openly gay men to join, i joined Alpha Sigma Phi which does not discriminate based on sexual orientation.

Lots of them. They may not come out until graduation, but they exist.

Perhaps, i know of at least one gay oriented fraternity as well, just curious as to how open minded greek life is becoming

Pretty much all of them.

It'd depend on the chapter though.

I think all the fraternities have men that are openly gay but by "open," I mean that the members know that they're gay, not that they wear their sexual orientation on their sleeves. I also agree that it depends on the chapter and chapters/members are different. Ultimately it's up to the chapter members to decide who gets into their organization and who doesn't. These days no one will outright discriminate so if you are not selected for membership, you may never know the "real" reason. You can only speculate.

by open i mean "out" on campus, thats what im curious about, i know that on my campus, in southwest virginia in the bible belt, after i joined my fraternity, alpha sigma phi, being an openly gay man, we were known as the "fag fraternity" for a little while, but that faded away fairly quickly

Sigma Phi Beta is "organized for and by gay, straight, bisexual, and transgender men in college." (That's off of the website) This fraternity is at Arizona State, Northern Arizona, and USC.

http://www.sigmaphibeta.org/

Well, like everyone else has already said, it really depends on the campus culture, the chapter's culture, how the organization interprets and applies its own rules on discrimination, and what "out" means to the individual, the chapter, and the campus.

On the NPHC side of things, I know openly gay members of each organization. I only know for certain one young man who was openly gay before he pledged as an undergraduate.

Among black fraternities (as I imagine any fraternity) it may be rare, but ultimately a chapter is going to pick who they are comfortable with, gay or not.

There used to be another poster on this site who was an openly gay colonist of an NIC fraternity. There are also other posters who I know are gay but they aren't "out" on GreekChat. That's their prerogative, as it would be for potential Greeks in the real world.

I assume a transgender man would be a former woman...right?

I always wondered this about gay fraternities.

yeah, it is a former woman, i actually have a friend going through that transition right now, its quite interesting

One of my college friends was FTM as well. My coworker is MTF.

Thats cool, they are really amazing people to talk too, thats for sure

I mean.... they aight.... just regular people to me.

Syracuse University has a chapter of Delta Lambda Phi Fraternity, which is a national fraternity for gay and bisexual men.

In NIC fraternities, I want to say that it depends on the particular chapter. I've spoken to guys of NIC chapters on campus, and they say they're fine with it, as long as they meet their other membership criterion, and I know of a few openly gay men who did join NIC fraternities. Of course, other chapters may not be comfortable with it. It depends on the particular guys.

that seems to be the general consensus :)

We have 2 gay men in our Lodge, and it has never been an issue at all. Although this is Northern California where we are much more tolerant to such things than most.

Delta Phi Upsilon, the first gay fraternity for men of color

No National Fraternities will prohibit gays from joining. I agree with all of the posters that it depends on two things. 1) the area of the country, 2) the group of guys that make up the individual chapter.

When I was in school, I could name at least one openly gay male in nearly all of the fraternities. They were not the type that would dress up in drag and march in the parades. They reminded me more of Will Truman instead of Jack MacFarland. After graduation, many more came out of the woodwork; some that you expected, some that were shockers.

I think in the Northeast, California and Big 10 schools, it won't be a problem.

TKE

While some may feel comfortable in a GLO that caters to their sexual orientation, there are those in the mainstream. I know several gay men in IFC fraternities and several lesbians in NPC sororities.

I live in Richmond, Virginia which is fairly liberal. I know of openly gay men in about 3 of our fraternities (SAE, AKL, and Pike), and it's not much of an issue on our campus. People know they're gay, but it doesn't seem to phase anyone.

I've never heard of these gay (/bisexual/transgender/straight ally/whatever) fraternities, though I'm not entirely surprised to hear they exist.

I knew one openly gay member of an IFC fraternity at Arizona State. I know one gay guy who pledged TWO fraternities at Kansas State. And I know another openly gay fraternity guy at Kansas.

I can see how it would be tough for a mainstream fraternity to garner the reputation of recruiting a lot of gay guys. Most Greek communities just aren't that accepting yet. On the other hand, the gay fraternity members I've met have really made the fraternity as a whole seem more approachable/less threatening to women.

gay brothers are the ultimate wingmen.

hahah... Rufio, don't be TOO creeped out, but I knew your gay brother wingman, and I'm pretty sure I know who you are. Small world.

...stranger danger? do i need an adult? or is this a ploy for me to PM you? cuz if it is i totally fell for it.

haha No worries... What harm can I do from 1000 miles away?

I know I have gay frat.. I mean why does it even matter?? Frat is frat and I will ride or die with them just as much as any other frat

:confused:

"i know i have gay frat" = i know i have gay fraternity brothers.

ahhh! Sorry, I'm not firing on all cylinders tonight!

^^^ LOL ... It's still the weekend, so it's OK

i love the frattitude of your statement.

The first (and so far only) openly gay student I've ever known to pledge an NPHC fraternity as an undergraduate pledged Sigma. He's GREAT dude.

I believe the NPHCers refer to their brothers as "frat."

hmm, guess you learn something new everyday.

Roll on brother man. Frat till your frat falls off. This should get a sticky at the top as POST OF THE YEAR - 2008.

Supposedly, SigEp was the first fraternity to demolish all bans or whatever for membership. Whether that fact is true or not, I know that membership is extended to all types of people, including gay guys. And they're not treated differently than any other brother.

thread bumps are awesome.

Disclaimer: NYU is pretty gay-friendly (additionally, not a huge greek school) so this is definitely the exception and not the norm.

I had two (of many) gay residents (these are all freshman) who wanted to pledge fraternities. Both were of the Jack MacFarland ilk, one way more so than the other. One rushed, and got a bid to a house, declined ("I just went for the free parties and booze") but I think because he wasnt REALLY into it from the beginning, not because he felt out of place or anything.

The other went on to be part of founding Delta Lambda Phi at the school.

A third resident pledged second semester and didnt come out til after he got his bid. Turns out his big brother (more of a Will) was out too and "knew" so it wasnt a big deal.

A fourth resident rushed a sorority and referred to her throughout rush as Lola Lesbian. They thought it was cute and funny, she (having just come out) did not. She dropped after pref (she got preffed at 1 of the 7 chapters, in which, her words "the most unattractive house, i wouldn't date anyone there so it's safe") saying she "just couldnt deal with being "Lola Lesbian" for 4 years.

Then cite your source.

If you'd read the rest of this thread, you'd realize that "non-traditional" (even though that phrase doesn't really fit) students are members of ALL GLOs, whether (general) you know it or not.