National Coming Out Day
 

Happy National Coming Out Day! October 11th is the day to celebrate coming out as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or a GLBT ally! This year's theme is "Talk About It"

Congratulations on coming out as a Lesbian on Greek Chat. :)

"Bi the way, don't assume I'm gay"
 

Well, not totally a lesbian. Just like my DLP boyfriend is not totally gay.

Re: "Bi the way, don't assume I'm gay"
 

Well, I hope you both had a great day.

A Belated Happy Coming Out Day!

Re: "Bi the way, don't assume I'm gay"
 

What's a DLP?

And are you and any female friends busy around 11PM?

-Rudey

Re: Re: "Bi the way, don't assume I'm gay"
 

I think she's talking about Delta Lambda Phi. There was a thread on it some time ago.

There was also a post about Ohio University being the first IFC to allow them full membership.

Delta Lambda Phi
 

I was talking about Delta Lambda Phi. Thank you!
As always, their website is available for more infomation.

happy belated coming day to all of the dykes, homieo- sexuals and whatever else you classifiy yourself.


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party like it's 1999!!!

Homophobia
 

Wow, some of you are really homophobic. It really is offensive to read some of your comments whether the reader is gay or an ally. You should really take the blinders off and look around you. You'd probably be surprised at how many people you know are part of the rainbow family. It really bothers me that in this day and age people still have views like this. I pray for all the lesbian, gay and bisexual members in each of your organizations who know that for the entire time they are around their organization members they can't truly be themselves. I am so proud that I am a memebr of an organization that celebrates each member's difference and uniqueness.

Huh? What am I missing. I thought most of the comments were generally supportive.

There was a little bit of joking, I guess, but nothing vindictive.

Or am I reading too little between the lines?

Not if someone who is one uses it. It's like reclaiming the word "queer."

If the suffix -phobic means fear of, doesn't homophobic mean someone who is afraid of homosexuals?

When I say that folks are homophobic I mean that the statements that are being made are not sensitive to people who identify as LBGTQ.

If this were Black History Month and someone responded "happy black, african american, negro or what ever you folks call yourself day", black people would be up in arms. If this was a belated merry christmas and someone said "thanks for coming out as a Christian", that would be offensive too. I don't think that the title of what you are congratulating people for matters, I think it is the tone that I personally have interpreted from some of these statements.

As for the comment made by Rudey, I would say that if someone is a lesbian, they probably are not interested in a threesome at 11 with you. It's just not funny. The fact that people think comments like that are funny or appropriate to make are an indication of how unsafe the Greek world is for the LGBTQ community and I think that as leaders we should be taking a stand against that.

I really don't think anyone here has any real animosity towards anyone in the GLBT community.

As for Rudey, I think he was joking that he would want to watch two chicks together, not necessarily have a threesome. Obviously isn't any better, but that's what I got from it. I really don't think it's meant to be taken seriously.

I don't read anything in this thread that is meant to be hurtful or homophobic.

Yes but what if the poster who made the comments does in fact identify as LBGTQ?

Why are you making assumptions about the sexual orienation of the people who have posted in this thread? Also, there is a huge difference between saying "whatever you folks call yourself" and "whatever else you classifiy yourself" -- the latter is, in my opinion, clearly intended to be inclusive, while the former is intended to poke fun or show disrespect.

It really sounds like you have a huge chip on your shoulder and are looking for trouble where none is intended, although I'll agree that threesome jokes are stupid.

I do think that she realizes that, because (I think) she is one.


(I also think that assuming that someone is straight because of the tone of what they posted is more damaging and, uh, insulting than any of the other comments in this thread. But hey, what do I know?)

Valkrie & Sugar and Spice,

I'm not making assumptions that any one besides Rudey is straight:).

---------------------------------
And I don't have a chip on my shoulder nor am I looking for trouble where there is none. I guess what I am saying is that in my opinion, unless you are speaking to a group that you know is homogeneous, it is not okay to make certain kind of statements. And trust me, I know some homophobic LGBTQ people (yes they exist) and I know that for those people it is a developmental issue more than anything else. They make inappropriate comments and statements too. All I'm saying is that even when those things are said in a joking manner, they are not funny and can be interpreted as offensive by people who are out and they should be; and can be interpreted as homophobic by people who have yet to come out and they should be.

PM_Mama00 is correct about what I was trying to say. I don't think that in and of themselves those words are bad-IF the people who call themselves that are the ones labeling or calling themselves that. Most LBGTQ people are not trying to put themselves out there though in a way that draws negative attention to themselves-LGBTQ people get enough negative attention as it is. That’s why so many are closeted because they fear that once they do come out, the comments will begin, and often times even worse than that.

But not knowing people personally, I can't make an assumption that the comments are coming from a good or bad place. I do know that it is inflammatory-particularly when people make comments like Rudey's intending to be funny-but really ending up just being in poor taste. And it would have been just as easy to say Happy belated coming out day as it was to say happy belated coming [out] day to all of the dykes, homieo- sexuals and whatever else you classifiy yourself (and less words/time). sorry, but as an ally, when I see that I read more into it. I can make a few assumptions about the intent of the words-but this would fall under a category I call "intent versus impact". Her intent may have been to send out positive greetings, but the impact is what people are left with and the impact for marginalized communities is what matters. And for me-it had a not so good impact.

And again, like I said, this is my response based on the "tone" [that I interpreted in reading some of the posts.

These are my opinions, nothing more. I guess like they say-if it doesn't apply let it fly.

But you did make a pretty big assumption when you said that posters were homophobic...

What I meant by that statement was that there is no real way for me to know if the comments were coming from a straight person or a person who identifies as LGBTQ (except to make an assumption). No matter who it comes from, the statements are still homophobic.

I'm going to have to disagree with you here. As 33girl stated earlier, many groups have taken words that were originally demeaning and neutralized them, making them their own. It all depends on context.