Quote:
Originally posted by ilovemyglo
By the way- QUEER is not a PC term for a homosexual person.
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Actually, I know it isn't the MOST PC term, but it is a term that many younger members of the gay community have adopted to identify themselves, but like many other terms that are conisdered derragatory in nature some people identify with that term and others do not and perfer other terminology.
There is actually a very interesting bit of research in an article that was done that talks about the leadership in fraternities and sororities and gay/lesbian/bisexual members. What the study basically discovered a few interesting facts that will be replicated in follow up studies hopefully soon:
"Thus, a total of approximately 5 - 6% of the chapter membership was known by the
respondents to be gay/bisexual. The women reported knowing with certainty that an average of
2.9 fellow members were lesbian/bisexual, with an average chapter size of 81, meaning that a
total of approximately 3 - 4% of the chapter membership was known to be lesbian or bisexual.
The actual percentages of lesbigay members would, of course, be higher, to include those
others not known with certainty by the respondents to be lesbigay."
"The data collected suggests that lesbigay students join fraternities and sororities for reasons
similar to those one would expect from a sample of heterosexual students. The top three
reasons listed were (1) friendship and camaraderie, (2) social activities, and (3) a support group
and sense of belonging. "
"One area where lesbigay fraternity/sorority members appear to differ from their heterosexual
peers is in chapter leadership. Over 80% of the men and over 60% of the women had held at
least one of the following executive committee positions in their chapter: president, vice
president, secretary, treasurer, new member educator, rush chair and social chair. Over 20% of
the men had served as president of their chapter, although only 6% of the women had served as
president. "
"Over 70% of the respondents, indicated that they had encountered homophobic or heterosexist
attitudes within their chapter, usually in the form of derogatory jokes or comments. Homophobia
was also frequently evidenced in membership selection. If a rushee was rumored or perceived to
be gay or lesbian, the chapter was likely to summarily vote against offering the rushee a bid to
join. Likewise if a pledge was discovered or believed to be gay or lesbian, the chapter was
inclined to dismiss the pledge. More often than not, the initiated lesbigay member(s) would voice
no opposition to the discrimination, fearing that to do so might cause other members to question
their motivation. One man even wrote, "A rushee was blackballed because of suspected
homosexuality. I was one of the three who blackballed him. Five years later I met this individual
again at a bar, and we have been lovers for eight years now (and going strong)!"
You can find the study at length at:
http://www.lambda10.org/research_study.htm
The Lambda 10 site is a website for individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and includes many resources, articles, and a list of names of individuals who are "out."
It is also interesting to note that there are also a number of fraternity and sorority advisors on college campuses that are gay, lesbian or bisexual....so the correlation of active participation as an undergraduate may continue even further and development of a stron alumni base for organizations.
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