That’s because Delta Lambda Phi is an all-gay fraternity, set to officially launch at McGill University on Saturday. It’s a first for a Canadian university campus.
The frat brothers (until Saturday still considered “in training”) are understandably excited. Through their venture they’re not only piercing the bastion of heterosexual male masculinity that is the typical college fraternity. They’re also out to upend the stereotypes about fraternities themselves.
They’ve nevertheless had to navigate several tricky challenges unknown to traditional fraternities.
For instance, a typical frat doesn’t have to worry too much about its members dating each other. This one does. A typical frat doesn’t have to mull over the gender of new recruits. This one does.
Ironically, any blowback the gay frat has experienced has come not from other fraternities and their (primarily) straight adherents, but other gays.
“A lot of the complaints came not from ignorance but an unawareness of how a frat operates,” explained Sam Reisler, a Toronto native who attended McGill and started the group.
Various activist voices in the McGill lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) communities angrily derided the frat for professing to be open and accepting, and yet excluding women from the group.
Now there is controversy over how the fraternity has circumscribed who can and cannot join. Delta Lambda Phi (DLP) recently stipulated that it’s open to “males and those who identify as male.”
While some might have thought that would sufficiently encompass transgendered individuals who consider themselves male, McGill’s main LGBT group, Queer McGill, wasn’t happy when it saw the frat’s literature.
Queer McGill thought the language separating “males” and “those who identify as male” implied that transgendered individuals were somehow not real men. They were “just pretending to be men,” explained Queer McGill administrator Elyse Lewis, 20.
“There was a lot of misunderstanding with this whole thing,” Lewis said. “People from DLP didn’t know there was a problem with the language. They saw it as an attack in general.”
So Queer McGill voted to send Lewis to an upcoming meeting at the fraternity to discuss “where to go from here.”
Michael D’Alimonte, a Richmond Hill native and DLP’s current president, said the frat is reworking its language. “We’re looking to create a stronger relationship with Queer McGill,” he said.
In fact, this kind of tension reflects, in part, why DLP was created — to give students an opportunity for a gay social environment without the political undercurrent, Reisler said.
Meanwhile, other fraternities have been welcoming. DLP members have experienced no incidents of homophobia — at least not openly, they say.
“I thought they’d not be as accepting of gays. For me, frat guys were guys who liked to drink, party and get girls. But the more I found out the more that stereotype didn’t really exist,” said D’Alimonte.
The frat has had to deal with other concerns as well. Dating among brothers, for example. Romantic relationships are “not seen as conducive to strong fraternal bonds,” said Reisler, who acknowledged that while it’s discouraged, it nevertheless happens.
DLP is an affiliate of a U.S.-based fraternity of the same name and orientation. Gay fraternities are expanding quickly — there are now 28 on college campuses in the United States., said DLP’s executive director Chris Newman, who lives in Phoenix.
No college has openly refused a chapter, Newman said, “but where we don’t have a presence is in the South.” He attributes that to the sense that conservatism there “still rules.”
Compared to the U.S., campus Greek societies in Canada are small. DLP’s target group means it will probably never be a big fraternity. There are currently 16 active members and several alumni.
While “progressive” straight men are welcome, none has yet joined.
Like all fraternities, it’s autonomous from the university. It’s also not considered to be a club by the students’ union because of the “no women” policy.
Its advocates say it’s needed to give students who wouldn’t feel comfortable in a traditional frat a place where they’ll feel accepted.
Frat brothers can help in many gay-unique situations, Reisler said. For instance, coming out to one’s parents can be difficult.
“Regardless of what happens, they have another family at McGill that will help them.”
Frat members take pains to point out they’re not only destroying gay male stereotypes, but also those about fraternities.
They do charity work and their events don’t involve alcohol consumption, they say. (Though the brothers often go out afterwards, where drinking is not barred.) They don’t have a sordid history with police interventions or drunken accidents, they add.
“We do what other frats do. So aside from the nature of our membership, we are a traditional frat,” Reisler said.
“So maybe we aren’t as different as you think.”
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Andrew Chung
No comments:
Post a Comment