One student at OU who is gay, but not in a fraternity, commended the fine arts community and residential life mentors and staff at OU for being progressive, accepting and interested to find out how LGBTQ members at Oklahoma are treated. “But another important aspect to consider is how inappropriate and toxic fraternity culture can be.” “I think having genuine friendships with a bunch of guys just being guys is something that gay men typically miss out on, which is really unfortunate because I find so much comfort in the concept of brotherhood,” he said. He went on to say that Greek life the culture can still be toxic, but can be a good thing for gay students, But once he told that in private to one of the members on the executive board, he was told he should still rush because his fraternity would never discriminate, and that being a good brother is much more important. However, Ramirez said that he contemplated dropping while rushing as a freshman because of the potential problem his sexual orientation could cause – he was not out at the time. “I truly believe that my entire fraternity respects me to the fullest extent of what they believe to be respectful, regardless of any differences we may have in identities,” Ramirez said. Javi Ramirez, a junior and member of Sigma Nu, is openly gay but says his brothers have shown him nothing but support and respect. “Most conversations would just follow the typical, ‘oh this girl is so hot,’ whereas you’re never going to be able to say the same thing about guys.”Įarlier this year a fraternity at Syracuse University, Theta Tau, saw 15 members suspended after performing racist, homophobic, and Anti-Semitic chants in a video of a hazing ritual that was made public, according to the Washington Post. “The one problem for me was just the whole culture that existed – it’s just a very straight culture that’s challenging to be different,” Armer said. However, Armer noted that while his house and many others are respectful toward either openly gay members or members who come out while in the house, that the overall culture of Greek life may still be harmful. That’s probably generally true for fraternity culture, but there are probably some (fraternities) that wouldn’t have felt that same way.” “I knew that they’d be accepting because they like me for me and that wasn’t about anything. “I know that my fraternity was very accepting,” Armer said. Whether or not gay students in fraternities at OU are out, they are in a unique situation where they get to see for themselves from the inside whether the Greek community treats gay members differently.Īlec Armer, a 2018 OU graduate who was a member of Sigma Nu, complimented his house on being one of the more open and tolerant on campus. ![]() For years, fraternity life in America had a reputation – fair or not – that it is a place where masculinity dominates.Īt OU, a football school that emphasizes Greek life more than most Big 12 schools, being gay and in a fraternity may sound like a bit of a conundrum for outsiders.
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