Coming out to Frat Bros...

Now that you've graduated, I don't see any big deal, since nothing can come of it. You don't even have to "come out" to them in so many words. Feel free to swap your facebook status, or let them know about the nice guy you've been dating.

Lex

 

Well, my college didn't have fraternities, but it was an all-male school (technically). We also had an all-female school 6 miles away..All of our classes were co-ed, but the living stituations were all with the same sex, all 4 years, unless you moved off campus..So it was kind of like one giant fraternity. Anyway, I am rambling.

We had numerous discussions in our GLBT club about the campus atmosphere. To our shock, we realized that there were many, many more openly gay men in college than openly gay women..And women are supposed to be more accepting and into sharing their feelings with each other, right?

It may not be as much of a shock as you think it is going to be. Every single guy (roommates, mainly) I told post-graduation said "yeah, I pretty much knew, but I didn't think it was any of my business and I didn't want to put pressure on by confronting you. I hope I never said anything to offend you."

I think we all tend to think that we've done a really fabulous job of coming across as straight, when the exact opposite is true. The best advice I can give you is to be prepared for the worst, but don't be shocked if the response is positive and life-affirming.

 

Myself, Ander_Blue, and Nawy56 are all fraternity brothers. Honestly, coming out to them was one of the hardest moments of my life, but they were really supportive of it. I get gay jokes every now and then of course, but come on, they're kinda funny. I have had no issues in fact. When I came out with Ander_Blue, one of the brothers even responded saying "we're all behind you", followed by much laughter when we all realized the unintened innuendo. So long as your fraternity is truly bonded by brotherhood, and not just by booze, you'll be fine. You have your ritual that keeps you together, and it's a bond stronger than most people realize.

 

>>>...it was an all-male school (technically). We also had an all-female school 6 miles away..All of our classes were co-ed...

That's a long way to go for classes.

Lex

 

sorry but what's a fraternity?

 

It's basically a male only club, and the females have sororities, and there are a few co-ed groups too(which I like to call frarorities ). They generally live together and participate in activities and whatnot. Also, fraternities are the places where most parties happen (on my campus at least) because they have a house that isn't controlled by campus, and it's a bunch of college-age guys living together. Not common anywhere except U.S. universities, as well as some in Canada.

Thing is, a fraternity is more than just a club to the members, it's a family. You are a brother in a fraternity forever, and everything that goes into it and the ideals of it create a bond that can be stronger than blood for some. It is very difficult to explain, so i would probably point you towards wikipedia. Keep in mind though, that we aren't all "Animal House", and we are students and generally try and keep our studies as the most important thing. And though hazing does happen in some fraternities, it isn't all of them. I certainly never would have joined mine if I had been hazed.

Also, fraternity rituals are for some reason highly sought after by conspiracy theorists. There's nothing really special about them to non-members, but we like to keep them secret just because it's another thing to bond over, and it is something that means a lot to the members. Many have been made public because of the amount of hatred we get for trying to keep our rituals to ourselves.

 

Also Drake, you have to join this thread. It needs a bump

http://emptyclosets.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31232&highlight=greek

 

We had buses. 10 minute bus ride, 30 minutes between classes..Worked like a charm.

 

I dunno. You'd think they'd just build the friggin' residence halls closer.

Lex