I’ve been avoiding writing about homosexuality in Greek Life for a simple reason: discourse invites over-examination. As Michel Foucault suggests, turning something into discourse can overexpose it, thereby imposing new labels around masculinity and secrecy in fraternity life. In other words, I’m risking reinforcing the very structures of sexual exclusions I seek to eliminate. However, I believe myself capable of writing on the topic without being overly hubris or grandiose — an almost impossible task as a columnist, I know. 

The first thing I’d like to establish is this: It is not groundbreaking to be gay in Greek Life, but I think you’ll find my reasoning as to why different from your presuppositions.

My experience as a gay man in a fraternity is evidently not generalizable to every gay man in a chapter or attempting to rush one. Much of the discussion I’ve seen, especially those that criticize fraternities’ close-mindedness, is the latter: the rush process. 

During rush you’ll find credulous freshmen assimilating to conceptions of what fraternity men should act like: ‘Hyper-masculine’ and interested in sports, gambling, beer die — and most pressingly — women. Safe to say I’m not into any of those, yet here I find myself in a fraternity and still building some of the most meaningful relationships of my life. I won’t deny that these attributes matter in fostering belonging, yet across all facets of life we’re all in search of people who reflect who we are. The assumption that all of Greek Life considers only these homogenized interests is chiefly untrue. 

This is the crux of what I argue — if you face any club or community, let alone Greek Life, with a singular defining........

© Cornell Daily Sun