GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

MARCH 22, 1996

No queers allowed

To the Editors:

COMMUNITY FORUM

I am a new student at the University of Akron. During the spring [fraternity] rush period, I, along with a group of friends, went through the rush procedure of going to parties, visiting houses, and meeting new people in an attempt to find the fraternity that seemed right for each of us. Although the brochures promise "brotherhood, diversity, and fellowship," it was during this period that I saw for the first time how gays, lesbians, and bisexuals were being actively discriminated against by various fraternities and sororities on campus.

While going through rush at one of the larger fraternities on campus, a rushee was told, "Getting a bid from our fraternity is pretty easy, as long as you have good grades and you're not a faggot." One sorority flat-out refused a girl because “she looked likeadyke.” Another rushee, who is open about his sexuality, was told, "We don't want any cocksuckers here." Then he was referred to an opposing fraternity who it was believed “might like his "type."

According to school policy, "There shall be no discrimination against any individual at the University of Akron because of age, color, creed, handicap, national origin, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation."

So that raises an interesting question: If fraternities and sororities are governed by university policy, why are they being permitted to discriminate against gays, lesbians, and bisexuals? Officially they're not, but unofficially, many fraternities and sororities are allowing prejudices to influence their decisions not only about whether or not to admit someone into their organization, but also how to treat their gay, lesbian, and bisexual members.

College administrators deny this discrimination is happening, and say that if it is, individuals can file grievance charges with the Office of Greek Administration. What the

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university officials are failing to realize is that many of the people who are facing discrimination fear reprisal, but also that this type of discrimination is almost impossible to prove.

I am not bashing fraternities or sororities. I'm merely pointing out the type of discrimination that goes on here at the University of Akron. The world is changing. People are more open, honest, and accepting. What we here at the University of Akron need to do, quite simply, is catch up. The answer lies in education, in teaching these groups that people are people, no matter who you sleep with.

I want all the fraternities and sororities on campus to realize that gays, lesbians, and bisexuals are all around them—not surrounding them, but a part of them. And maybe, just maybe, all of you will realize, the next time you turn somebody away from your organization due to their sexual orientation, the next time you hear or say the words faggot, dyke, or queer, or the next time you allow

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ignorance to blind you to how wonderful a person is because they are "different," that is discrimination, and you are part of it.

Jeremy Sammons

Norton

Sammons has since filed formal charges against the fraternities on campus, and has submitted an article detailing his experience to the Buchtelite campus paper and the Akron Beacon Journal.

An A-list for all time

To the Editors:

The article about the Merrimack, N.Y. school board ruling [March 8] forbidding talk about homosexuality reminded me of something:

Why doesn't someone list all-or as many as possible--prominent gays throughout history?

I think such a list could be a useful resource for the people of Merrimack, for example. First of all, they would have a list to guide them in their choices of what not to talk about.

Second, and most important, they could use that list to emphasize the real meaning of that prohibition. By refusing to speak about any gays, they would effectively dramatize the commitment to free speech.

They could publicize their list, and insist they would never mention any of the people (or books, or music, etc.) on it.

J. Edgar Hoover and Michelangelo are two who come to mind, but I think that a detailed listing of all famous gays, as well as books, music and plays, which might contain some faint indication of homosexuality, would by very useful to them. They could never mention Barney Frank, for example, and I am sure there are many other current people-scientists as well as politicians, actors, musicians—whom they would refuse to talk about.

It is interesting that I am unable to think of any other prominent gays. I need that list, too! Mary Ellen Wobbecke Cleveland Heights

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Volume 11, Issue 19

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