Gay fraternity stories

In the early s, I tried to join a frat at Georgia State University. No, I won’t say which one. That’s not the point of this story. It was the week before pledges get initiated – popularly known as “Hell Week” – and I was nervous. You lasted through Hell Week or you didn’t make the cut.

At each party, I observed different ways to inhabit a gender role or sexuality. Queers were like dots on a map, in territory I didn’t know existed, expanding and distorting the borders until it.

Being gay has allowed me to distance myself from the culture of objectifying women, and I try to spread consciousness about that issue all of the time. I provide an empathic listener role to many in the fraternity.

Kopay played for the NFL and was one of the first prominent athletes to come out as being gay. I was on the receiving end of the paddles during my initiation into the Big W Club after I had earned a letter playing football my sophomore year.