To the Editor:
Unfortunately, Lambda 10 cannot work to erase homophobia until certain Greek houses admit that homophobia exists within their walls ("Lambda 10 works to erase homophobia," Jan. 30). Many people at Dartmouth agree that homophobia is present in the Greek system. But this vague assessment is simply not enough. The Dartmouth community, including both gay and straight people, refuses to identify individual houses where homophobic incidents have taken place.
The result is that individuals such as Jeff Wagner, president of Sigma Phi Epsilon, can roundly dismiss the need to discuss homophobia in a statement to The Dartmouth: "[There was] a question of 'Why single out one group? Why not work on racism or things like that?'"
Huh? Since when does homophobia single out one group? It is clear that Sig Ep does need to focus on homophobia, least of all because their president does not seem to know the extensive nature of it.
Gay and lesbian people are not the only targets of homophobia. In fact, most instances of homophobia result from the "perception" that people are gay or lesbian because "they act that way." Even more importantly, homophobia is also a manifestation of heterosexism or hypermasculinity, something endemic to many fraternities at Dartmouth.
I participated in this past weekend's Lambda 10 pilot workshop and was impressed with the enthusiasm of the participants; however, I was utterly dismayed at the absence of an invited frat because it attests to be "gay friendly."
Actually, I assume that is the exact reason why not one representative from Sig Ep attended. Having more than a few out gay and bisexual members of a house does not preclude the existence of homophobia; it can merely hide it.
As I, and others with whom I have consulted, understand it, the unspoken reason why Sig Ep did not send any representatives was because of their pervasive paranoia that they may continue to be branded as "the gay frat."
I wonder how that makes their gay members feel or if those people even knew about the invitation to take part in the Lambda 10 program?
Additionally, this past fall, non-Sig Ep Gay-Straight Alliance members, including myself, raised concerns about experiencing violent homophobic acts at Sig Ep. An attempt was made by the GSA leadership to facilitate a healthy discussion between the GSA and Sig Ep representatives. The situation became very hostile. One can understand how Sig Ep would feel defensive, especially considering the number of out gay and bisexual brothers in their membership.
Alpha Delta, with only one out gay brother of whom I am aware, sent four members from their organization this past weekend.
As one participant in the Lambda 10 project pointed out, it felt like the facilitators were preaching to the choir. Another participant mentioned that he would have preferred if the program was tailored more specifically to Dartmouth's own Greek culture.
For this to happen, individuals need to begin to tell their stories, making it clear at which houses such homophobic incidents take place. The fact is that some houses are less homophobic than others. If we do not know where people, regardless of their sexual identity, do not feel comfortable, how are we supposed to even know what actions and attitudes are homophobic?
