Wednesday, October 4, 2017 // The Statement
4B
Wednesday, October 4, 2017 // The Statement 
5B

“Anybody have a problem with that?”

Leading a fraternity as a gay man

b y Av i S h o l k o f f, Daily Sports Writer

Public Policy junior Daniel Greene 

remembers one of the first fraternity 
rush events he attended as a freshman.

“I walk into the house, and the first 

thing I hear, is ‘that’s so gay,’” Greene 
said. “Some brother is repeating ‘that’s 
so gay.’ That’s literally the first thing 
after I checked in I heard.”

The phrase was thrown around so 

many times Greene was convinced 
someone in the fraternity spread word 
of his sexuality.

“So I thought, ‘OK, maybe not the 

house for me,’” he recalled.

Greene went to a few more fraternity 

rush events before finding his place at a 
house on the corner of Washtenaw Ave-
nue and Hill Street: Lambda Chi Alpha.

“I told them during one of the first 

two rush events, ‘Hey, I know this has 
nothing to do with anything, I don’t 
know whether you’re going to give me 
a bid, but I just wanted to let you know 
that I’m openly gay.’”

Then LSA junior CJ Motley, who 

was in charge of Lambda Chi Alpha’s 

recruitment in the fall of 2015, said his 
personal reaction to Daniel’s announce-
ment was shame.

“That he would have to think that 

would have to be an issue or a problem, 
it was kind of disheartening.”

He recalls that Greene seemed imme-

diately like a great fit for the fraternity 
after meeting him at a mass meeting.

“I felt good that he could get along 

with us, be comfortable being around 
us, but at the same time, I didn’t like the 
idea that he felt like he wouldn’t fit in 
because of who he is.”

As a freshman, Greene never could 

have imagined himself in a fraternity, 
much less a president of Lambda Chi 
Alpha. When he was in middle school, 
he never thought he’d be able to get 
married or have children. He expected 
to live a “different” life because of his 
sexual orientation.

Thankfully, Greene’s right to marry 

is no longer up for discussion after the 
June 2015Obergfell v. Hodges Supreme 
Court ruling legalized same-sex mar-

riage in the United States. And yet, 
serving as the president of a fraterni-
ty, Greene continues to face prejudice 
because of his sexuality.

***
Historically, the Michigan Greek life 

community has attempted inclusiv-
ity of LGBTQ members, but the reality 
is often murky. A 2005 “Statement for 
Human Dignity” — signed by the all 
the major Greek life organizations — 
affirmed the houses would “not toler-
ate discrimination of any kind” against 
LGBTQ members, among other margin-
alized groups on campus. Yet in October 
2016, LSA senior Emily Kaufman — who 
is a transgender-female — drew national 
attention after she dropped out of soror-
ity rush after perceived exclusion. 

Back in 2010, a Daily article found 

many LGBTQ fraternity members were 
wary of coming out to their brothers due 
to perceived social stigmas. Four frater-
nity brothers who went on the record to 
talk about their experiences as gay men 
in Greek life preferred to remain anon-

ymous because they never came out to 
many, if not all, of their fraternity broth-
ers.

“I think at the group level, kind of a 

pack mentality (exists),” one anonymous 
fraternity member told the Daily in 
2010. “Whenever someone starts jerk-
ing around and saying (homophobic) 
things, but not necessarily meant to be 
derogatory, that kind of feeds into those 
perceptions.” 

Seven years after this article was pub-

lished, Greene ascended to the leader-
ship of an IFC fraternity as an outwardly 
gay member, reflective of a societal shift 
toward acceptance of homosexuality. 
In 2006, Pew found that 54 percent of 
Americans opposed gay marriage, with 
only 37 percent in favor. Nine years 
later, the Supreme Court would codify 
a right to same-sex marriage, and that 
figure flipped by 2017, with 62 percent 
of Americans in favor of same-sex mar-
riage and 32 percent opposed.

***
Greene is busy on campus. A self-

described nerd, he’s an LSA student 
representative in Central Student Gov-
ernment as well as a peer group leader 
within the Wolverine Support Network, 
a student-led organization that pro-
motes mental health.

In grade school, Daniel tried to 

hide who he was. Some of his fellow 
elementary and middle school peers 
would ask if he was gay, and he would 
always respond with a no. It wasn’t 
until November of the sixth grade that 
he finally answered yes. Within a day, 
everyone at school knew. And Greene 
feels especially privileged that, in his 
words, his school was “super accepting.”

However, Greene couldn’t say that 

all members of his community accepted 
who he was. That year, he tried joining 
the football team as a way to fit in. The 
coach at the time asked, “What are you 
a fucking girl?” in response to Greene’s 
high-pitched voice. 

***
“I think that there are instances 

where [Greek life is homophobic]. 
There’s always room for improvement, 
but I think it’s trending in the right 
direction,” Greene said. “I think that 
the critics are legitimate, but as a whole 
— from my experience — it’s been a great 
time; a learning experience for myself 
and for fraternities.”

After he was elected president of 

Lambda Chi Alpha in December 2016, 
some members in his pledge class — as 
well as others from the pledge class that 
followed — were uneasy about a gay man 
at the helm of their fraternity solely 
because of his sexuality.

While the supermajority of his broth-

ers affirmed his election, some were 
expressly opposed.

“There are people who, if it were left 

to them, they would ensure there was no 
openly gay brother again,” Greene said, 
emphasizing that this conflict took place 
in a house he felt mostly accepted in.

At the same time, though, Greene was 

met with acceptance among members of 
fraternities at which he never expected 
to find inclusivity. He’s made friends 
with members of all different houses.

As president, Greene had to confront 

misconceptions about members of the 
LGBTQ community in Greek life, tack-
ling it through two lenses: as an openly 
gay man and as the leader of a fraternity. 

“For someone who is openly gay, you 

have to show that it’s normal,” Greene 
said. “And you can still be as functional 
and great as a fraternity and foster the 
brotherhood and social life and ideals as 
other houses, but I have to come at it from 
a weird dynamic. I have my own feelings 
and views as an openly gay man, and I 
also have separate objectives and obliga-
tions as president. You learn if you ignore 
them, people start to realize the stereo-
types are wrong, but it’s different when 
you’re the president.”

In other words, Greene doesn’t nor-

mally take a proactive approach to com-
batting anti-LGBTQ stereotypes, but as 
president of Lambda Chi Alpha, he real-
ized he had to.

Confronting stereotypes is nothing 

new to Greene. Until 10th grade, when 
he’d answer his home phone, callers 
often assumed his mother was on the 
other side. Some people would comment 
on his hand gestures and articulation of 
words. Rather than calling out each of 
these commenters, Greene has an alter-
native approach that has resonated and 
allowed him to succeed.

“It’s the willingness to not budge 

or show fear or show embarrassment 
or show vulnerability to stereotypes,” 
Greene said. “In the long term that’s 
going to help those people realize that 
(the stereotypes) are not only wrong, but 
that their perceptions are just off.”

Sometimes, though, Greene feels he 

needs to alter his personality to fit in 
with a particular group, such as the 
board of Interfraternity Council presi-
dents, where Greene felt he “stuck out” 
among the other members. He discussed 
how certain individuals in attendance 
responded 
consciously 
and 
subcon-

sciously to his being gay. 

“When you’ve been openly gay for 10 

years, you can spot someone not liking 
your personality and someone not giving 
you the time of the day because of that 
… there are subtle differences,” Greene 

said. “Do I think that IFC is homophobic? 
No. Still, I think that there are people 
in that room who wouldn’t befriend me, 
or steer clear of me if they could, just 
because I’m gay.”

For example, Greene said some peo-

ple would move their name placards to 
avoid sitting next to him. Others would 
make subtle jokes behind his back about 
his sexuality they didn’t think he would 
overhear. 

In several written statements to the 

Daily, LSA senior Joey Insalaco, IFC pres-
ident, said the council is working closely 
with the University of Michigan’s Spec-
trum Center to collaborate on additional 
support programs for LGBTQ Greek life 
members in the future. Insalaco did not 
want to elaborate until the details are 
finalized, but he emphasized there will 
be some fraternity- and sorority-specific 
support for members of the IFC and Pan-
hellenic communities, respectively.

Insalaco worked with Greene through-

out his tenure and described him as self-
lessly dedicated to his chapter, earning 
him Chapter President of the Year at the 
Go Greek Awards at the end of this past 
semester.

***

Engineering junior Trevor Gullstad 

had never come out to anyone before col-
lege. In high school, he attended dances 
with girls, taking them solely as friends. 
It really wasn’t until he met Daniel that 
he opened up about identity.

He never envisioned bringing anoth-

er man to one of his date parties during 
freshman year, and even had doubts he 
would do it all throughout college.

To his surprise, though, his Delta Chi 

fraternity brothers supported him when 
he told them he would be bringing Daniel 
to one of his first date parties freshman 
year.

“I said I was going to bring my boy-

friend to our date party,” Gullstad said. 
“And a senior brother said, ‘Anybody have 
a problem with that?’ And everybody said 
no, and that was that.”

“That was a big emotional release at 

that time. I was definitely glad that I got 
to tell everyone that I was bringing a boy 
to the party before so he didn’t have to 
deal with people suddenly wondering 
once he was there. (I wanted) to make 
them aware of the full context.”

Greene said the experience was simi-

larly positive. Greene also brought Gull-
stad to Lambda’s date party. He believes 
it is extremely important for gay couples 
to attend these parties to show their vis-
ibility and maintain a presence.

“I wanted a place where I could bring 

home a guy, or bring home a boyfriend or 
a male to a date party,” Greene said. “Not 
only could I do it, but I wouldn’t have to 
think of the implications of doing it. I’m 
pretty sure, that I was — even though I 
felt comfortable — the first guy to bring 
another guy to a date party in recent 
Lambda history.

“I can genuinely say that almost all my 

fraternity — if someone did something 
shitty to me, or somebody did something 
homophobic — they would not hesitate in 
standing up for me,” Greene said. “And 
not ‘because I’m a liberal so I must do 
this’ urge, but because they genuinely 
care for my well-being.”

Still, while the overwhelming major-

ity welcomed Greene and Gullstad, there 
were some sneers.

“There were definitely some people 

who were taking pictures of us, Snap-
chatting in a negative way. You could see 
them from across the room,” Greene said.

Gullstad described himself as “the per-

son to freak out going into social situa-
tions” in an email to the Daily. He greatly 
admired Greene’s tremendous confidence 
during their dates and “put himself on 
the line again and again,” to advocate for 
people to express their true identities.

“(He taught me) about being visible 

and being super open, showing me that 
you could be out and proud and have lots 
of friends who were interested in differ-
ent activities and different types of peo-
ple and not have it negatively impact your 
life,” Gullstad said.

***
As a freshman, Greene only entered 

the IFC fraternity rush process because 
he wanted to experience every opportu-
nity offered on campus. Some friends in 
South Quad Residence Hall went to the 
meetings, and he chose to tag along. Two 

years later, he is a proud past president of 
Lambda Chi Alpha.

Grateful for his experience, he still 

wonders how different his college expe-
rience would’ve been had he entered 
college five or six years ago when the 
national and campus climate was less 
accepting of the LGBTQ community.

Greene was fortunate enough to find a 

house that embraced him for who he was. 
He stressed that while being LGBTQ is 
significantly less stigmatized than just 
five years ago, there is still work to be 
done. But he encourages the LGBTQ 
community to approach IFC members 
with an open mind. 

“A lot of the openly gay people who 

feel they aren’t accepted in Greek life 
— not saying that they’re not facing 
adversity or obstacles, because they are 
— but some of that has more to do with 
their perception, and their unwilling-
ness to give people a chance,” Greene 
said. “Unfortunately as a minority, 
you’re always going to have that burden 
of breaking through that ceiling or going 
over that bump when it comes to meeting 
new people.”

Just a month into his junior year, it’s 

clear that Greene has left his signature 
on campus. Ask Trevor Gullstad, CJ Mot-
ley or Joey Insalaco.

He never imagined as a sixth grader 

gossiping on the sidelines during P.E. 
that he would break barriers within the 
University’s Interfraternity Council.

ALEXIS RANKIN/DAILY

Daniel Greene 

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily

Trevor Gullstad

