Barriers were broken at Greek Straight Talk on Tuesday night, an event held by Alpha Chi Omega and Gamma Phi Beta sororities with the LGBTA student resource center.
Members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Allies group spoke to sorority sisters about their experiences within their own sexuality in hopes of raising awareness and breaking stereotypes, said Kelly Abdelnour (junior-recreation, park and tourism management), who organized the event with Megan Fredericks.
"Sororities don't usually interact with the LGBTA students so it's a good way to bring them together," Fredericks (junior-recreation, park and tourism management) said.
Shannon O'Neil began the event by setting ground rules for everyone in attendance to follow.
"Leave our faces here," O'Neil (senior-human development and family studies) said, asking attendees not to out them in public. But she added not to be afraid to ask any questions during the event.
To break the ice, Alex Yates (junior-secondary education) wrote "sorority" and "L-G-B-T-A" on the chalkboard and asked the audience to shout out any stereotypes they heard for any of the categories. Answers ranged from "sorostitute" and "stupid" in the sorority category to "dyke," "flamboyant," "confused," and "tranny" in LGBTA categories.
"I'll give you a dollar if you can come up with one I've never heard," Josh Miller (senior-electrical engineering) said, encouraging the participants to not hold back.
After walls were broken down, LGBTA members each shared their own stories about their experiences with their sexuality.
Thomas Bierly spoke of the hardships he faced in coming to terms with his sexuality, using humor to balance his story of getting in trouble throughout his school years and being convinced by family members that being gay was a disease.
"I guess I didn't wash my hands enough," Bierly (senior-information sciences and technology and security risk analysis) said.
Julian Haas (sophomore-sociology) told the audience what it was like being gay and trying to fit in during high school, as he was the only student to be a starter on the football team and a performer in the school's musical. "It's ironic that I spent time in high school convincing people I was straight and now that I'm here I have to prove that I'm gay," Haas said.
After the stories the floor was open for any attendee to ask questions. Questions ranged from what it was like to go through hormone treatment to what it is like to give talks to fraternities.
