Roderick Cook | Table Talk: Greekin' Out
I could spend forever calling out the misogyny, heteronormativity and transphobia that so often pervade mainstream Greek life at Penn. However, I do not want to undermine the important work that Penn’s LGBT community is doing to make Greek life more inclusive of queer and trans people.
So instead, I would like to highlight those that are doing things right. Alpha Phi Omega and Pi Lambda Phi are two amazing Greek organizations at Penn that embrace queer and trans people and their identities with open arms.
Both provide safe spaces for queer and trans people and host inclusive parties and events — it’s no wonder that they draw sizable queer and trans crowds! Most notably, people of all genders are welcome to rush and become members of Alpha Phi Omega.
We should continue to make fraternities and sororities safer for queer and trans people, but ultimately, these places are built around a binary that alienates an entire segment of the Penn population.
Thank you, APO and PiLam, for providing a space for those of us who are so often overlooked and a space in which I have never felt unwelcome because of my queer identity.
Roderick Cook is a College sophomore from Nesquehoning, Pa. studying gender, sexuality and women’s studies. Their email address is rodcookdp@gmail.com.
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