Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 11:32:32 -0500 (EST) From: Shane Windmeyer Subject: GREEKS AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA & HATE *************Please forward to others who might be interested************ ONLINE STATEMENT FOR GREEKS AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA & HATE SHARED PRINCIPLES TO CHANGE OUR COMMUNITIES The Lambda 10 Project will be collecting signatures from all members of the Greek community to support the shared principles of this online statement. Please submit your name and Greek affiliation to help us never forget the murder of Matthew Shepard and to commit ourselves to fostering stronger Greek communities free of homophobia and hate. To submit your signature information, email lambda10@indiana.edu. LAMBDA 10 PROJECT Clearinghouse for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Greeks www.indiana.edu/~lambda10 ************************************************************************ GREEKS AGAINST HATE AND HOMOPHOBIA SHARED PRINCIPLES TO CHANGE OUR COMMUNITIES As members of the Greek community, we send our thoughts and prayers to the family of Matthew Shepard. His horrifying murder reminds us that we all need to have an active role in educating our campuses and in creating stronger Greek communities that are free from hate and homophobia. The heartless act on a homecoming float at Colorado State University also makes us mindful of the evident need for Greeks to take swift and immediate action to counter our own homophobia within the Greek system on all college campuses and to send a strong message of intolerance for such cruel behavior among our membership. Together, we must work in our own chapters (locally and nationally) to continually break down the barriers perpetuating homophobia and to commit ourselves to these shared principles, as follows: 1. Understand how homophobia hurts the college fraternity and our values of brotherhood/sisterhood. 2. Foster an understanding and appreciation for diversity of all people and be supportive if one of our brothers or sisters come out in the Greek system. 3. Hold one another accountable and do not tolerate homophobic actions and hate words. 4. Support changes in our local/national fraternity policies to condemn such acts of intolerance and hate in the Greek system. 5. Plan and support educational opportunities for our campuses to learn about gays, lesbians and bisexuals. 6. Strive to create a climate of tolerance and respect for gays, lesbians and bisexuals on campus. As an act of remembrance of the life of Matthew Shepard, we as members of the Greek community commit ourselves to these shared principles in order to make a positive impact on our college campuses for the future and to create stronger Greek communities that are free from hate and homophobia. Shane Windmeyer Lambda 10 Project Office of Student Ethics/Anti-Harassment Programs Indiana University 705 E. Seventh Street Bloomington, IN 47405 Phone: (812) 855-4463 Fax: (812) 855-4465 Email: lambda10@indiana.edu Website: http://www.indiana.edu/~lambda10 Lambda 10 Project -- Clearinghouse for Gay, Lesbian, & Bisexual Greeks @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@EXCLAMATIONS@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ "I do not want my homosexuality to be something that must be accepted and respected. I want it to be something that is perfectly ordinary." -- Lambda 10 Project, 1998 "Let's face it," Andrade says. "The Greek system is the world's biggest closet. To say that there are no gay men in the Greek system is like saying there aren't any kegs either." -- Enrique Andrade, President, Delta Lambda Phi, University of Oregon (quoted in the March 1996 publication "View")