Surrounded by sorority girls and feeling uncomfortable
displaying affection toward his long-time partner, Richard
Passmore-Ramirez did not feel like a perfect match rushing a Latino
fraternity of prominently straight membership, he said.
So this year the third-year Chicana/o studies student, who is
openly gay, set out to reactivate the UCLA chapter of Delta Lambda
Phi, a fraternity specifically for gay, bisexual and progressive
men.
Last week, the fraternity held winter rush activities, including
a barbecue in Sunset Canyon Recreation Center, a Diddy Riese ice
cream social and a bonfire where the final bids were handed
out.
They also received support from other fraternities on campus
during rush, Passmore-Ramirez said.
During fall rush this year, the colony ““ or “chapter
in training,” Passmore-Ramirez said ““ handed out eight
bids, adding an additional seven bids during winter rush. In the
two quarters, 21 people rushed, said Joseph Hernandez, a first-year
psychology student and DLP rush chair.
This Saturday, these 15 men will be inducted, and the colony
will become an official chapter, Hernandez said.
“We’re going to continue the Gamma chapter that the
university started when (the UCLA DLP chapter) was first
founded,” Hernandez said. “So the whole pledge class is
technically the refounding class.”
The first chapter at UCLA was founded in 1989, according to the
UCLA Greek Life Web site, but it faded out soon after.
Nationwide, DLP has 23 chapters, 10 colonies and 2,000 members,
said Randy Hubach, the national vice president for DLP outreach. It
is the largest fraternity for gay, bisexual and progressive
men.
Hernandez clarified what the term “progressive”
means.
“To me, it means someone who orientation doesn’t
really matter to,” he said. “Technically a progressive
man is straight but still supports what we believe in ““ a
safe environment for gay and bi men.”
Passmore-Ramirez said while other fraternities are inclusive of
gay men, they generally have very few openly gay members; the most
he has encountered in one fraternity is five.
He said that because of this lack he believed he did not share
common interests with members of the fraternity he rushed, but
hopes DLP will provide what was missing from his previous
fraternity experience.
He is now president of the UCLA colony.
“It provides a space for people who might otherwise not
have been a part of the Greek community,” Passmore-Ramirez
said.
Jimmy Maldonado, a second-year communication studies student,
said he learned about DLP from a friend in the California State
University, Long Beach chapter, then got rush information from the
UCLA colony’s Facebook group.
He then participated in winter rush, where he received and
accepted a bid.
“It was very social,” he said of the rush process.
“I got to meet a lot of cool people that otherwise I
wouldn’t have really been able to meet at UCLA. Gay people
are a big community, but there’s really no other place to go
to meet (gay) guys who want to be in a frat.”
Maldonado said he did not consider rushing any other
fraternities.
“That’d just be awkward,” he said.
The pledge group is diverse, representing many different ages,
ethnicities and majors, Passmore-Ramirez said.
“There’s really no pattern to people we’re
inducting as pledges,” he added.
All pledges are, however, united in their identification as gay,
bisexual or progressive.
“The guys who are in the fraternity here at UCLA mostly
identify as gay or bisexual, but we do have some
progressives,” Passmore-Ramirez said.
The fraternity plans to maintain an active role in the UCLA
community as well as in the greater community. They are planning
events including community-service projects ““ particularly to
benefit the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community
““ fundraisers and road trips, Passmore-Ramirez said.
“In community-service projects we’re definitely
going to include other people (outside the fraternity),” said
Hernandez. “We’re already thinking about possibly doing
joint community service with a different fraternity or a
sorority.”
The colony is also preparing to attend an upcoming national DLP
conference in Chicago, Passmore-Ramirez said.
The colony’s goals are oriented toward awareness and
acceptance, Hernandez said.
“I think one of our main goals (is) to establish ourselves
and let people know we’re actually here as a gay
fraternity,” Hernandez said.
He said DLP has no current plans to establish a house.
Marco Gonzalez, DLP vice president and a fifth-year
international development studies and political science student,
also said he hopes the fraternity will expand.
“For the next few years, of course, we would like to
increase the number,” he said. “Other than that, (we
want) to promote the existence of this fraternity because, of
course, it’s a bit different from the other ones. It’s
not only a social fraternity, but it concerns an issue that
interests everyone.”
In addition, Gonzalez said he hopes to open doors for
others.
“From what I’ve heard and seen from other students
and at other schools, it’s not so comfortable yet for
students to come out to a fraternity that has a majority of
straight males,” he said, emphasizing that DLP provides a
national support system.
Ultimately, though, DLP members said the bonds of brotherhood
are the same as all fraternities.
“My personal goal is to gain lasting relationships,
lasting friendships within the fraternity,” Maldonado said,
like any other frat boy.