Students push for gay fraternity at Indiana University

Indiana University could soon be home to a gay fraternity.

For the next two weeks, Joshua Thomas and four others will be speaking to students around campus trying to drum up support for IU's first gay, bi-sexual and transgender fraternity.

"There are some people that hide themselves while they're there and I don't fee that should be necessary," said Thomas.


Sick and tired of seeing too many of his friends trade their identity for entrance into the Greek community - hit a nerve -- with more people than he even imagined.

"There are a lot of people who hide their sexual identity and it's terrible that they have to do that," said Phillip Roberts, who is now helping to promote the fraternity.

That's when they discovered Sigma Phi Beta and immediately took action to start a chapter at IU.

"We're hoping everybody will be accepting and have their minds open to this idea. We're not trying to do anything to hurt any other groups, we're just trying to give people another social outlet," said Thomas.

But some already in fraternities worry it could create a divide within the Greek system.

"I really hope it doesn't segregate in any means anybody by just limiting yourself to being a strictly gay or LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender) fraternity," said Josh Thomas, who is openly gay. Thomas adds that there are many other homosexuals who are active members of the existing fraternities and have no problems.

"A lot of the fraternities here on campus, although they're not advertised as straight fraternities, there are people like myself in other organizations."

But there are always exceptions.

"I wish I really could do it but I don't think I would be comfortable with it," Roberts confesses.

Sigma Phi Beta hopes to change all of that by showing what true brotherhood is all about.

"We're not going to discriminate against anybody," Thomas promises.

The group is meeting with the Interfraternity Council of IU in the next two weeks to begin negotiations.

Once the group becomes a colony it can petition the national chapter for a campus charter.

Sigma Phi Beta currently only exists at Arizona State University where it was founded in 2003.

This isn't the first time a gay fraternity has tried to establish a chapter at IU.

Back in 2003, a group of students tried to bring Delta Lambda Phi to campus but it didn't receive enough support from the Greek Community.