Gay Fraternity Tries To Gather Support From Community

Of University Of Florida's 33 fraternities, none are tailored for gay students. Paul Nichols decided that needed to change.
Nichols, who works for UF's Department of Housing and Residence Education, began efforts to found a Gainesville chapter for Delta Lambda Phi at the beginning of the year.
Delta Lambda Phi is a national social fraternity for gay, bisexual and progressive men, according to its Web site.
It will finish recruiting today. Four people have expressed interest in joining, Nichols said.
The Gainesville chapter will be a community-based chapter because it will allow UF and non-UF students to join. Because Delta Lambda Phi allows non-UF students to join, it will not be associated with the university.
Nichols said he got the idea after reading a story in the Alligator about students wanting to start a similar chapter last Fall.
"It kind of fell flat," he said. "That's why I kind of picked up the torch from that point."
Delta Lambda Phi has 22 chapters nationwide, including one at Miami's Florida International University - the only chapter in the state.
"Our overall goal is to help defeat stereotypes that gay men are all about clubs and parties and not giving back to their communities and cities," he said.
Nichols said the group will be very similar to other fraternities and will have an eight-week pledge process. The group's main difference, however, will be that any men over the age of 18 will be able to join.
"The only potential problem I see is that we may get people with a predatory motive who see this as a chance to get with a younger man," Nichols said. "We have safeguards in place to weed out those kind of people. This is not a place to go for dates."
SFCC student Caz Marciniak, 28, said he plans to pledge the group.
"I think having a community fraternity is a great thing," Marciniak said, adding, "I want to help people figure out who they are. It's going to be about helping people."
from Alligator Online