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Frat Boy Research

posted by Liam Reed at 3:14 pm.

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I had been thinking about doing this for a while, but something in my RST course (I know…) today gave me the extra push to write a Craigslist ad. We were talking about minority rights in the United States and how minorities such as Jackie Robinson really helped gain major acceptance for blacks in the United States. As sad as it may be, many middle class white guys don’t seem to be accepting of a person (or “race”) until they prove themselves on some sort of field, whether it be baseball, basketball, or football. Gays are starting to make strides in sports when it comes to things like the Gay Games, but there aren’t that many “out” athletes out there, and the ones that ARE out of the closet aren’t out until they’ve retired. The Greek community may not be the U of I sport community, but I’d venture to say it’s a good place to start.

I posted an ad on Craigslist in an attempt to do research for a blog I’d like to write and post here on the217. I’ll post the ad here as well. I know it’s wordy and most people will stop reading it once they realize it’s not an ad that will result in having their dick sucked in some bathroom stall at the Undergrad, but I figure it’s worth a shot.

The (very lengthy) Ad:

I’ll probably get bitched at for doing research this way, but I’m really interested in the story so I will just have to deal with gossip in my community.

My name is Liam and I write a sex column for the217.com called With Tongue. I write about everything from hardcore porn to hate crimes on campus to fetishes to politics to local sex-related events.

I am very interested in the idea of closeted homo/bi/experimenting frat guys and would like to write an article about them to show our campus that homosexuality does indeed exist in every niche of our community, up to and including the Greek system.

Why I am writing is because I know a lot of these closeted guys tend to find the guys they are sexually active with on sites like Craigslist and Facebook, but Craigslist is fantastic because it’s simply a huge public forum that functions as free advertising.

If you are a homo/bi/experimenting guy in a fraternity here at the U of I, I would love to interview you. These interviews can be as anonymous as you want (you can use a fake email addy, name, and we don’t have to talk face-to-face or even on the phone). This hinders my research in that you could just be some out of the closet gay guy on campus with an agenda, but I figure that most frat guys here are probably in the closet and are afraid to reveal this information about themselves for a reason. It’s something I’ll just have to deal with.

I will NOT ask you for your name or which frat you belong to. If you’re interested, please respond to this ad and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

To see a sample of my blog, check out the URL: blogs.the217.com/withtongue

Questions I hope to answer with this blog are:

*As a member of a fraternity, a literal brotherhood, do you feel oppressed in terms of showing your entire identity?

*Is it safe to be out in a frat?

*Is it necessarily a bad thing to be in the closet in a frat? Is there reason to be in the closet in a frat?

*Do you see yourself coming out of the closet or having a relationship with another guy freely (that is, not hidden) after finishing school?

*When programs such as panels about being “gay friendly” are brought to frat houses, are they seen strictly as a punishment?

*Do you feel that if more gay members of the Greek system were out of the closet, gays would be more accepted on this campus?

*Do you feel gays ARE accepted on this campus?

*Are terms such as “faggot” and “that’s so gay” less/more prominent in the Greek system on campus than other parts of campus?

*If gays are ever a topic of conversation, is homosexuality ever talked about in a positive light?

Maybe my aims are a bit high with this, but I figure that unless I ask, I’ll never even have a chance at knowing.

Thanks a lot. Your help is definitely appreciated.

blogs.the217.com/withtongue

Liam Reed: 1987 model, runs fairly well, few dents, starts in cold weather, no baggage, loves flea markets and canned soup. Send all hate mail, love mail, and sexual advances to withtongue@gmail.com