Letter: Being gay in Greek life
My name is AJ Whitney and I am an openly gay brother of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. I have been openly gay for my entire time at Duke, including the entire rush process my freshman year. I have never, not even for one second, felt judged or ridiculed for my sexuality by the more than 200 brothers and alumni of ATO I have known throughout these last three years. I can genuinely say that I have never felt more accepted, valued and respected by any other community, both at Duke and throughout my life, than by my Taus. For the first time in my life, someone has asked me, “How is your boyfriend?” And he wasn’t just asking it to be nice; he actually cared. That might seem small, but such a casual conversation on my sexuality blew my mind. My brothers support me, through and through. I am not labeled as “that gay guy” or quantified as a diversity statistic, but rather loved for who I am as a brother.