Giselle Domdom, Courtesy Photo

Some people have secrets.

Some secrets are meant to be told.

A few Greek members broke their silence on Monday and let the community know that homosexuals are “Out on Greek Row.”

As the conclusion of the semester’s three-part New Member Series, the event garnered the attendance of hundreds of San Diego State fraternity and sorority members Monday night in Montezuma Hall.

The topic, “Out on Greek Row,” revealed the reality of gays, lesbians and bisexuals in the Greek community through a series of interactive exercises, group discussions and guest speakers.

Eight volunteers from various Greek organizations played the roles of randomly assigned sexual orientations and answered questions from Doug Case, the coordinator for the Center of Fraternity and Sorority Life, based on the assigned viewpoints.

One volunteer, criminal justice freshman Ryan Storms, said he did not have a difficult time portraying a homosexual male. Storms, a member of Gamma Zeta Alpha, said he is straight but has gay friends.

“I know people who are gay, and I am comfortable around them,” Storms said. “Events like this promote understanding so that if a person confronts a situation where they see someone who is gay, they won’t react violently or out of control.”

People aren’t very willing to see things from a different perspective, Storms said.

“I think it was a good experience for people to express their stereotypes and give different points of view,” he said, “and then have the real (gay) people set the standards straight.”

Commenting on the bursts of laughter within the crowd during what was percieved to some as inappropriate times, women’s studies junior Chelsea Olbenburg said she wished more people had taken the role-playing seriously. Olbenburg, a member of the Gamma Rho Lambda pledge class, said some of the women in her sorority were a little offended by some of the lesbian and bisexual female depictions.

“If you know somebody who is gay, I think you are much less likely to discriminate against gay people,” Olbenburg said.

Ricardo Sanchez, a civil engineering senior and Gamma Zeta Alpha member, said the laughter was a natural reaction of people who were faced with something they didn’t understand.

“They had to face their own identity and also face others identities,” Sanchez said. “There are probably a lot of people out there who haven’t heard people say they are openly gay.”

Even though the roles depicted hypothetical people, Sanchez said fraternities and sororities are samples of society that have a percentage of gays, lesbians and bisexuals.

After the role-playing, guest speakers addressed topics including life as an openly gay member of the Greek community, life for a “closeted” Greek, how to support a brother or sister who comes out and how to create a community tolerant of all members regardless of sexual orientation.

Student speakers included Adrian Herrera, a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo student; Tau Kappa Epsilon member and contributing author of “Brotherhood: Gay Life in College Fraternities;” Ryan Miccio, a Colorado State University student and Alpha Tau Omega member; and Jacinda Maheras, an SDSU student and founding president of the SDSU chapter of Gamma Rho Lambda.

“This isn’t just for people in the Greek community,” Maheras said. “It could be your roommate or a friend, and you need to remember to look at it through their eyes.”