An event today is hoping to bring together UF’s Greek and LGBTQ+ communities.
Pride Awareness Month will host Behind the Letters at 6 p.m. to bridge the gap between the LBGTQ+ community and UF’s Greek-letter organizations, Rachel Eisen, the director of programming for PAM, said.
About five students will discuss their opinions and experiences as members of Greek-letter organizations who identify as LGBTQ+.
The panel, held in McCarty Hall C, Room 100, aims to bring together the two identities, Colleen Davis, the event director, said.
“The idea of Behind the Letters is to say that we’re not just our Greek letters or our LGBT letters, we are all multifaceted individuals with our own stories to tell,” she said. “We are not just our chapter or just our orientation.”
A moderator will ask the panel questions about experiences within the Greek council and chapter, she said.
Eisen, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, said she will represent her Panhellenic chapter on the panel. She plans to talk about the support she has received from Alpha Epsilon Phi.
The UF advertising and Spanish senior said she came up with the idea last year.
There is nothing combining Greek culture with people who are members of the LGBTQ+ community, Eisen, 22, said.
“I wanted to create this event to bridge that gap and erase some of that fear and start to put in some comfort,” Eisen said.
