How queer members of the Divine 9 lead a double life in the face of tradition
By Siara Carpenter
This is a screenshot of a woman who is a part of Alpha Kappa Alpha and a woman who is a part of Delta Sigma Theta joining hand signs. Each Divine 9 organization has their own hand sign, and normally split their hand sign (as shown above) when taking pictures with someone of another organization. The above hand is a picture of a couple where the women are in different organizations. (Photo courtesy of @recognizeourpride on Instagram)
This is the National Pan-Hellenic Council emblem. The nine white spikes represent the nine organizations which make up the NPHC. Everyone has a different reason for joining. Those who are featured in the article where asked why they joined below. (Courtesy of NPHC website)
When James, a 37 -year-old Los Angeles native, came out as gay to his brothers in Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity in 2018 he was frightened.
Although he joined Alpha Phi Alpha in 2011, he didn’t know if this meant that he would lose the relationships that he had cultivated with his brothers over the past seven years, or if he would feel pressured to leave his organization in its entirety.
James knew he was meant to be an Alpha man at an early age due to his experiences with other Alpha men, but was this going to be the end? James was caught between wanting to be his full self with those who were closest to him, or not being truthful with those in his life with the compromise being acceptance.
A decade after James joined, Kiki, 22, is the president of her chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority. As a lesbian, she felt that she needed to change the Black community’s views on queer leaders. And, she says, her sisters and new initiates have felt empowered to be able to come out and live their true selves. Although Kiki is a southern girl attending a university in Mississippi, a place where many people would think is more homophobic than Los Angeles, she has been able to make her mark and change her campus simply by existing in a position of power.
Statistically, queer members exist, but where are they?
Screenshot from Alpha Kappa Alpha’s Instagram for their pride post. Screenshot from Alpha Kappa Alpha’s Instagram for their pride post.
These two experiences showcase how things have changed within the Divine 9, five fraternities and four sororities that were founded between 1906 and 1963 to create safe spaces for Black people. The majority were founded on the campus of Howard University, a historically Black university. Members are allowed to join in college, or can pursue membership through a graduate chapter as long as they have graduated from college. Being a member of one of these organizations is described as a lifetime commitment.
The purpose of these organizations is to do service in the Black community, usually regarding social justice, aiding children and the elderly, promoting interest in college life and creating bonds between members. There have been many prolific members of the Divine 9 who have been speculated to be queer after their passing. However to this day, many of these organizations lack visibility for their queer members.
I spoke more in depth with 5 Divine 9 members, who shared their own feelings and perceptions of how queer people are viewed in the Black community.
Coming out in a Divine 9 sense has a completely different meaning.
For Enzy, a queer Sigma from New York, this was very recent. On Jan. 30, 2025, a video was posted by one of the Los Angeles chapters of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. It featured three men dressed in black clothes with blue letters across it and white masks obscuring their faces standing in a line. As the video continued the men broke from the line, took off their masks and introduced themselves. Anyone who is familiar with Black Greek life-often referred to as the Divine 9 or the NPHC-knew what this video was. It was a probate.
A probate, or neophyte presentation, is in layman’s terms, a new member presentation-which people sometimes refer to as a coming out performance. These presentations are often used by the Divine 9 fraternities and sororities to debut new members, where they start off masked, stating information about their organization, then unmask themselves and announce who they are.
For Shay, 21, her probate happened when she joined Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority in 2023. Shay is a masculine lesbian in Mississippi and her coming out ceremony alarmed her. She didn’t know if members of her campus would be willing to accept a masculine AKA, with the sorority’s stereotype being light skin, high femme and bougie. She prepared herself to put on a dress for her probate, but she did not have to. Although her school is also in Mississippi, she describes her campus as fairly progressive. “We’re known for having dresses or skirts, so I was fully prepared for [that when] we were supposed to come out,” she said. “But when I was joining they kind of made accommodations. I was like, ‘Oh, what?’ I don’t care about wearing the dress. I know what I signed up for, babe.” This change might have been a small change to some, but to Shay this was monumental. Their outfit for their ceremony was pants and a bodysuit. She said, “Everybody that was really shocked about that, because that’s not our tradition.”
As a fellow member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, tradition is our bread and butter. Oftentimes, we have to wear dresses with stockings and closed toed shoes; much to the younger generation’s dismay. In addition, the ladies who bring in a new group of members often have new initiates wear the same outfit as they did when they were the new initiates. Breaking tradition to accommodate new members is practically unheard of; but is coming more into fashion.
For Susan, 46, her experience with coming out as a lesbian to her sisters in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was slightly different and significantly more delayed. Although she joined in 1998, she did not start telling her sisters that she was a lesbian until 2010. Most of her sisters were supportive, she recounted that “there were times I came out and folks just were deadpanned. It was like, ‘Okay, we kind of thought maybe, oh, thanks for the call, but we’re good.’” To some people it was a non-issue, for others it allowed them to understand her and themselves. For those who struggled to accept her, they took it as a personal moral failure. People told her, “I need to work this out, because I shouldn’t feel differently about you, and if I do that’s me,” Susan said. While the experience started off isolating, as she lost some friends, her relationship with others changed. To those with negativity she said she had to, “Shake it off,” but she was happy that those around her, “Took it as their work,” and cited that if the women in her organization are up to the caliber that they say they are, this should not be an issue.
The current state of Black sentiment toward the LGBTQ community is as follows.
According to an informal, non-scientific survey of people in the Divine 9 across age groups and region, the Divine 9 is becoming increasingly queer as younger members join, but the questionnaire’s 136 respondents also suggested there remains discrimination and a lack of inclusivity. 62.5% of respondents said that there were not enough safe spaces for queer members and 79.4% of members confidently said that they would support a queer member. However, the response to the question “What relationship do you think the Black and LGBTQ+ community have? Why do you think the Black community and the LGBTQ+ community have the relationship they do?” was split with some saying, “I think the Black and LGBTQ+ community have a don’t ask, don’t tell relationship because that’s how the adults in our community were raised. However, as time goes on, the newer generation has become more open to accepting LGBTQ+ people and preferences as time goes on,” and others saying, “The relationship that the Black and LGBTQ+ community have is one of ignorance. They have this type of relationship because the Black community has not fully understood the LGBTQ+ community because of religion, society, personal beliefs. However I believe that with grace, patience, and a willingness to learn there can be a healthy relationship between both communities.” While the Divine 9 has collectively initiated upwards of 1.8 million members, some queer members feel as if there is a lack of visibility and hesitation regarding their acceptance.
According to the Williams Institute, at least 1 million Black adults in the U.S. are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT), making up 12% of the nation’s LGBT population. Sixty-five percent of Black respondents said they consider themselves “supporters of Black LGBTQ+ people and rights,” with 57 percent of the supporters saying they were “churchgoers.” According to the press release, it also found that 40 percent of Black people in the survey reported having a family member who identifies as LGBTQ+. However, 62% say Black people should prioritize the struggle against racism over other inequalities, despite the fact that intersectionality exists and many people who encounter homophobia also encounter racism.
However, perspectives are different when coming from an LGBT lens. Black LGBT and non-LGBT adults do not differ in their sense of belonging to their own race. With 86% of Black people nationally reporting that they have a feeling of shared fate and connectivity with other Black people in the U.S., around half — 51% — of Black people surveyed feel a shared fate with Black LGBTQ+ people.
Studies show that around 7% of Americans identify as a member of the LGBTQ community. Meaning that historically around 126,000 members of the Divine 9 are a part of the LGBTQ community.
For starters, there has been speculation that Lucy Diggs Slowe, one of the founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. was in a lesbian relationship. Slowe lived in the house that she purchased with Mary Burrill. Although the two never went public as lovers, Burrill was treated by Slowe’s Howard students as her wife, and Burrill took on the duties of a grieving widow after Slowe’s death. Slowe being in predominantly women’s spaces led to her being allowed to be with her partner in a more public sense. While they could not be publicly visible, we are allowed to be visible now, with women being more likely to accept queerness than men.
How Many Times Have D9 Orgs Posted for Pride Month?
The first post for any organization goes back to 2022.
Sororities
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Twice. 2023 & 2024
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
3 times. 2022, 2023 & 2024
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.
3 times. 2022, 2023 & 2024
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.
3 times. 2022, 2023 & 2024
Screenshot taken from the official Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Instagram page.
Screenshot taken from the official Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. Instagram.
Fraternities
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
0
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
0
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
0
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.
0
Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc.
Once in 2024.
Gender and Double Standards
Why does femininity change the way that queerness is perceived? Shay said that a lesbian relationship is a turn on for some people, but a gay relationship is something that people take offense to. “[People] try to make it gross or unnatural, and that’s what makes it a double standard, to the point where they get shunned or it can’t be in certain spaces because they’re gay. Black men are like, “Oh, you supposed to be a man.”” Kiki, her wife, elaborated on this statement. Susan, had the same sentiments saying that in many women’s spaces, being queer is a, “non-issue.” “I could bring my girlfriends to weddings, no issue. ”
Marriage between members of the Divine 9 is very common, with each sorority having a brother fraternity. While it is not required that a sorority woman marries someone of the partner fraternity, marrying another woman or another man is still taboo. Especially if both members happen to be a part of the Divine 9 such as Kiki and Shay.
The idea of the assertive, dominant, masculine Black man stems from slavery and has modern day implications regarding how homosexuality is viewed in the Black community. Black queer male representation is especially low in fraternity spaces, which made finding sources for this piece especially difficult. Enzy elaborated about how different men’s and women’s spaces are. He said that around the fraternity at large he has to, “show up in more of a masculine tone instead of being my natural self being able to fluctuate between the masculine and feminine energy,” as a way of feeling safe. He had a different sentiment than Susan said, stating, “I do think that bringing a boyfriend would be a little challenging for me personally, especially seeing that a lot of men come from different backgrounds, different training, thoughts, different upbringing; so it wouldn’t be as cookie-cutter as I would hope for it to be.”
On a chapter basis, certain blows can be softened. Enzy continued, “I definitely felt supported on a chapter basis. My linebrother are the first two queers in our chapter, and I feel like our chapter brothers have made efforts to make sure we felt supported and safe in spaces. I can’t say I felt on a national level as of yet since I haven’t necessarily gotten that far yet, but I’m excited to see where it goes when I do get there.” While Enzy has not been a part of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity for a while, he has noted something that many young people are noticing, that the older generation might not be socially aligning with the youth. Enzy’s experience also comes as a current college student who moved from the east coast to the west coast and has seen how men act in two distinct parts of the country.
James, 37, has seen this rejection and lack of visibility for over a decade in his organization; but the support that is there is strong and present. “The support comes from the [LGBT] community within the fraternity, like fraternity within the fraternity,” he said “I’ve had older gay frat brothers who kind of took me under their wings and mentored me. I’m now doing the same and paying it forward with ones who I know-so some of whom aren’t out yet. They trust me enough to disclose that information to me and kind of guide them through their journey.”
While I know of a few lesbian women in my chapter, they have had to blaze a path for themselves. There often is not much guidance from older women regarding how to come out to their family, find a supportive wife or anything else in the queer realm.
The Generational Divide
Fraternities and sororities are run on a national level as well as a chapter basis. Normally there are undergraduate chapters which are run by college students with the supervision of a graduate member. Graduate chapters are run by people who have either graduated from an undergraduate chapter or by members who wanted to join after graduation. For most organizations, their main leadership is made of people who are in a graduate chapter, meaning that those who are in power are not a part of the younger, more progressive generation.
James has been able to subvert this reality. Although James has felt power struggles between members of the fraternity and him, his high rank in the fraternity has created a respect between him and some members. As a current graduate advisor to an undergraduate Los Angeles chapter, he is able to take young gay men under his wing in the way that he was taken under an older gay fraternity brother’s wing when he was in college.
While the aforementioned statistics describe a sample size of the overall Black community, “73 percent of Gen Z respondents, who in 2024 are between the ages of 12 and 27, “agree that the Black community should do more to support Black LGBTQ+ people.” According to a Gallup poll, about 1 in 5 Gen Z is LGBTQ+ in contrast to 1 in 50 Baby Boomers. This is not to assume that every Gen Z is supportive of the LGBTQ+ community or that every Baby Boomer is homophobic, this is to simply show an incoming social shift that will change how these organizations look in the future.
There is a difference in queer people’s opinions on the Divine 9’s duties to the LGBTQ+ community which has a lot to do with age. James said that he did not join the fraternity looking for queer acceptance. He wanted to join his organization due to prior positive experiences with members and was initiated in 2008. James did not know that he was gay at this time. While he has bonded with other fraternity brothers and eventually came out to them he says that brotherhood is what he wants, not a shallow social media post, “I guess it would be nice to see something posted around pride, right? But if I’m being honest, I don’t need it personally. It would be helpful, beneficial, probably for others. [For] representation and visibility…But because I didn’t come through the organization with that lens, I don’t look to the organization for that type of messaging.”
Amongst the older generation, Susan agreed, saying, “I don’t need the sorority to post, you know, a pride message for me to feel. I have access to the full benefits of membership, but I do need us to be on the right side of history when it comes to no actual discrimination. I do need us to be on the right side of history in terms of having an evolved position on matriculation for trans women…I don’t need a message to come out to say, feel free to wear your letters at the Pride Parade…that may be a little bit of a trauma response of being gay in this society that you just kind of keep your expectations low.”
Amongst survey respondents, 20% identified themselves as LGBT. Most of those who knew of having a queer member in their intake class were those who were initiated after 2020. 94% of those aged 18-24 believe that LGBT members should be more visible and given more spaces that acknowledge them amongst their organizations whereas 25% of those aged 55-64 said the same. 58% of respondents aged 55-64 stated that they would prefer the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy to be observed when it comes to LGBT members of their organizations. They would like for the things that they want to be reflected by those in power and for their intersectional identities to be acknowledged. Although, they do acknowledge that their organization supporting one thing on their behalf might be contrary to others’ beliefs. But leaving this issue alone is not an option.
Are you a member of the LGBT community
I had a queer members in my pledge class
18-24
28%
14%
55-64
0%
8%
The Future of Visibility
For the future, visibility will be the main issue that separates the younger generation and the older generation. There is a possibility that certain chapters or regions will be more or less lenient when it comes to their members’ gender and sexual expression. This might lead to the formation of other fraternities and sororities that are meant for Black people but not a part of the Divine 9. These organizations exist, such as the social clubs Groove Phi Groove or Iota Phi Lambda. There are Black sororities and fraternities that are made exclusively for lesbian women or gay men, such as Delta Phi Upsilon Fraternity, Inc. for men or Kappa Theta Epsilon for women. However, the Divine 9 is not likely to accept the two organizations or any affiliate organizations due to the older leadership’s opinions and the emphasis placed on tradition. This approximation comes from Alpha Phi Alpha and Phi Beta Sigma banning transgender men from joining their fraternities.
Although, once Gen Z takes over as the elders of these organizations, things might change. As of recently, the first transgender HBCU homecoming queen was elected. However, Gen Z is not out of the woods yet, as many people still do feel caught between joining a Divine 9 organization or coming out.Kiki and Enzy have discussed what they would like to see for the grander futures of their organizations.
Enzy wants to hold a regional position where he would, “[acknowledge] things like pride…create more spaces for queer black LGBTQ folks where they feel safe…[and] bridge the gaps between queer LGBTQ males and heterosexual men.”
Kiki and her wife Shay are a living embodiment of the direction that they want to go in in the future. Kiki hopes that her time as president of her chapter will influence the next generation of ladies. “Hopefully that goes on beyond me. I don’t know if I would ever have a regional or national spot, but I would be interested in hosting events or handing out flyers [to spread awareness about the prevalence of LGBT members in the Divine 9]…I would do something like that in order to help transform his 40 years to come.”
While all of the people I spoke with for this project did tell me about negative experiences that they have had where they have been isolated, not acknowledged, harassed or blatantly discriminated against by other members of their organizations I chose not to include them. Valuing queer voices should not rely on hearing about their pain. With the visibility that comes with this piece, I aim to bring awareness to how LGBT members of the D9 are treated and the steps that they would like to take to have a collective future that they say is the right side of history.
Shay and Kiki’s silhouette overlook their initials in sand.
