Updated on July 15, 2024
Following a tense debate, delegates at the constitutional convention “overwhelmingly” voted to pass a proposed bylaw change that would ban trans members, according to sources. The amendment now proceeds to another voting and approval stage by individual chapters and the general body before being officially adopted.
Additionally, following the publication of the report on Alpha Phi Alpha, an anonymous member of Phi Beta Sigma told GLAAD that their fraternity already has a trans ban on the books, meaning Alpha Phi Alpha is not the first Black Greek-letter fraternity to consider such a proposal, as previously reported. A screenshot of the Sigma constitution and bylaws verified by GLAAD states: “Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. is an exclusively male organization. Its membership is limited to natural-born males who identify as such.”
According to the source, this clause was approved in 2017 after the organization accepted its first transgender member a year earlier. That individual’s membership was reportedly later rescinded.
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated could become the second Black Greek-letter fraternity to ban transgender members. During its Constitutional Convention, which began on July 10 in Chicago, delegates of the storied organization for African American men will consider an amendment to their bylaws that would restrict membership to “any male defined as a human being naturally born male, who remains and continually identifies as a male,” according to a draft reviewed by GLAAD.
Some members of the organization say the proposed language is not only discriminatory and unnecessarily exclusionary but politically motivated. They say the organization’s national leadership — and this amendment — don’t reflect a broader Alpha membership that can be more accepting and welcoming.
“Their decision to alienate trans and nonbinary people from membership is reactionary, asinine, and unbecoming of an organization with a professed commitment to human rights,” said Deandre Miles-Hercules, a self-described “gender creative” Alpha who uses they/them pronouns and likely would be impacted by the proposed bylaw amendment. “It’s ludicrous to be the fraternity of Thurgood Marshall and Martin Luther King Jr. and come up with a policy that bans trans people.”
Alpha Phi Alpha was founded in 1906 on the campus of Cornell University. It’s the oldest of nine Black Greek-letter fraternities and sororities that emerged in response to racist exclusion. Now pivotal cultural institutions, the so-called Divine Nine boasts a membership of an estimated two to four million largely (though not exclusively) Black people and continues to serve a vital role in the Black community. Central to their legacy, Alpha Phi Alpha’s especially, has been racial uplift.
“After the NAACP, it’s Alpha Phi Alpha, honestly,” said Matthew Shaw, assistant professor of law at Vanderbilt Law School and assistant professor of public policy and education at Vanderbilt Peabody College. Noting that many Alpha men were central to the “march to racial desegregation” and the Civil Rights Era, Shaw also questions how an organization “with this legacy” could consider a policy such as the proposed ban. Entities with similar historical and communal significance — like the NAACP, for example — have expressly affirmed their support of LGBTQ+ communities. “What they’ve understood is what I understand, that the logic of civil rights has got to remain inviolate.”
“If we allow certain discriminations, we have to allow for all of them,” continued Shaw, a lifetime Alpha member. “If Alpha then adopts the logic that White Citizens’ Councils had against Black people desegregating schools in the 1950s and ’60, what’s to say that you couldn’t use that logic against Black people in 2024?”
Nearly a dozen interviews with members of Alpha Phi Alpha — some conducted anonymously out of fear of retaliation or personal and professional safety — reveal a generational and moral split in the 118-year-old organization between national leadership, which is more likely to be older and more traditional, and the general body and collegiate and alumni chapter leadership, which is often more likely to be younger and more progressive.
“Many of these organizations thrive through conservatism, but that’s not necessarily what either the general membership truly wants or what it needs, given the shifts beyond the organization in culture and in reality,” Shaw added. “A fear of change is honestly what’s happening.”
But as one Alpha man based in Philadelphia said, the proposal shouldn’t even be a question. “Trans men are men,” he said. “I just feel like at the end of the day, if you identify as a man and you want to be in fellowship with other men, then you should be allowed to. It doesn’t sit well with me that a white man can be a member of Alpha, this historic Black institution, with no problem, but we’re going to tell Black trans men that they can’t. We’ve got all types of men in this fraternity, so to me, that’s how I look at it. It’s just another type of man.”
A few things still need to be clarified about the proposed bylaw amendment, starting with how it would be enforced. It’s also not known how many members of Alpha it would apply to, if it’s supposed to apply to prospective members only, or if it’s targeting current members who have transitioned and/or come into their not-cisgender-ness since joining. Regardless, trans and nonbinary people are already members of Alpha Phi Alpha. Some have distanced themselves from the formal organization since initially joining. Others are present, either having not disclosed their gender identities or defiantly taking up space, like Miles-Hercules.
Miles-Hercules, pursuing a Ph.D. in linguistics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, joined Alpha Phi Alpha while an undergraduate student at Atlanta’s Emory University. They were inspired by a resident advisor who became an Alpha man as well as the social justice legacy of the organization as demonstrated by notable alumni. “It was a no-brainer for me, essentially,” they said, and the type of lifelong commitment that seemed aligned with how they saw themselves impacting their communities and the world.
But in retrospect, Miles-Hercules admits, “My relationship to the fraternity has always been contentious.” That’s because after joining, they were confronted with “the package of Black masculinity,” especially in their chapter and on their campus, in the form of compulsory heterosexuality, hom*ophobia, transphobia, and misogyny. They consistently challenged their brothers and other Divine Nine members on Emory’s campus. Those in Miles-Hercules’ chapter grew from the interactions, they believe, and Miles-Hercules considers their line brothers among their closest friends.
Miles-Hercules’ gender presentation has moved “further and further away from the norm of what’s expected of a member of Alpha Phi Alpha.” And while those in the organization closest to them haven’t been shocked or even concerned that they might damage the group’s image or brand, others in the brotherhood have reportedly gone as far as mocking photos of Miles-Hercules in online group chats.
“It’s not surprising to me that there are transphobic sentiments within the organization — because I’ve experienced it,” they said. “But it is surprising that the organizational leadership would move forward with attempting to enshrine it in organization policy in the year 2024. That doesn’t make any sense to me.”
While the potential bylaw amendment would specifically impact trans and nonbinary members of the organization, gay, bisexual, and queer members see its consideration as another example of the brotherhood’s refusal to acknowledge the diversity within its ranks officially. For example, the fraternity has never formally recognized Pride month — even after a 16-member collective wrote a letter to national and regional leadership in March calling for the org to “express public support for Alphas and men who are part of the GBTQ+ communities during Pride month and World AIDS Day.” The letter, reviewed by GLAAD, also called for leaders to revise all institutional documents to be more inclusive (changing “male/males” to “person/people,” “brothers” to “members,” and “wives” to “spouses”) and to strike the language of the proposal, instead defining membership as being for “any cisgender man, transgender man, and/or nonbinary student who identifies with upholding the ‘manly deed’ principles of the fraternity.”
This June, Alpha Phi Alpha did not publicly acknowledge Pride Month on its official social media pages. Three members of the organization confirmed that Alpha’s stance, as communicated to inquiring members from national leaders, is that supporting Pride is a political act. Fearing that their chapters could be de-chartered for defying such a position, more progressive leaders have reluctantly obliged and not posted on their social pages.
Alpha Phi Alpha did not respond when reached for comment.
“If this fraternity can’t even acknowledge Pride Month because they think it’s political, it’s almost like you shouldn’t even be that surprised that the national organization is not going to consider trans men [for membership],” one local leader said. “I would’ve been more shocked that they were doing this based on my experience in the fraternity on a chapter level and regional level. But I feel like the more I get into the national side, the more it becomes very clear that there’s an old guard at the top that wants to enforce these types of policies and ideologies and stances, to the dismay of a lot of their chapters.”
The Convention Process
Wednesday through Sunday is the organization’s Constitutional Convention at Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center. Billed by General President Willis L. Lonzer, III in a letter to membership as an “opportunity to be a part of history as we discuss and refine this great Fraternity’s guiding documents as we move into the future,” the convention is attended by delegates representing the at least 706 active chapters across the world. Over four days, they review, debate, and refine proposed constitution and bylaw amendments drafted by a committee. Collectively, they decide which proposals will be put for a vote by the general body at next summer’s general convention, which the org moved from Orlando to Philadelphia last year due to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ racist and anti-Black efforts.
General President Lonzer’s letter hinted at this inflection point in culture, noting that “while the character and values of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. is as steadfast as the Great Sphinx of Giza, society’s are not.” He continued saying the organization “must ensure that our beloved Fraternity, and what we value most, cannot be compromised, targeted, or most of all, deemed irrelevant to the needs of the communities in which we reside and serve.”
Presumably, the list of projected bylaw changes reflects those same values. Save a specific catalyst for this potential rule, which would add a definition of “male” to the org’s operating procedure that refuses trans and nonbinary members, some Alphas can’t help but notice the similarities between it and the slate of especially anti-trans legislation nationwide, mainly championed by Republican-led state legislatures and other conservative interests.
As one D.C.-based former chapter leader told GLAAD: “Because unfortunately where there are men, there is transphobia, this conversation has come up quite a bit at all levels [of the organization]. I think it’s becoming very hyper-politicized in the way that we’re seeing the landscape of the country, unfortunately.”
“It’s not as if it just slipped in; there was a process for [the amendment] to even make it this far,” he continued.
Currently, “male” is undefined in Alpha’s bylaws. Some members would prefer this part of the bylaws be untouched, which would continue to allow chapters to assess membership qualifications using the already-established criteria.
“I’m always nervous when there’s a small percentage of people in the world, and then you’re making overarching and broad policies about them,” said the D.C.-based former chapter leader. “To me, frankly, you’re no better than white supremacists, and that’s just the reality of it.” He called the proposed amendment “really disappointing,” saying its consideration “exposes a lot of ignorance [around trans people and issues] and exposes a lot of calculation, frankly. What’s particularly scary is that a lot of these individuals espouse themselves as progressives, so it is fascinating that this is one of the things that we’re seeing alleged progressives and conservatives alike aligning themselves around.”
Another longtime member, based in North Carolina, suggested that the issue of trans inclusion has become collateral damage amid broader institutional infighting. “I can guarantee you there has been no substantive thought put into the reverberating effect of this particular amendment or any of the amendments,” he said. “That’s just not how we do things. There is no deep narrative here. This is just sort of power moves and petty politics.”
Beyond Alpha Phi Alpha
The fight for LGBTQ+ inclusion and belonging in Black Greek-letter orgs is not unique to Alpha Phi Alpha. Countless articles, short docs, panel discussions, and presentations reflect what’s historically been termed a “don’t ask, don’t tell” way of regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, and other queer members in these groups. For Corey Boone, the current state of these discussions can be described by which organizations officially recognize Pride month and which do not, a recent record of which is kept on his Instagram page Recognize Our Pride. A platform “celebrating the LGBTQ+ members of historically Black fraternities and sororities,” the page’s comment section serves as an archive in and of itself of LGBTQ+ members of these organizations who’ve been clamoring to be accepted in siblinghood as their full, queer and trans selves.
Since the page’s 2022 founding, Boone, who is also an Alpha, says the sororities of the Divine Nine have led the way in acknowledging their LGBTQ+ members and the broader community. This year alone, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated all posted on their official Instagram accounts acknowledging June. Of the fraternities — which in addition to Alpha includes Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated, and Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Incorporated — only the Iotas acknowledged Pride in a post on their official Instagram. While Phi Beta Sigma has posted about Pride before, their international president posted an acknowledgement on his personal page this year, but the organizational account did not.
Out of all the Black Greek-letter organizations, Zeta Phi Beta is the only one to have formally addressed if trans people can be members. In 2019, Zeta Phi Beta leadership initially adopted a “diversity statement” that restricted membership in the sorority to cisgender women. Weeks later, after receiving backlash, the organization reversed its decision, affirming that membership is open to women, which they define as “any person who continually and consistently lives and self-identifies as a woman.”
To be clear, the law allows for Alpha Phi Alpha and other “single-sex social organizations” to define membership as it wishes, meaning if Alpha wants to say only cis men can be members, they legally can. But, according to Shaw, a leading expert in this field, there could be issues when it comes to enforcement of said limitations by chapters on college campuses that are held to the same nondiscriminatory provisions of Title VII and Title IX as their institutions. A trans ban would likely violate said provisions, putting many collegiate chapters in danger of being removed from their institutions.
What’s Next?
While almost everyone who spoke to GLAAD is hopeful that the amendment as-is will not make it to the general ballot, they all believe it will. One member who’ll be representing their chapter at the convention as a delegate for the first time is looking forward to what many believe will be an intense discussion but notes, “I’ve been told not to get my hopes up high.”
He continued: “We’re not doomed immediately. There’s still room [to lobby and negotiate and educate.]. If it wasn’t that way, sh*t, I wouldn’t be in Chicago.”
Still, the writing is on the wall.
“There are some Black men who just basically want to be white men,” Miles-Hercules said. “If they can oppress other people — whether it’s trans people, women, gay or queer people — it makes them feel better, or like they’re participating as they should in the fruits of American society. That’s something all Black organizations have to reckon with and get rid of. On one hand, [the Divine Nine] is one of the places most ripe for that. On the other [hand], this amendment that the fraternity is set to pass is a sign we are not going in the right direction.”
Some members, like Lennex Cowan, a Ph.D. candidate in African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas-Austin, say this could be a breaking point. Cowan helped organize the letter sent to Alpha leadership in March and is listed as its first signer. He says that in May, incoming General President Lucien Metellus met with a group of Alphas representing the GBTQ+ community. During that meeting, Cowan says Metellus said the anti-trans amendment would be pulled. A recap email provided to GLAAD by an anonymous source at the meeting appears to confirm this conversation and expectation.
As the amendment is still in consideration at the constitutional convention, Cowan and others feel lied to. They say the organization’s prevailing efforts to “preserve the Alpha that we know in an ever-changing world,” as one member who opposes trans inclusion told GLAAD, have reached a new low.
“I don’t know if it’s going to pass,” the DC-based member said. “But I know for sure I can’t be involved [in the organization] if it passes. It just makes a statement, and it’s not something I’m willing to stand behind.”
Cowan added: “It’s going to be really hard to affiliate myself with an organization that’s this transphobic and queerphobic.”
As for Miles-Hercules, they’re standing on business, refusing to disappear from membership in hopes of being a possibility model for those coming behind them with genders, gender presentations, and sexualities more expansive than the normative image of a member of Alpha Phi Alpha. Miles-Hercules wants to be sure those folks “know and understand that this world isn’t unavailable to them.”
“And who gon’ check me?” they questioned. “My face is beat, my hair is laid, and I have letters on.”
