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I'm just going to take[br]this in for a minute.

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Good morning, everybody.

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In May of 2014, a short documentary[br]was posted about the life of Shannon.

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Now Shannon has since then gone on[br]to be a social media

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and YouTube phenomenon.

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Her life and her story have impacted[br]people across the globe.

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In this documentary,[br]Shannon told the two lives

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that she felt she had to live[br]while in college.

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One, being an active[br]and proud member of her sorority,

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and the other, being a lesbian.

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Now although Shannon's story[br]is incredibly inspiring,

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it's not entirely unique.

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There are many people on college campuses

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that feel they have [br]to pursue a double life

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in order to maintain their social status[br]within their organizations.

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And I was one of those people.

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Hi, I'm Jacki.

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I'm a proud member of the Greek community,

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I'm a former sorority president,

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and I am a lesbian.

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I came to terms with my sexuality

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the summer after my[br]sophomore year of college.

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It was at this point of my life that I had[br]been established at my unversity,

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I was a leader within my sorority,

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and it was looking as though I was going[br]to become the next president.

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And it was also at this time,[br]because of the fear of the unknown

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and the absolute feeling of isolation,

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that I decided to keep my sexuality[br]a secret from everyone around me.

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Because there are many stereotypes[br]that are applied to the Greek community.

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The expectation is that you are going[br]to be white, blonde, priviledged,

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rich, straight individuals,

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and all you want to do is drink,[br]haze, and have sex.

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Now many parts of this stereotype[br]are actively being fought

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on an international,[br]national, and local level

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but the conversation[br]of everyone being straight

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hasn't yet come to the surface.

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And it's because of this[br]lack of conversation

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that I wanted to give this talk.

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I actually got a little bit of validation[br]from one of my best friends.

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She just sent me a text because she had[br]explained what my talk was about

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to a casual person at her university

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and that individual is going through[br]the same thing that I went through.

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This is my story of what it's like[br]when you don't check the straight box.

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Because honestly,[br]if you google "gay and greek,"

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what you primarily get,[br]if you get anything,

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is an equal parts amount of local articles[br]about fraternity members

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either accepting or rejecting[br]their gay members,

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but there really isn't[br]anything for lesbians.

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And not surprisingly,[br]if you google "lesbians and sorority,"

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what you typically get is porn,

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(Laughter)

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with one anonymous article

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about what it's like being[br]the closeted lesbian of your sorority.

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There isn't that much out there.

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So I don't check that box.

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I'm not straight.

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And I'm here to tell you what happens.

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A lot of interesting things[br]started happening.

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When I finally got the courage[br]to start telling people,

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I distinctly remember two[br]of my sorority sisters.

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One of them is the most Catholic[br]and the most Republican person

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you will ever meet in your life.

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And I thought to myself,

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"Well if she can love me, [br]surely everyone else can."

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And surprisingly, sadly surprisingly,

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she completely accepted me[br]without a second thought

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and has been my biggest[br]advocate to this day.

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Another one of my[br]sorority sisters, when I told her,

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I was very anxious for a date[br]that I was about to go on,

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and she could tell[br]that there was something off.

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She talked me through it [br]and later that night sent me a text

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that still brings me[br]to happy tears to this day,

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but one line in particular was,

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"Jackie, I never loved you[br]because you were straight,

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I love you because you're you."

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And as I started to come out[br]to more and more people,

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I ended up getting introduced[br]to other women who were like me.

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I started to feel that I wasn't alone

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and some of these women I ended up[br]becoming a mentor for

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because they were just now[br]exploring their sexuality

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and they were going through that[br]isolation, feeling utterly alone,

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but the difference is that I was able[br]to catch them at the very beginning.

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I've seen developments,

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Greek ally programs being established[br]on different college campuses,

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training individuals on how to be[br]an advocate, an ally,

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someone to support the people around you.

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I've seen date party policies[br]completely change,

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to where they're no longer[br]gender-specific,

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you can take anyone you want,

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and I've seen women take advantage[br]of that and take their girlfriends

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or whoever they were dating at the time.

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And one thing in particular is,[br]this is what I truly want to say.

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Althought it may be baffling,

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every single person that I have told[br]in any of my communities,

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but specifically the Greek community,

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has accepted me without a second thought,

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without a question,

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because they truly do love me as a person.

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They never loved me [br]because I was straight.

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It's because of this[br]that I was brave enough

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to stand in front of my entire chapter[br]and come out to them

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which ended up with resounding applause

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and an awkward joke about how:[br]"Don't worry I'll never hit on you!"

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(Laughter)

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But now that I'm on the other side,

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I've become a better leader,[br]

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I've become a better sister,[br]I've become a better person,

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because when you pursue a double life,[br]

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it's not two of you[br]in two different worlds;

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it's half of you trying[br]to sustain two identities,

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which is emotionally,[br]physically exhausting.

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And if you are not entirely yourself,

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you can't be the person[br]you truly want to be.

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So as I've told some of the women[br]that I've mentored,

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I wish I had been honest[br]at the very beginning.

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I wish I had told my sorority sisters[br]whenever I finally accepted

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this part about myself.

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I wish I had given them the chance[br]to prove my fears

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and the idea of becoming[br]a social pariah wrong,

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as they have today.

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Times are changing

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and it is time to change with them.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)