A gay member of Kappa Sigma fraternity reports harassment and discrimination from fraternity brothers in attempts to ostracize him from the fraternity due to his sexual orientation. The incidents were directly reported to university
For the last two years, a case of massive scale has been unraveling in the Kappa Sigma Chapter of McNeese State University. Heinous incidents that seriously undermine the constitution of brotherhood, solidarity and acceptance of different took place in the deepest chambers of the fraternity with Jonathan Hensley in the epicenter.
The case which is about to be unfolded is much more than a mere case of hazing and discrimination. It is the struggle of a person not much different than any of us to be accepted by an environment that chose to discard him because of his sexuality, an issue that is still visible in the Deep South.
Jonathan Hensley chose to fight against discrimination with legal means and solid argumentation. However, his fight for equality was hindered by Executive Committee officers of his own fraternity, as well as university officials, in attempts to cover up the story.
In a thorough conversation that lasted for hours, Jonathan revealed to me that he has been the victim of plenty of dastard violations of his privacy by people who were considered his brothers due to fraternal bonds. Jonathan also reported incidents of physical and emotional violence committed against him. Reported incidents forced Jon to use his car as a temporary residence.
Despite these violations, Jonathan managed to maintain a GPA more than 3.0 and be an active member of several honorary organizations as well as a vigorous SGA member. The alum graduated from McNeese in December 12, 2015 after a long time full of adversities that brought him on the verge of a breakdown.
Upon consultation with his attorney, Jonathan decided to start publicizing the attacks against him in order to protect himself and take a firm stand on his beliefs. The alum felt that not speaking up would not only hurt himself, but would also perpetuate such despicable activities. The publication of such harassment was deemed inside the sphere of legality by Jonathan’s attorney.
Hensley initially became subject to harassment through degrading comments that were targeted to his Facebook posts. A Kappa Sigma Executive Committee member started texting him, stating that the harassment will not stop until Jonathan resigns from the fraternity. As Hensley tried to appease his attacker through logical argumentation, his reply was “[y]ou break our oaths and are not a brother to anyone. Leave.” Also the EC member suggested that Jonathan would not become an alum of Kappa Sigma as he implied that the fraternity would dismiss him. When Jonathan questioned this statement, the EC officer replied “[T]hat’s funny.”
Naturally, Hensley’s response was to seek for protection by other EC members in order to dodge the blatant threats. Despite his attempts, Jonathan did not manage to contact them face-to-face or even get a conversation over the phone. In the meanwhile, discrimination was escalating as other fraternity officers were actively trying to force his resignation. One of their ways to force Jonathan to leave was to spread unsubstantiated rumors about him within the fraternity.
When Jonathan tried to push the issue through high-ranked university officials, one of them urged him to drop the case and even told him to “get off” his “radar,” as he considered him responsible for the incidents.
Consequently, Jonathan was concerned because he felt that the issue would be suppressed and superficially resolved for the sake of the university’s public image. Indeed, according to Jonathan’s Facebook post on December 8, 2015, a situation like this occurred in affiliation with the “Headquarters of the fraternity.” In this post, Jonathan explains the story:
“The Officer I filed a complaint about was removed from his office and suspended from the Chapter for this semester. Yet, the Officers of the Chapter still permit him to reside in the Chapter House, attend Fraternity functions and meetings, and as recently as November 30 posted a post initiation picture with him front and center, even though none of those things are permitted for suspended members. He has essentially been suspended only on paper, and the other individuals involved received no sanctions.”
The response by the Fraternity and the University was to sweep the incidents under the carpet in order to protect their status.
On June 5, Jonathan had a brief conversation on Facebook with one of the fraternity members, who was using the Kappa Sigma McNeese Facebook account to get Jonathan’s number allegedly for the frat’s file. The Kappa Sigma member did not miss the opportunity to let Jonathan know how he felt about him as you can see below.
Coincidentally, the last message of the conversation was sent on June 26, the day that Supreme Court declared the legality of same-sex marriage. In fact, the message was potentially a response to Jonathan’s “putting the rainbow filter in support of equal rights on [his] Facebook profile.”
Upon the chapter’s request of Jonathan’s number, harassment became more intense than ever before despite the fact that Jonathan had explicitly urged his attackers to stop. The aforementioned Kappa Sigma Executive Committee officer had decided to make clear that Jonathan was unwanted and needed to be kept out of the fraternity. Indeed, harassment was continued even though Jonathan did not stop attempting to pacify his offender.
On top of these incidents, Jonathan received a death threat via phone, in which a computerized voice told him something like “If you come back to Louisiana I’m going to kill you, you faggot.” Jonathan’s fraternity brothers wanted to force him out of the Chapter and keep his sexual orientations concealed.
On June 27, Jonathan’s offender deemed that his discriminatory messages were not enough, so he started harassing Jonathan through voicemails. Surprisingly, the offender’s first move was to reveal his identity before attacking Jonathan during the first voicemail:
“Hey, this is (name). My number is (cell phone number) and I fucking hate you!”
Three days later, Jonathan received a voicemail from the same guy in a saturnine tone:
"Hey there, Hensley. This is (name) from the old Kappa Sigma House and I was just wondering why you blocked my number and me from Facebook. You know I’m just having fun and joke around with you but you have to be a little queer and block me from everything. So how about you unblock me so we can talk it out like you want too, like adults. So yeah, just call me back.”
During the same night, at 3:01am, Jonathan received another message from the EC member:
“Oh, hi there. This is Billy Idol’s twink son, I’m looking for a young gay man to be in a film I’m producing. And I heard that you’re just the twin looking mother fucker that I need. Call me back.”
Another message was received three minutes later from another Chapter brother at 3:04 in a delirium of hatred:
“I was wondering if you could take time from your busy schedule of sucking dick so that you could possibly call me back. Just some business at Theta Rho. We’re getting rid of all assholes and cock suckers from our fraternity. So if you could please respond so I could know how to get you the fuck out of my house, you faggot!”
The voicemails did not stop since another one was received at 3:06am by the Kappa Sigma EC member:
“This is Larry So with the Butt Fuckers Modeling Agency and we were wondering if we could get some shots of you? I saw your headshot[s] on the internet, and they were fantastic. They were beautiful. You’re a handsome beautiful man, and I want to take pictures of you naked. Please call me back. Butt Fuckers Incorporated. Thank you.””
After continued harassment, Jonathan decided to report the incidents to the fraternity’s Headquarters. After this, the Kappa Sigma EC Officer that had extensively harassed Jonathan, left him a voicemail in which he explained that he was just being “cute and funny” and that another person was actually the one who was being “hurtful” and “an asshole.” Additionally, he supported that the fraternity would not actually do anything and that they were “just fucking around.”
Later on, the same fraternity member sent another apologetic voicemail to Jonathan:
“Hey Hensley this is (name). Can you please call me back? I need to talk to you. I want to apologize for being such an asshole, I feel bad about it. I heard about what you did and I know you may be mad at me, but it’s not worth it. If you’re even mad at the EC it’s not worth it cause the whole chapter can go under and you could destroy my life. I know I was a real asshole, I was being really mean, but I’m sorry I was really just joking. Please call me back so we can talk this out like adults. I am being serious, I’m not gonna be a child, I’m not gonna be a dick. Just please call me back.”
According to Jonathan “[d]espite trying to work things out after this voicemail, the threats and intimidation continued, and are documented by other student witnesses throughout this entire semester.”
Jonathan supports that “[t]he President of the Chapter” ordered him to “defy National Headquarters and not report the harassment or threats [to McNeese] on July 1” in order to protect the chapter and its members. In the same text, the President suggested that if John went to McNeese, “that would literally get people expelled from school” and “could fuck [EC officer’s name] out of school for the rest of his life.”
According to Jonathan, “[s]hortly after, the Alumni stepped into the picture.”
Jonathan thoroughly considered that the university’s publicity may be wounded after this situation, however, the benefits of uncovering this story and facing harassment and discrimination is a lot more important for McNeese State University’s image and the society of Lake Charles in the future. Jonathan’s purpose is to eradicate such sickly activities from the area in order to promote equality for all in a case that may eventually hit the court.
On these grounds, the Fraternity Alumni Housing Corporation is trying to charge Jonathan with rental payment inconsistencies while he explicitly “dispute[s] any rental allegations”. No more details can come out at this point since “the case is in litigation,” but Jonathan states that he “will be relieved when the truth comes out in a court of law.”
Lawsuits will be filed against the fraternity as well as the university by Jonathan’s attorney while Jonathan will also pursue to prove a violation of Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972. Both the university and the fraternity cite ongoing investigations that do not allow them to go public as of now, while university officials declare that discrimination is not tolerated within the campus.
Sara Ritsch, a reporter of The Gayly, interviewed Jonathan and initially brought his story to light. You can read her article in http://www.gayly.com/fraternity-brother-pushes-back-i-am-proud-be-gay
Upon Ritsch’s publication, countless supporters demonstrated their abhorrence to the way Jonathan was treated and pledged their support to him. Now, Jonathan has the potential to become an LGBT advocate for gay people’s rights in equality and respect.
In this case, a student’s privacy was severely violated and his safety was jeopardized as his psychosynthesis was negatively affected. This should not be treated as an isolated nonrecurring incident since the only way toward change is the one of fighting through with legal and ethical means.
Jonathan’s current goal is to urge students to take the initiative and bring these parts of the Deepest South in sync with the rest of the American society. Jonathan’s lesson is just a chapter and not the whole book as the American society is constantly facing similar cases that never reach the lights of publicity.
In conclusion, as Jonathan would put it,
“In closing, my heart echo’s the words of Tim Cook, once again. “Part of social progress is understanding that a person is not defined only by one's sexuality, race, or gender. We pave the sunlit path toward justice together, brick by brick. This is my brick.” I hope it makes life easier for someone else in the future.”
Disclaimer: The alleged offenders' names were not used in order to avoid reprehending a few people for the actions of the many. The EC officer's messages and voicemails represent the overall discrimination Jon endured in his last two years as a McNeese undergrad. Names were also not incorporated in order to avoid stigmatization, the same kind that Jon has endured for the last two years.
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