Designer Reco Chapple On Being Openly Gay In Black Fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi

Reco Chapple On Being Openly Gay In Black Fraternity

Almost every college campus in the United States has them; Black Greek Letter Organizations – or Divine 9 (D9) for short. These organizations are rumored and projected to be many things, but essentially, their main goal is to be a service to mankind whilst staying grounded on their Christian principles.

Fashion designer and former reality television star, Reco Chapple, might have just broken the silence when it comes to the stigma of being openly gay, and a member of a D9 fraternity. Chapple, who is a proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., originally crossed the Beta Lamba Chapter at Lane College in Memphis, TN in 1998. With almost 20+ years of service under his belt, Chapple recently took to his YouTube lifestyle channel to discuss the different tribulations he has experienced by being an openly gay member of his fraternity. Peep what he had to say below.

On how he became a member of the fraternity:

I was approached by some of the bruhs on campus. Which is very rare. I was like, ‘Cool. I’ll keep my options open.’

On when first asked about being gay:

One of the bruhs asked me was I gay. And, I was like, ‘no.’ At the time, I didn’t think about men. I had never been with a man. So it was just like ‘no.’

On the flack he received when he first got on television:

This actually happened recently. When I got on television, I became more of like a public figure. And I never talk about my fraternity on television. It’s just never necessary. I remember it was going around circulating in the black greek network, ‘Oh, a gay Kappa on television.’ And I messaged the source, I was like, ‘Girl, why are you shining light on this? It’s not about me being a Kappa it’s about me doing great work and being a black designer.’

On why he will never go to a Conclave, the organization’s conference:

Number one: I just been really really extremely busy. Kappa don’t pay my bills. Number two: I know my chapter brothers, and they about that life, too. So I never wanted to put them in that situation because I know my line brothers would go absolutely bonkers.

On his future with his fraternity:

I’m thinking about becoming a lifetime member. Our motto is achieving in every field of human endeavor. And, I think I have fashion on lock. Do I wish the fraternity would support me a lot more? Yes.

On advice to openly gay men who want to be a Kappa:

We are a fraternity of men. I’m a firm believer of the saying, ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do.’ We are talking about uplifting the betterment of black men as a whole. You gotta have your shit together.

By: @CaDarius_