More Than A Poster: LGBTQ+ Research Poster Removal Sparks Outcry

Image Source: Dylan Ryu

LGBTQ+ students across the country have faced discrimination despite the progress numerous campuses have made to create an inclusive environment. Santa Clara University is one of many schools that recently experienced an incident that has raised significant concern within the campus community. A research poster titled Building Community-Centered Advocacy Approaches to Transgender and Nonbinary Youth Health: A Model for Change was removed from the Alumni Sciences Building without authorization in late May.  

The poster, part of the University’s Alumni Science Research Conference, was created by Neha Mann ’25 in collaboration with Sonja Mackenzie, a Professor of Public Health. Their research focused on community-centered advocacy for transgender and nonbinary youth health, emphasizing the need for inclusive and supportive policies at both local and state levels. Mann described the research as crucial for understanding and improving the health and well-being of transgender and nonbinary youth.

In an email statement, the LGBTQ+ Equity, Justice, and Belonging Working Group described the removal of the poster as an “act of vandalism” and a hate crime.

Photo Source: The LGBTQ+ Equity, Justice, and Belonging Working Group

Where the poster was removed in Alumni Science.

“The fact that the poster on transgender and nonbinary is the one that’s being taken down versus the other posters right next to it that were just left there,” said Mann. “We were able to show our community this is what’s going on, especially for people who are less informed about what’s going on with anti-trans legislation.” 

The Working Group further emphasized the importance of addressing such incidents to ensure the safety and inclusion of all students on campus. They also highlighted the need for the University to take actions to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

This incident is not isolated, as Santa Clara University has faced criticism for its treatment of LGBTQ+ students. According to the Princeton Review, the University is listed among the most LGBTQ-unfriendly colleges in the United States​ , being the 23rd most unfriendly campus towards the LGBTQ+ community in the nation.

The ranking is seemingly at odds with said commitments made by the University to support LGBTQ+ students in line with the University’s value of Cura Personalis, or “care for the person.” The students have made steps to make the University a safer place for the LGBTQ+ community, notably after bulletin boards on campus were vandalized with swastikas and anti-LGBTQ+ slurs in 2016. Then President Father Michael Engh wrote in a statement, “I know that you will not allow the individual, or individuals who have defaced our facilities and shamed our school, to think that we at Santa Clara will tolerate such actions.”

Santa Clara University is not alone with incidents of hate as, according to a Washington Post analysis of FBI Data, anti-LGBTQ+ school hate crimes have more than doubled between 2015-2019 and 2021-2022. These rising statistics, coupled with new anti-LGBTQ+ legislation adopted by different schools, have the community concerned. 

There have been a record-breaking 600+ anti-transgender related bills that have been proposed in 2024, with 48 having been passed. This year marks the fifth year in a row of record-breaking anti-transgender legislation, and a steep increase from the 174 bills proposed in 2022. The majority of these bills target education and healthcare, and aim to prevent people from using personal pronouns, establishing gender neutral restrooms, and accessing gender affirming care. The American Civil Liberties Union have described the new of wave of legislation as intentionally legally erasing trans people. The removal of the research poster from campus only adds to such erasure.

While the Santa Clara University community has increasingly supported the LGBTQ+ community, it still has room for growth. The Rainbow Resource Center, the launch of the inaugural survey this past academic year for LGBTQ+ students spearheaded by Grace Davis, and the the Queer and Qualified organization are all initiatives and groups primarily lead by students. While Santa Clara University has voiced its support for the LGBTQ+ community, the community is looking for more concrete support from the University.

“SCU has a moral and ethical imperative to provide more than a safe physical home for our LGBTQ+ students,” wrote the Working Group. “SCU must commit to ongoing institutional change so that our LGBTQ+ students can realize their true selves and not experience the harms that they are working so hard to redress in the world outside.”