{"id":122178,"date":"2026-02-24T16:29:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T16:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/122178\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T16:29:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T16:29:08","slug":"pride-center-addresses-anti-lgbtq-behavior-on-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/122178\/","title":{"rendered":"Pride Center addresses anti-LGBTQ+ behavior on campus"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pride Center, Lehigh\u2019s office for LGBTQ+ support<\/a>, released an email last December addressing recent vandalism and hate incidents.<\/p>\n

In the email titled \u201cCalling for More Love,\u201d Pride Center Director Scottie Burden disclosed two anti-LGBTQ+ incidents that occurred last semester. Burden said the center was informed that its transgender flag, originally displayed for Transgender Day of Remembrance, had been forcibly removed. During finals week, they said, transgender flag stickers were scattered across a table and the floor outside the Pride Center Lounge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty intentionally done, and then that sort of triggered our desire to sort of name where harm is not okay and try to hold our community accountable, which is what compelled the message I sent out.\u201d Burden said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The email also referenced other anti-LGBTQ+ behavior on campus, noting religious tracts placed over Pride Center exhibits. Sidewalks near Packard Avenue have also seen an increase in religious protestors.<\/p>\n

Burden said the Pride Center\u2019s efforts to foster inclusivity can be countered by such religious demonstrations, creating a narrative that religion and LGBTQ+ identities can\u2019t exist in the same space. They said they don\u2019t believe this to be true.<\/p>\n

In its closing message, the email emphasized practicing \u201cLove Always,\u201d the Pride Center\u2019s guiding principle, and listed resources for people who may have experienced hate incidents, including the Pride Center, University Counseling and Psychological Services and the Title IX office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very honest and transparent with our community, anytime harm occurs it absolutely impacts our students, faculty and staff,\u201d Burden said, \u201cThat\u2019s why we wanted to send a message, because it allowed us to be in that pain together and seek some solutions that could hold people accountable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Andrew Fazio, \u201827, the vice president of Students Promoting Equality, Awareness & Knowledge, an Pride Center-affiliated organization, said vandalism of the center is hurtful to community members.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving the resources that we put out in the Pride Center, for all those students, and just to have people vandalize it almost feels like a slap in the face, (and) not being recognized for the work that we do\u201d Fazio said,\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fazio said when he first arrived as a student, he understood Lehigh to be politically moderate. Because of that, he believes organizations such as Students Promoting Equality, Awareness, & Knowledge and Spectrum, another Pride Center-affiliated group, are vital on campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Coming from a Catholic school where he said he couldn\u2019t openly discuss issues specific to the queer community, he said Lehigh is more inclusive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying it\u2019s perfect here, (but) I think it\u2019s all about perspective,\u201d Fazio said.<\/p>\n

Burden said the current political climate may play a role in increased anti-LGBTQ+ behavior. Citing the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling barring transgender athletes<\/a> and recent executive orders<\/a> related to gender and LGBTQ+ rights, they said such developments might make some people more confident expressing those views.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that the more that rhetoric is not met with pushback, the more permission it gives some people to say I don\u2019t agree with this,\u201d Burden said.<\/p>\n

Despite the incidents, Burden said he feels supported by the university and believes his concerns have been taken seriously.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t feel like we have a homophobic, transphobic problem on campus,\u201d they said. \u201cBut the minority of voices that might object to our presence and efforts on campus are becoming a bit louder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joseph Correra, \u201828, a member of Students Promoting Equality, Awareness, & Knowledge, said he believes the university can help bring students together.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Correra said education on inclusivity and LGBTQ+ support could strengthen support across the community.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Education on inclusivity and LGBTQ+ support is) something that I feel like they could put more time and effort into,\u201d Correra said. \u201cAs a part of SPEAK, that\u2019s a big thing that we try to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burden said they hope Lehigh continues striving to be a community where Pride Center members feel valued.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI want Lehigh to be a community where we operate out of our values always,\u201d they said. \u201cOur values are driven by our mission. We have value statements in the Pride Center. I want to be able to do hard things and to talk about them, but what has to be remembered is that we are all valued community members at Lehigh.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pride Center, Lehigh\u2019s office for LGBTQ+ support, released an email last December addressing recent vandalism and hate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122179,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[3946,57444,153,155,154,2362,1198],"class_list":["post-122178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-4-min-read","tag-anaylsis","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-diversity","tag-student-and-campus-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}