Trump orders cause a Macon university to remove LGBTQ+ content from website

LGBTQ+ organizations and stakeholders are raising concerns after Mercer University archived digital content about a student-led research project that highlighted local queer history, complying with anti-diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives amid rising political pressure.

The content removed from the university’s site related to the “Hidden Threads: Intellect, Diversity and Religious Freedom” research study, which explored and analyzed the historical timeline and long-standing relationship between Mercer University and the Georgia Baptist Convention severance.

The year-long project birthed a self-published book written by Mercer students, including senior Bekehm Mohn, who aimed to restore the university’s queer history and promote inclusion.

The book dives into challenges that LGBTQ+ individuals faced on campus and highlights the 2005 “We Are Mercer” rally, which centered around a National Coming Out Day campus event that led to the Georgia Baptist Convention’s final decision to discontinue its relationship with Mercer, according to a press release about the book that is now inaccessible on the university’s webpage.

Mercer University did not disclose exactly when the online content was removed, but it did provide a statement to The Telegraph.

“The Hidden Threads story is temporarily archived on our website, pending guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education on President Trump’s Jan. 21 Executive Order regarding DEI programs. The order directs the departments to provide more specific guidance to institutions within 120 days. Pending that guidance, we have temporarily archived content on our website that could fall under this order,” Mercer spokesperson Jennifer Fairfield said in an email.

One of the authors of the book spoke out on social media.

“They’re trying to erase us,” Mohn, who could not be reached prior to publication, shared on social media last week.

Prior to “Hidden Threads,” Mercer archives had limited materials on the university’s LGBTQ+ history, the archived press release says.

“Hidden Threads” also features Zaria Newbill, executive director of the Black trans-led nonprofit organization Navigating Omitted Minds Overtime. Newbill expressed disappointment over Mercer University’s content removal, also viewing it as an erasure of important and local LGBTQ+ history.

“It pissed me off, and I cannot believe that this is the stance that an institution of learning history would take,” Newbill said. “It was very irresponsible for them to do this. That wasn’t just a book. It was a resource of historic facts, events, people, places and organizations that people should know that have been created to help the LGBTQ community.”

A digital copy of “Hidden Threads” is currently available online on the Mercer University Libraries website. Fairfield said a physical copy of the book is still being cataloged and processed before being available on the shelf.

The Hidden Threads project was also headed by the student-run “My Name Matters” campaign, which is dedicated to educating and changing Mercer for queer acceptance.

For preservation, the campaign’s website lists all of the initiatives it has worked on to ensure public visibility despite the university’s DEI restrictions and “the risks that come with speaking out,” the site says.

“I am deeply disappointed that the hard work put into this project is being obscured — the irony of this situation is apparent,” the campaign’s website continues. “This raises the question: Are we regressing to a time from two decades ago, and will Mercer University support its students as it has in the past? Unfortunately, I cannot say.”

The Telegraph found that additional webpages revolving around LGBTQ+ topics have been deleted or removed from The Den, Mercer’s official news site.

Newbill said she believes the university is acting out of fear of losing federal funding.

“My thing is, if you are afraid to push back and not advocate for your students, who are very diverse, then that is a real problem, and Mercer needs to take a real hard look at themselves,” Newbill said.

This story was originally published April 14, 2025 at 10:03 AM.