Transparency Item: The Perspectives section of the Graphic is comprised of articles based on opinion. This is the opinion and perspective of the writer.
I am not unlike many other LGBTQ+ students at Pepperdine. Months before moving to Malibu, I told myself that as soon as I started college, I would finally come out of the closet as bisexual.
I wanted to explore my identity and celebrate coming out, and I thought I would meet gay people in troves. On the first day of my first year, I realized that being Queer at Pepperdine was not going to be the romantic and thrilling experience I hoped for.
Three and a half years later, the bisexual Pride flag hangs on my wall, and my laptop adorned with a slew of trans and gay rights stickers sits on my desk. Mere days after the 2025 inauguration of Donald Trump I am experiencing apropos anxiety about the safety of my community after he promised to eradicate federal protections for Queer and transgender people.
Luckily, I have cultivated a community of Queer friends and allies at Pepperdine who have found ways to support one another in this challenging socio-political moment.
I currently serve as the President of GSA Crossroads. After meeting dozens of LGBTQ+ students on campus who echo my experience of isolation, I realize that Pepperdine needs to address this issue.
In 2023, Pepperdine alum Danica Christy (’23) conducted a study on LGBTQ+ students at Pepperdine regarding their vulnerability to mental health issues at a non-affirming religious institution. She concluded that sexual and gender minorities at Pepperdine reported higher levels of suicidality and psychological distress than cisgender-heterosexual students.
Her findings illustrate an alarming issue that Pepperdine can and must address to truly foster belonging on campus among all members of the Pepperdine community.
My first year, in April 2022, SGA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council created Resolution #11-S22 to remove Seaver College Sexual Relationships Policy in the Student Code of Conduct. The Resolution was created almost a year after a petition circulated campus attempting to remove the Statement on Sexual Relationships.
Pepperdine’s Sexual Relationships Policy states, “Pepperdine University affirms that sexual relationships are designed by God to be expressed solely within a marriage between husband and wife. This view of sexuality and marriage is rooted in the Genesis account of creation and is maintained consistently throughout scripture.”
SGA’s Resolution #11-S22 states, “Whereas, this statement should be removed entirely due to creation of division among the community and its lack of intentionality and, Whereas, this official statement creates an environment that goes against the inclusive environment our University strives to create.”
Several students provided written statements in support of Resolution #11-S22. The Resolution passed after receiving 80% of the Senate’s vote, with 12 in favor, two opposed and one abstaining. After the Resolution passed, the university’s administration did not change the Student Code of Conduct.
Since the unsuccessful 2022 Resolution, Pepperdine has hosted a slew of openly homophobic speakers. On Oct.10, 2024, The Well hosted Rebecca McLaughlin, a Christian author and speaker known for her book “The Secular Creed: Engaging Five Contemporary Claims.“ McLaughlin spoke to a large crowd of students in the amphitheater on campus about respecting Queer identities without fully embracing them.
While I received messages from members of GSA about their discomfort with the remarks made by McLaughlin at this event, a friend and I sat on the couch watching “Will & Harper.” As I watched Will Ferrell and Harper Steele make large progressional strides toward supporting transgender identities, I simultaneously witnessed my direct community grow more anxious about their place on campus.
While I could continue to list examples of the ways in which Pepperdine is becoming more hostile toward its LGBTQ+ students, I think it would be more productive to point to a statement from the Sexual Policy. It states, “Regardless of one’s viewpoint, Pepperdine affirms the dignity and worth of every person and seeks to create a campus culture where each person is treated with love and respect.”
If Pepperdine truly seeks to create a campus culture where students are treated with love, dignity, respect and affirmation, the university would not ignore the voices of its students. Queer students will continue to feel the effects of Pepperdine’s ambivalence until substantial change occurs.
Whether or not the university decides to make changes to the Sexual Policy, the Queer community and its allies at Pepperdine will continue to stand strong in the face of adversity, as we always have.
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Contact Cassandra Barron via email: cassandra.barron@pepperdine.edu
