Scott Nolan, a political science professor of practice at Tulane University, is known for his passionate teaching and unwavering support for his students. Now, as concern grows for LGBTQ+ rights under the Trump administration, he is self-funding pride flags and graduation cords for LGBTQ+ students, offering them a symbol of identity and resistance.
“I want these folks to feel like, if they want to be out, I’m going to give them the opportunity for visual activism that takes up space and shows people we’re here,” Nolan said.
While attending college himself, Nolan witnessed the decriminalization of same-sex marriage in Louisiana, a milestone that filled him with hope for the future of greater LGBTQ+ acceptance and equality.
“I remember thinking anything is possible,” Nolan said. “And for the last 20-something years, LGBT folks have been slowly climbing ladders all across American life to be treated with dignity, with autonomy, equality sometimes and equity in others … naively, I assumed that we were just going to keep making slow gains.”
However, he believes the Trump administration’s policies and rhetoric are reversing this progress.
Since President Donald Trump went into office, he has leveled multiple attacks on the LGBTQ+ community through executive orders, including proclaiming the United States government will only recognize two genders, halting diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the country, requiring transgender and nonbinary people to use their assigned sex at birth on their passports, expanding the military ban on transgender service members and banning transgender students from participating in sports.
“I see a Trump administration trying to attack trans people … and an attack on one part of the LGBTQ acronym is really an attack on the entire community and the allies and families and organizations which affirm our dignity and have a place for us,” Nolan said.
Nolan has noticed widespread concern among his students about the Trump administration’s harmful policies.
“Students appeared to me with various emotions, including anger, fear, confusion, uncertainty about their place at Tulane, in Louisiana and the United States,” he said.
Beyond his students’ reactions, Nolan has felt a broader cultural shift toward increased hostility towards the LGBTQ+ community since Trump took office again.
“I have noticed a change in the vibes around LGBTQ+ civil rights progress, that it seems like we’re no longer popular. We’re an easy scapegoat for a lot of society’s problems, but LGBTQ+ people are not responsible for the worst problems that America or this planet has,” Nolan said.
His care for his LGBTQ+ students sparked his initiative to self-fund pride flags and cords.
“Instead of losing control of my mind or emotions, I think the best thing to do is to get to work and to be visible and to stand up for ourselves and to remind people that we are here and that we are fully human,” Nolan said.
Nolan emphasizes that small acts of representation and resistance can make a lasting impact. By offering flags and cords, he hopes to empower students to express their identities openly and proudly.
“These little things may not seem like much, but when you add them up all together, it creates the public perception that queer people are around and here to stay,” Nolan said.
Nolan emphasizes that despite the attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, their presence and resilience are unwavering.
“Every regime that has tried to erase LGBTQ people from the Earth has failed. We will persist,” Nolan said. “Even if politicians, political parties or oligarchs try to go after us. They may win battles, but the war is ours.”
