Loma Linda University is a faith-based institution historically rooted in Seventh-day Adventist Christian teachings. They traditionally affirmed a biblical view of sexuality (male-female marriage, with sexual relations reserved for that context). We still do. But look at them:
Observations
This LGBTQ+ program frames homosexual, bisexual, transgender, and related identities as something deserving a dedicated "safe space" for affirmation, "self-acceptance," coming-out discussions, and navigating "religion and spirituality" conflicts. It positions these identities as neutral or positive variations to be celebrated and supported with institutional resources, staff time, and a designated facilitator (Jana Boyd), while emphasizing confidentiality to shield discussions from outside scrutiny.
Critics (like Fulcrum7, for instance) would argue this represents institutional capture by contemporary gender and sexuality ideology rather than neutral support. And they are right.
Instead of offering compassionate pastoral care or counseling aimed at alignment with the university's professed Christian anthropology (human sexuality as defined by God in the Bible), it normalizes behaviors and identities that many religious traditions, including conservative Christianity / Adventism, view as disordered or sinful (Leviticus 18:22).
By providing an official platform for "sharing common experiences" and "increasing understanding" around these topics, the group risks functioning as an echo chamber that reinforces confusion, discourages repentance or desistance (especially concerning for students and those with gender dysphoria), and pressures the broader campus community to affirm contested claims about identity.
The "not a counseling or therapy group" disclaimer is telling — it avoids professional accountability while still addressing deep psychological and spiritual matters. In a religious university setting, resources might be better directed toward biblical counseling, addiction recovery, anxiety/depression support, or family strengthening in line with historic biblical truth, rather than subsidizing identity-based activism that conflicts with Adventism’s biblical teaching on human sexuality.
Much of our contemporary culture sees inclusion as the ultimate virtue and exclusion the ultimate vice. Equality is the new moral righteousness of ideologically-captured (former) SDA institutions. So how do we see this? We see this as another example of church institutions quietly shifting from their founding principles toward secular progressive orthodoxy under the banner of "inclusion."
To put it in street lingo, ‘They gone.’
****
“Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My ordinances And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” Says the Lord of hosts. “But you said, ‘In what way shall we return?’ (Malachi 3:7).