University of South Alabama denies association with 'queer animals lab'; Content deleted from school website immediately after inquiry
Apryl Marie Fogel | 03.02.26
The University of South Alabama (USA) has released a statement saying that, despite social media posts and resources to the contrary, "There is no 'queer animals lab.'"
The "Queer Research Lab," was promoted by the Comparative Cognition and Communication (C3PO) Lab. The C3PO lab is a program of the USA Department of Psychology.
The school says that despite the lab's branding on many posts and on a resource document, it was instead the personal account of Dr. Heidi Lyn, the lab's main researcher. Lyn operates several personal social media accounts that were not branded with the lab logo.
"Her use of the term 'queer animals lab' was inaccurate and meant to capture the attention of viewers of her personal social media," the statement from a university spokesman explained.
Lyn's personal Facebook page is littered with anti-ICE, No Kings, and anti-Trump posts, while her personal Instagram page shows her dressed as a "Book Ban Fairy" and various Star Wars characters.
"Dr. Lyn has received no state or federal funding for any research in queer animals, and has not conducted any such research in any form," the school said, despite numerous posts related to queer animals on the C3PO lab's page.
"Her personal social media presentation of queer animal information is not based on any USA research conducted by her or anyone else."
Several posts, including one published after the 1819 News story, included the lab's logo as a watermark.
The new post read, "Turns out that when deep sea squid can't see who they're mating with, they don't really care if it's a male or a female! 🤷♀️ Indiscriminate s*x for the win!"
Following the publication of the story, the CP3O Instagram page removed the link to contribute to the lab through the university's website, the school's address. It left the "C3PO Lab Queer Animal Resource Guide," which, as of Sunday afternoon, is still online.
1819 News alerted the school that the sites were still online, referencing the USA-affiliated lab, and within an hour, they were taken offline. The lab's website and all social media accounts weren't the only things removed. References to the lab on the school's website were also deleted.
"Dr. Lyn should not have connected her personal social media to USA. Dr. Lyn's opinions and videos posted on social media are statements of personal advocacy that do not reflect the position of the University. We have taken steps to correct this by having Dr. Lyn rework her personal social media and remove connections to USA."
The statement sent by the school on Friday said that the original 1819 News story included "erroneous assertions."
1819 News responded to the school, noting that the school had not requested any corrections or offered any clarifications, but asked the school to note them for the editor's consideration. The school has not responded to that request.
https://1819news.com/news/item/university-of-south-alabama-denies-association-with-queer-animals-lab-content-deleted-from-school-website-immediately-after-inquiry
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