(The College Fix) — The University of Minnesota spent hundreds of dollars on protein shakes for an LGBT workout group on campus, along with even more money on “gender-affirming haircuts,” according to new documents obtained by The College Fix.
The spending all occurred through the Gender and Sexuality Center for Queer and Trans Life at the taxpayer-funded public university in the Twin Cities.
The Fix filed a public records request for all spending records at the center between July 1, 2025 and March 2026, covering roughly a full school year.
In total the center spent more than $55,000 on food and supplies and other services. This is only the check register for the center, and so it does not include any salaries, benefits, or other payments such as insurance for the three employees.
Mycall Riley (pronouns “any/all”) directs the center along with Layton Hernandez-Offner (pronouns “he/they”), and Rick X Hoops (“they/he”).
The expenditures include around $250 for the protein shakes as part of the university’s “Trans and Queer Strength Group.”
“This once weekly program aims to support trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming folks as they plan and work towards their strength training goals,” the course description states. “In this group, gendered assumptions are dismantled and the focus is to affirm individuals in any stage of their transition.”
The center also paid $800 for “gender-affirming haircuts” on February 26 of this year. A day before, the center spent $685 on “In-house nail appointments.”
Staff also paid more than $600 for pride flags, including $200 in August for a “drag bingo event.”
The school’s LGBTQ center also spent thousands on speakers for transgender events, including $800 for N’Yomi Stewart, a “trans femme / non-binary” actor. Stewart is a man who tells people he is a woman and starred in the off-Broadway play “Prince Faggot.”
Other listed costs include a sexual education curriculum consultant, a queer family panel, and a queer yoga tea reception.
The university did not respond to multiple requests for comment in the past several weeks.
The spending drew criticism from a higher education expert at the Heritage Foundation.
“The university is going in the opposite direction of public opinion,” Jonathan Butcher told The College Fix in a phone interview. He is the acting director of the Center for Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation.
Pointing to research by the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine, Butcher noted that “affirming this sexual confusion is not actually helping young people.”
“It’s not illegal, but it’s not a good use of funds at an academic institution,” he said, when asked about the various expenditures.
“Graduation rates are already mediocre at best,” he said. “The focus should be on rigorous academics, not this.”
This article was originally published by The College Fix and reprinted here with permission.
Andrew Gondy | The College Fix
College Fix contributor Andrew Gondy is a student at Grove City College, where he is studying Political Science. He is vice president of the International Justice Mission chapter, and associate editor of the Grove City College Journal of Law and Public Policy.
