The Pride Lounge at the University of Denver was a colorful conference room adorned with rainbows, LGBTQ-affirming posters and bookshelves crammed with queer literature.

Students of all backgrounds and beliefs could gather there to chat, study and build community, but the space was particularly affirming and welcoming for the campus’s LGBTQ students — a place they could be their authentic selves.

Eric Duran, former director of the Gender and Sexuality Student Success wing of the private university’s Cultural Center , said he broke down when DU leadership issued a directive last month to scrub the university of resources for LGBTQ people.

Duran and his co-director at the since-renamed Cultural Center resigned this month. Duran said he couldn’t bring himself to dismantle the Pride L

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