‘Women Are Property’ Sign on Texas Campus Goes Viral After Trump Win

A placard reading “women are property” at Texas State University has gone viral, the day after Donald Trump won the election.
Photos of two men holding up controversial signs at the San Marcos Campus have been shared online, with counterprotests clearly taking place around them.
The signs read: “Women are property,” “Homo sex is sin,” “Types of property: Women, slaves, animals, cars, land, etc.,” and “Romans chapter on reads your sin of sodomy is ‘worthy of death’.”
Neither men holding the signs are affiliated with Texas State University, a spokesperson told CBS Austin reporter Jahmal Kennedy.
The statement said: “Texas State University’s (TXST) highest priority is the safety of our students, staff, and faculty at all times. As a public institution, TXST supports the First Amendment and is required by state law to uphold freedom of speech in public areas on our campuses, even if such speech may understandably offend some members of our campus community.
“We have established policies and protocols that allow individuals to safely engage in expressive activity on university property conducted within institutional regulations.
“The incident on the San Marcos Campus today (Thursday) was instigated by individuals who have to TXST affiliation.”
When Newsweek contacted Texas State University via email for any further comment, it was directed to an Instagram post made by the university’s president, Dr. Kelly Damphousse.
He wrote: “This is going to come out a little raw, I think, but it’s just something that needs to be said. It hasn’t been vetted by anyone and it’s not an official response. It just coming from my heart – which aches today.
“On Wednesday, at least two men who are not affiliated with TXST came on to our campus. I have seen pictures of the disgusting signs that they held, and I have heard that they were also saying objectionable things to our students.
“Over the course of my 30-year career in higher education, I have seen incidents like this take place on every campus where I have served. Similar events have occurred on other Texas campuses this week as well. I know how unsettling this must have been for our students, their friends/family, our employees, and our alumni who were in the quad at the time, or who later saw the pictures that I saw after the fact.”
He went on: “I hated to hear about what happened because I know this event surely caused a wide range of emotions amongst the members of our Bobcat family, including fear, anxiety, and anger. This was particularly disturbing to me because nothing is more important to me than the health and safety of our faculty, staff, and students.
“I continue to gather information from those who witnessed what happened Wednesday. Later today, I will send our campus community an email that outlines what happened and how the university responded to the incident. I will also explain what the university has done (and will continue to do) to keep our campus safe. I just finished the second draft this morning.”
Dr. Damphousse added: “I am very sad that this type of behavior came to our campus because it runs so contrary to the values that we hold at TXST – in particular, that we respect and value others and that we believe that all Bobcats belong here. Messages like the ones expressed by those outsiders sow confusion, anger, distrust, bitterness, fear, and anxiety (none of which belong on our campus). I remain committed to doing everything I can to keep our campus safe. If you see anything on our campus that makes you feel unsafe, please reach out to UPD to let them know about it. As ever, please feel welcome to reach out to me directly. I am here to serve you.”
Texas State University Police got involved to keep order during the protest, CBS Austin reported.
Although there is nothing to suggest that the protest is linked to Trump, it came a day after the President-elect was declared the winner of the 2024 U.S. elections.
While Kamala Harris technically won with less support from women than her predecessors Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, according to CNN’s analysis of exit polls, social media has been filled with women upset about Trump’s win.
Thousands of people on TikTok and X have been posting about participating in the 4B movement, a feminist protest movement that originated in South Korea in 2019.
The 4B movement stipulates four “nos”: no sex with men, no giving birth, no dating men and no marriage with men. The words for the terms in Korean all begin with the prefix “bi” which means “no,” as reported by Bustle.
Sex strikes, a form of protest more widespread and older than the 4B movement, have taken place in countries around the world including Colombia, Kenya, Liberia, Italy, the Philippines, South Sudan and Togo.
Trump’s rhetoric and his appointment of three of the Supreme Court justices, who overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022 leading to abortion bans nationwide, have helped leave supporters of 4B feeling that gender inequality is a major problem.
Infamously, while speaking about women, Trump also said he could “grab ’em by the pussy,” in a leaked Access Hollywood interview with Billy Bush in 2005.
Newsweek has contacted Trump’s team, via email, for comment.