LSU is at the center of the latest college football controversy, and once again, LGBTQ+ fans are left wondering why the sport keeps giving the group chat reasons to sigh.
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The rivalry between Texas A&M and LSU has become one of college football’s fiercest matchups, but a Baton Rouge bar is now facing a very different kind of game-day controversy. Murphy’s Bar, a popular hangout for LSU fans, came under fire over a T-shirt design created ahead of the teams’ September 26 matchup, with critics accusing the design of invoking a homophobic slur.
The shirt that got people talking
On Tuesday, Murphy’s Bar shared a photo on Instagram showing a group of women wearing purple T-shirts promoting the upcoming game. The shirts read, “Tigers whoop the F out of the Aggie until they STTDB.”
The problem was hiding in plain sight — or, more specifically, in the way the lettering was arranged. The “F” was positioned alongside “Aggie” in a way that created a homophobic slur.
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The shirt also featured the September 26, 2026 game date and the acronym “STTDB,” a vulgar chant associated with LSU football culture.
lsu bar designs a shirt with a slur on it, chatgpt apology to follow
byu/mazzypink inbatonrouge
The Instagram story was later deleted, but screenshots quickly began circulating online, prompting backlash from people who felt the design went well beyond ordinary rivalry trash talk.
Murphy’s says it was a design mistake
Murphy’s Bar owner Ty Hingle said the shirts would no longer be sold and described the design as a “lighthearted jab at an SEC rival” created for the bar’s T-Shirt Night.
In an apology posted on social media, Hingle said the appearance of a homophobic slur was a design error rather than an intentional message.
“While the wording was not meant to reference anything controversial, we recognize the layout was not thought through carefully enough and unintentionally caused concern,” Hingle said.
“We apologize for any misunderstanding and will be using a different shirt for T-Shirt night. Murphy’s remains committed to providing a fun, welcoming, and safe environment for college students,” Hingle said.
And honestly, if your joke requires explaining exactly how the accidental slur happened, the graphic designer may have wanted to take one more look before printing 500 of them.
LSU LGBTQ+ students push back
Feminists in Action of LSU, a student group, condemned the shirt and questioned the explanation that the wording was accidental.
“The fact that this T-shirt made it through design meetings is appalling. LSU has a large LGBTQ+ community, and no one should be targeted via local bar merchandise,” the group wrote on Instagram. “Murphy’s has issued a statement saying that this was unintentional. In 2026, this seems unlikely.”
The controversy is a reminder that rivalry culture can get extremely creative — but there is a pretty significant difference between roasting another school and accidentally building a slur into your merchandise.
So what does STTDB mean?
For anyone who does not spend their Saturdays surrounded by LSU fans, “STTDB” is shorthand for “Suck That Tiger Dick, Bitch,” a profane chant regularly heard during LSU football games at Tiger Stadium.
The chant is closely associated with the playing of “Neck,” a controversial marching band song, and has become part of LSU game-day culture. The phrase also appears on unofficial merchandise and social media posts connected to the fanbase.
In other words, the shirt already had plenty of classic college-football chaos baked into it. The homophobic-looking wordplay was the part that turned a rivalry shirt into a controversy.
The rivalry continues
Texas A&M will face LSU on September 26 in primetime at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. Texas A&M has won the teams’ last two meetings, while LSU holds a 32-25 all-time record against its Texas rival.
Whatever happens on the field, Murphy’s has already learned one important lesson before kickoff: when designing a shirt meant to roast your biggest rival, perhaps run the lettering past someone who isn’t exclusively thinking about touchdowns.
Because college football has enough questionable chants. LGBTQ+ fans probably don’t need the merch department adding another one.
Source: WBRZ