[3] The decision attracted comment and criticism from sources both local[3][4] and from further afield,[5][6][7] including a resolution titled "Defend Academic Freedom at Shelton State" from the University of Alabama Faculty Senate.

[8] The censorship was seen as part of ongoing culture wars viewing same-sex attraction and gay marriage as issues about love rather than sex.

[4][6][7] Art History Professor Richard Meyer stated that the work "challenges a common concept of masculinity" through a suggestion of homoeroticism and "not because of any graphic depiction of sexuality.

This exhibition was funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and included Pinky Bass, Clayton Colvin, Peggy Dobbins, Randy Gachet, binx Newton, Arthur Price, Paul Ware, and Stan Woodard.

[12] Trobaugh was a presenter for Photography in the Digital Age by The Society For Photographic Education South Central Regional Conference, 2003.