Woke students at the University of Florida have protested the appointment of Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) as president, citing his stance on LGBTQ issues.
On Monday, the protesters disrupted a Q&A session attended by Ben Sasse and attacked him for his past opposition to same-sex marriage as well as other LGBTQ+ issues near and dear to their hearts. The protest followed a Change.org petition launched by university junior Leyka Rumalla calling on the board of trustees to reject Sasse’s appointment as university president.
“Senator Ben Sasse does a poor job of representing the student body at the University of Florida as his political viewpoints have proved to be discriminatory and harmful for many individuals. His political views infringe on the identities of peers,” said the petition.
“The University of Florida should strive to be an establishment where everybody, regardless of their background, feels like they are in an environment that nurtures their identity and makes them feel safe,” it stated. “If the individual heading our university doesn’t value that safety and accommodation then it’s virtually impossible for the student’s [sic] to feel secure in their environment as well.”
The petition cited Sasse’s opposition to same-sex marriage in 2015 as well as agreeing that transgender citizens should use public bathrooms that correspond with their biological sex. Sasse’s website still lists the “sanctity of marriage” as a top priority issue.
In response to the protests, Sasse said that same-sex marriage is now the “law of the land” and that he would bolster a policy of “inclusion” as president of the university.
“I believe in the universal dignity and the immeasurable worth of every single person. All the tens of millions of Floridians, all … 56,000 students here, all 30,000 faculty and staff,” Sasse said. “Every person has immeasurable worth and dignity, and we need to create a community of inclusion and respect and trust where people feel heard and appreciated and cherished.”
“There are definitely federal policy issues where I’ve had disputes before about which decisions courts should be making versus legislatures, but Obergefell, for example, is the law of the land and nothing about Obergefell is changing in the United States,“ Sasse continued. “So your question is: do I support and affirm everybody in this community? Absolutely. And frankly, one of my jobs would be to make sure that we as a community work hard for everybody to feel included, and one piece of that is making sure we understand what metrics we have to make sure we’re getting better at making people feel included.”
Sasse, who supported the impeachment of former President Donald Trump, announced his resignation from the U.S. Senate last week.
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