University of Florida students and some faculty members protested the possible hiring of Ben Sasse as the university’s next president on Monday during the senator’s visit to the campus.
According to The Hill, students and faculty are protesting Sasse’s long documented history of anti-LGBTQ comments, which they argued makes him unsuitable to serve as the school’s president.
In 2015, Sasse called it a “disappointment” when the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states.
“Marriage brings a wife and husband together so their children can have a mom and dad,” Sasse said at the time. “As a society, we need to celebrate marriage as the best way to provide stability and opportunity for kids.”
More recently, he criticized the ‘Respect for Marriage Act’ which would codify the right to same-sex and interracial marriage. Also, protecting the sanctity of marriage is still listed as a top issue on Sasse’s website.
Asked about his opposition to same-sex marriage on Monday, Sasse said Obergefell v. Hodges, is the “law of the land” and he will support “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. 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,” Sasse said, according to The Hill.
“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,“ he continued.
Throughout his session, protesters could be heard chanting, “hey, hey, ho, ho, Ben Sasse has got to go!”
Sasse announced last week that he is retiring from the US Senate to serve as president of the university. He is the lone finalist for the position.
“UF is the most important institution in the nation’s most economically dynamic state. Washington partisanship isn’t going to solve these workforce challenges — new institutions and entrepreneurial communities are going to have to spearhead this work. If UF wants to go big, I’m excited about the wide range of opportunities,” he said.
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) will select a replacement to complete the rest of Sasse’s term which would have ended in 2026.
