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class="styl_ntaer__ZKkl3" data-activy-map="social-share-lks-article-top" data-ttid="social-share-menu"><li data-ttid="social-share-facebook" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_facebook__bOW_X"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-share-facebook"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-twter" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_twter__ww7sF"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-twter"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-ptert" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_ptert__CaMm1"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-share-ptert"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-email" class="styl_em__b5A78"><a href="mailto:?subject=Universy of Florida stunts prott agast Ben Sasse’s anti-LGBTQ past & target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-share-email"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-py" 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data-activy-map="le-byle-article-top">By <span class="byle-name">Zachary Schermele</span></div></sectn><div class="article-body__ntent article-body-font--loadg"><p class="">Hundreds of Universy of Florida stunts held protts this week cricizg the anticipated appotment of Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., to lead the school. </p><p class="">A printial search mtee <a href=">unanimoly approved</a> Sasse last week as s sole falist for the top job. Prr to his electn to the U.S. Senate 2015, Sasse had led a small private Lutheran llege Nebraska for several years. </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><div id="taboolaReadMoreBelow"></div><p class="">Much of the outrage Monday was lored by stunt opposn to his past stanc on LGBTQ rights, such as his objectn 2015 to the Supreme Court’s legalizatn of same-sex marriage the landmark se Obergefell v. Hodg — he lled a “disappotment” — and his <a href=">ntued assertn</a> that the “sancty of marriage” is one of his  top prri Congrs. </p><p class="">A crowd the <a href=">Gaville Sun</a> timated at about 1,000 people, cludg stunts and staff, stormed a buildg Monday which Sasse, who is expected to <a href=">rign</a> om the Senate before the end of the year, was holdg a seri of planned town halls. </p><p class="">The prott agast his appotment is the latt velopment at the tersectn of LGBTQ rights and an creasgly policized public tn landspe Florida, a state that has long been seen as a sort of <a href=">ground zero</a> the fight for LGBTQ equaly the Uned Stat. </p><figure class="styl_leImage__yAWZ0 styl_medium__OMa6x"><picture class="styl_image__1qciH"><source media="(m-width: 1000px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="Stunts prott as Sen. Ben Sasse" height="1649" width="2500"/></picture><figptn class="ptn styl_ptn__Pe5JC"><span class="ptn__ntaer" data-ttid="ptn__ntaer">Stunts prott as Sen. Ben Sasse speaks at a Stunts Open Fom at the Universy of Florida Gaville on Monday.</span><span class="ptn__source">Dirk Shadd / Tampa Bay Tim via ZUMA Prs Wire</span></figptn></figure><p class="">Sasse has said that as universy print, he would do his bt to reprent the views of  lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer stunts. But for some, his ndidacy has lled to md the universy’s <a href=">anti-LGBTQ history</a> and the extent to which many of them feel ntu to <a href=">sile</a> their needs and experienc, four LGBTQ stunts told NBC News. </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">“To thk that the lear of our school is gog to be someone who don’t reflect our valu is vastatg,” RJ Della Salle, a hman who is gay, said.</p><p class="">Della Salle was one of the stunts who attend the protts, which dispted the qutn-and-answer ssns Sasse was holdg as he <a href=">stggled to make himself heard over</a> shouts of “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Ben Sasse has got to go!” Sasse said at the fom that he “tellectually and nstutnally weled” the monstrators.</p><p class="">While Sasse was speakg, Della Salle was outsi while his boyiend, Evan Smh, was si the room, where the protts grew so disptive that people said they felt the walls shakg. </p><p class="">“They were bangg on the door and the railgs and the walls,” Smh said. “We felt the whole thg shakg.”</p><p class="">Sasse left whout engagg the protters. Durg the foms, however, he addrsed a number of qutns on his past polil stanc and attempted to suggt that he uld still reprent the views of the nearly 60,000 stunts and thoands more staff at the Universy of Florida, one of the largt schools the state, even if they nflict wh the posns he has held as a polician for the people of Nebraska. </p><figure class="styl_leImage__yAWZ0 styl_medium__OMa6x"><picture class="styl_image__1qciH"><source media="(m-width: 1000px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="Senate Intelligence Commtee Hearg On SolarWds Hack" height="1666" width="2500"/></picture><figptn class="ptn styl_ptn__Pe5JC"><span class="ptn__ntaer" data-ttid="ptn__ntaer">Sen. Ben Sasse listens durg a Senate Intelligence Commtee hearg Washgton on Feb. 23, 2021.</span><span class="ptn__source">Drew Angerer / Bloomberg via Getty Imag file</span></figptn></figure><p class="">“Do I support and affirm everybody this muny?” Sasse <a href=">said</a> when asked about his support for the LGBTQ muny. “Absolutely.” </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">In July, Sasse <a href=">told NBC News</a> he believed the Rpect for Marriage Act, which would dify the right to same-sex marriage to feral law the wake of the reversal of Roe v. Wa, was an attempt by Hoe Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to “divi Ameri wh culture wars.”</p><div class="remend-tersectn-ref" data-activy-map="remend-article-body-remend" data-ttid="remend-wrapper"></div><p class="">On same-sex marriage, Sasse acknowledged Monday that he has the past had “disput” about which cisns should be ma by urts vers state legislatur, but he lled Obergefell the “law of the land” and said “nothg about Obergefell is changg the Uned Stat.” </p><p class="">A universy spokperson cled to ment further. In the <a href=">announcement</a> last week of Sasse’s selectn as the sole falist, Rahul Patel, <a href=">chair</a> of the printial search mtee and a universy tstee <a href=">appoted</a> by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republin, lled Sasse “right for the Universy of Florida” and “right for the state of Florida.”</p><p class="">“Ben brgs tellectual cursy, a belief the power and potential of Amerin universi, and an unmatched track rerd of learship spanng higher tn, ernment and the private sector,” Patel said a public statement. </p><div class="remend-tersectn-ref" data-activy-map="remend-article-body-remend" data-ttid="remend-wrapper"></div><p class="">Smh, a 20-year-old polil science and history major, lled Sasse’s expected appotment “really sry.” </p><p class="">“While the print of the universy isn’t gog to ci thgs like gay marriage or other thgs like that, his ma job is reprentg the universy,” Smh said. “It’s much more the symbolic reprentatn, that he don’t reprent the stunt body and the diverse faculty.” </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">A school print potentially motivated by polil cisn-makg is a e for ncern, acrdg to Lisa Stt, a psychology profsor. On top of her day-to-day work for the universy, Stt also has a third grar an <a href=">elementary school</a> n by the universy. Among other ncerns, she said, she wonrs whether Sasse’s terpretatn of the state’s Parental Rights Edutn Act, which crics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law, uld have an impact on both her child’s school and the universy’s school of tn, which tras future tors. </p><p class="">“He has a history of votg agast lots of aspects of people’s right to exist,” Stt said. “I thk that’s very problematic to have all of that impactg how he mak universy cisns.” </p><p class="">The appotment seems to have flamed a broar sense of excln felt by LGBTQ stunts at the universy, acrdg to Alex Noon, the print of OUTLaw, the unaffiliated LGBTQ anizatn for the law school. </p><p class="">In March, for example, a founr of ​​Liberty Counsel, an evangelil Christian legal anizatn that has been signated an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, was ved to speak at one of his urs, emails shared wh NBC News show. After phback, stunts were given the optn to not attend class the day the gut speaker, Matt Staver, was ved to attend, though one of the urse’s stctors an email fend the tnal value of hearg a talk by Staver, who has argued ont of the Supreme Court. </p><p class="">“We have to be super proactive for anythg related to queer stunts, bee they jt don’t thk about ,” Noon said. </p><p class="">That sentiment dat all the way back to the mid-1950s and 60s and the Johns Commtee, a group formed by the state Legislature and supported by the universy’s print wh the exprs purpose of targetg and rootg out gay members of the universy. Over a perd of about a , the mtee forced approximately 50 stunts and more than a dozen faculty members off mp, acrdg to the <a href=">mp newspaper</a>, the Inpennt Florida Alligator. </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">The effort had a chillg effect that kept LGBTQ members of the Universy of Florida mostly silent about their inti until the 1980s, acrdg to the <a href=">universy’s webse</a>. Sce then, an LGBTQ advisory mtee has ma nsirable ground s fight for queer rights and reprentatn on mp. In 2003, for example, the universy’s nondiscrimatn policy was updated to prohib discrimatn on the basis of sexual orientatn, and aga amend 2011 to clu genr inty and exprsn. More recent ws om the mtee have e the form of more genr-ntral bathrooms and cln trag for faculty and staff. </p><p class="">Damon Veras, a 21-year-old senr who is gay and a member of the mtee, said there’s still room for improvement. The universy’s <a href=">LGBTQ+ Affairs office</a>, for example, has a high staff turnover rate, he said.</p><p class="">He said a “silver lg” of the protts was that many LGBTQ stunts ma their ncerns more wily known. But he said the policizatn of the universy’s learship won’t change anytime soon. </p><p class="">“The next step is jt ntue to brg issu like this to the new print’s attentn,” he said, “and make clear to him that queer and trans folks exist."</p><p class="endmark"><strong><em>Follow </em></strong><a href=" target="_blank"><strong><em>NBC Out</em></strong></a><strong><em> on </em></strong><a href=" target="_blank"><strong><em>Twter</em></strong></a><strong><em>, </em></strong><a href=" target="_blank"><strong><em>Facebook</em></strong></a><strong><em> & </em></strong><a href=" target="_blank"><strong><em>Instagram</em></strong></a>.</p></div><div class="article-body__ntent article-body-font--loadg"><div class="expand-byle-ntributors articleByleContaer"><div class="expand-byle article-expand-byle" data-activy-map="expand-byle-article-bottom"><span class="byle-thumbnail byle-thumbnail--no-image expand-byle__thumbnail"></span><span class="byle-name expand-byle__name">Zachary Schermele</span><span class="byle-social expand-byle__social"></span><div class="expand-byle__b-wrapper"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article-body--right-rail-ntaer"><div data-ttid="right-rail-ntaer" class="article-body__right-rail layout-grid-em grid-l-4_5-l grid-l-3_5-xl grid-l-ph-half-xl"><div class="ad article-body__right-rail--ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxrail" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[[300,250],[360,360]]],[[758,1],[]],[[0,0],[]]]" data-offset="10" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div></div></div></div><span></span><div class="body-bottom-remend"><div class="ad ad--midrponsive ad-ntaer dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="midrponsive" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[[700,1],[5,5]]],[[758,1],[]],[[0,0],[]]]" data-offset="300" data-reh-terval="0" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div></div></div></div></article></div></div><div id="hfs-footer" class="dn-prt" data-activy-map="hfs-footer"><footer class="hfsf" ><div class="ner"><div class="logo"><a href="><svg class="peack" viewBox="578 62 67 39" xmlns=" fill="currentColor"><g fill-le="evenodd"><path d="M579.074 90.58c1.717-4.494 6.472-6.08 10.697-3.37l18.29 12.754h-22.18c-4.62 0-8.252-4.23-6.8-9.385"></path><path class="feather" d="M579.074 90.58c1.717-4.494 6.472-6.08 10.697-3.37l18.29 12.754h-22.18c-4.62 0-8.252-4.23-6.8-9.385"></path><path class="feather" d="M597.563 75.863l9.442 21.613-19.478-13.35c-4.887-3.24-3.896-8.79-1.19-11.237 3.83-3.24 9.245-2.12 11.226 2.97"></path><path class="feather" d="M610.57 70.93l-3.433 24.19-9.772-23c-2.113-5.75 2.64-9.516 5.81-9.583 3.632-.396 8.188 2.38 7.396 8.394"></path><path class="feather" d="M625.494 72.103l-9.707 23.067-3.102-20.82c-.265-3.17 1.716-3.237 2.443-3.832-.133-.463-1.124-.463-1.124-.463h-1.848c-.198-5.42 4.028-7.8 7.462-7.535 3.697.132 7.856 4.428 5.876 9.583"></path><path class="feather" d="M635.338 84.167L615.86 97.584l9.177-21.348c2.775-6.742 9.245-5.42 11.556-2.842 2.51 2.51 3.235 7.6-1.255 10.773"></path><path class="feather" d="M637.448 99.9h-22.515l18.29-12.756c4.49-2.975 9.244-.266 10.498 3.635 1.327 4.36-1.65 9.12-6.27 9.12"></path></g></svg></a></div><nav class="lks"><ul class="lks__wrap" data-l-2="14" data-l-3=15><li><a href=" target="_self">About</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Contact</a></li><li><a href=">Help</a></li><li><a href=">Careers</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ad Choic</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Privacy Policy</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Do Not Sell My Personal Informatn</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CA Notice</a></li><li><a href=">Terms of Service (Updated JULY 7, 2023)</a></li><li><a href=">NBC News Semap</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Closed Captng</a></li><li><a href=">Advertise</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Select Shoppg</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Select Personal Fance</a></li></ul></nav><div class="py"><p>© 2023 NBC UNIVERSAL</p><div class="brands"><a href="><svg viewBox="0 0 120 20" fill="none" xmlns=" aria-labelledby="nbc_news_logo"><tle class="nbc_news_logo">NBC News Logo

protests against gay marriage

WASHINGTON (RNS) Faced wh a strg of loss the urt and a rapid shift public opn favor of gay marriage, planners of Thursday's tradnal marriage rally aimed to show lawmakers -- and pecially urts -- that they will not give up whout a fight.

Contents:

THE SUPREME COURT’S BLSG OF ANTI-LGBTQ+ DISCRIMATN WILL HNT GAY COUPL

A small terie of groups now prise the hard re of the anti-gay movement * protests against gay marriage *

Soclogist Steven Nock of the Universy of Virgia, who is agnostic on the issue of same-sex civil marriage, offered this review of the lerature on gay parentg as an expert wns for a Canadian urt nsirg legalizatn of same-sex civil marriage:. In the first edn of his book fense of same-sex marriage, Virtually Normal, homosexual mentator Andrew Sullivan wrote: "There is more likely to be greater unrstandg of the need for extramaral outlets between two men than between a man and a woman.

It is plsible to spect that legal regnn of homosexual civil marriage would have siar nsequenc for the stutn of marriage; that is, would further stabilize the norm that adults should sacrifice to get and stay married for the sake of their children.

18 ANTI-GAY GROUPS AND THEIR PROPAGANDA

* protests against gay marriage *

But on Febary 1994, only a year to his first term, Clton turned his back on the LGBT muny and ved to the relig right, stutg the ary’s “don’t ask, don’t tell policy that prohibed gays and lbians om g out the untry’s largt employer. (The state sists that would not pel Smh to actually sign a weddg webse but merely to sell a preexistg template to all ctomers; Gorsuch simply dismissed this claim, while simultaneoly cricizg the state for s ostensible eagerns to punish Smh and other anti-gay bs owners.

” He exprsed approval for LGBTQ+ nondiscrimatn laws as a general matter, wrg that stat may “protect gay persons” jt like any other class “ acquirg whatever products and servic they choose on the same terms and ndns as are offered to other members of the public.

“By issug this new license to discrimate a se brought by a pany that seeks to ny same-sex upl the full and equal enjoyment of s servic, ” she wrote, “the immediate, symbolic effect of the cisn is to mark gays and lbians for send-class stat. The book mak a seri of claims that virtually no ser historian agre wh: that Hler was gay, that “the Nazi Party was entirely ntrolled by aristic homosexuals, ” and that gays were pecially selected for the SS bee of their nate btaly.

THOANDS RALLY AT U.S. CAPOL AGAST GAY MARRIAGE

The road to full marriage equaly for same-sex upl the Uned Stat was paved wh setbacks and victori. The landmark 2015 Supreme Court se Obergefell v. Hodg ma gay marriage legal throughout the untry. * protests against gay marriage *

Takg a page om the anti-gay fabulist Stt Lively (see Abidg Tth Mistri, above), Fischer claimed a blog post last May 27 that “[h]omosexualy gave Adolph Hler, and homosexuals the ary gave the Brown Shirts, the Nazi war mache and 6 ln ad Jews.

A one-time reporter for the nservative Washgton Tim, LaBarbera has been an energetic mpaigner agast “the radil homosexual agenda” sce at least 1993, when he lnched The Lambda Report, which claimed to do first-hand reportg to expose s gay enemi. DeMar has modified that dictum slightly the past, sayg that homosexuals wouldn’t all be executed unr a “renstcted” ernment, but that he did believe that the ocsnal executn of “sodom” would serve society well bee “the law that requir the ath penalty for homosexual acts effectively driv the perversn of homosexualy unrground, back to the closet. It has lled the ia of allowg gays to serve openly the ary “evil”; opposed hate crim legislatn (which many relig-right groups falsely assert would make easy to send pastors to prison for nmng homosexualy); and raged agast a judge’s overturng of California’s Proposn 8, which had validated same-sex marriag.

Although is somewhat benign by parison, the CADC has an advisory board that clus some of the untry’s most hard-le anti-gay activists: Lou Sheldon, head of the Tradnal Valu Coaln (see below); Donald Wildmon, the founr of the Amerin Fay Associatn (above); and O’Neal Dozier, a pastor who wrote his 2008 book that “[h]omosexualy not only spreads disease and ntraliz God’s mand, ” but also “stroys fai. ” Last year, CWA acced the Gay, Lbian, and Straight Edutn Network (GLSEN), a group that works to stop anti-gay bullyg schools, of g that missn as a ver to promote homosexualy schools, addg that “teachg stunts om a young age that the homosexual liftyle is perfectly natural … will [e them to] velop to adults who are sensized to the harmful, immoral realy of sexual viance.

GAY MARRIAGE

Cubans overwhelmgly approved gay marriage and adoptn a ernment-backed referendum on Sunday, a landmark vote half a century after a wave of state persecutn sent many homosexual people to forced labor mps and to exile. * protests against gay marriage *

In 2002, before jog CRM, Knight wrote that gay marriage “entic children to experiment wh homosexualy” and that acceptg homosexualy leads to “a loss of stabily muni, wh a rise crime, sexually transmted diseas and other social pathologi.

Both Dailey and Sprigg have phed false accatns lkg gay men to pedophilia: Sprigg has wrten that most men who engage same-sex child moltatn “intify themselv as homosexual or bisexual, ” and Dailey and Sprigg voted an entire chapter of their 2004 book Gettg It Straight to siar material. In a 1999 publitn (Homosexual Behavr and Pedophilia) that has sce disappeared om s webse, the FRC claimed that “one of the primary goals of the homosexual rights movement is to abolish all age of nsent laws and to eventually regnize pedophil as the ‘prophets’ of a new sexual orr, ” acrdg to unrefuted rearch by AMERICAblog.

30, 2010, bate on MSNBC’s “Hardball wh Chris Matthews” between Perks and the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Mark Potok, Perks fend FRC’s associatn of gay men wh pedophilia, sayg: “If you look at the Amerin College of Pediatricians, they say the rearch is overwhelmg that homosexualy pos a danger to children.

FRANCE'S GAY MARRIAGE BILL FOUGHT OVER ON STREETS AS MUCH AS PARLIAMENT

Hoe legislatn difyg protectns for gay marriage passed spe the fact that a big majory of the Hoe Republin uc opposed . * protests against gay marriage *

” AMERICAblog also reported that then-FRC official Yvette Cantu, an terview published on Amerins for Tth About Homosexualy’s webse, said, “If they [gays and lbians] had children, what would happen when they were too by havg their sex parti?

PROTTERS PARIS MARCH AGAST GAY MARRIAGE

Protters marched Paris to ll for the repeal of a law allowg gay marriage, six months before France’s next printial electn * protests against gay marriage *

Started 1987 by psychologist Pl Cameron, the Fay Rearch Instute (FRI) has bee the anti-gay movement’s ma source for what Cameron claims is “cuttg-edge rearch” — but is, fact, pletely discreded junk science phed out by a man who has been nmned by three profsnal anizatns.

In 1985, the Amerin Soclogil Associatn adopted a rolutn sayg Cameron “has nsistently misterpreted and misreprented soclogil rearch on sexualy” and “repeatedly mpaigned for the abrogatn of the civil rights of lbians and gay men”; the followg year, the same group formally nmned Cameron for that misreprentatn of rearch. In 2006, then-Executive Director Peter LaBarbera (see Amerins for Tth About Homosexualy, above), told a relig-right gatherg hosted by Visn Ameri that homosexualy was "disgtg" and mand the closg down of all "homosexual tablishments.

FRENCH GAY MARRIAGE PROTTS DRAW THOANDS OF DEMONSTRATORS

The northern Italian cy of Padua has started removg the nam of non-blogil gay mothers om their children’s birth certifit unr new legislatn passed by the “tradnal fay-first” ernment of Prime Mister Grgia Meloni. * protests against gay marriage *

Matt Barber, formerly wh Concerned Women for Ameri and Amerins for Tth About Homosexualy (see above for both), joed Liberty Counsel as director of cultural affairs (also beg Liberty Universy’s associate an for reer and profsnal velopment). A year earlier, Barber had argued that given “medil evince about the dangers of homosexualy, ” should be nsired “crimally reckls for tors to teach children that homosexual nduct is a normal, safe and perfectly acceptable alternative.

Camenker, who has long foced on the purported “homosexual agenda” the schools and equently claimed gays are dangero to kids, has repeatedly ced discreded claims om anizatns like the Natnal Associatn for Rearch and Therapy of Homosexualy that lk homosexualy and pedophilia.

NEW COALN PLEDG TO FIGHT GAY MARRIAGE

Several hundred thoand people massed at the Eiffel Tower on Sunday to prott a plan by Print François Hollan to legalize gay marriage. * protests against gay marriage *

Former Prbyterian mister Lou Sheldon has been warng Amerins about the “gay threat” sce 1980, when he found the Tradnal Valu Coaln (TVC), which also is ncerned wh abortn and natnal secury and tak on liberal activists on a range of issu. ” Wh regard to LGBT teen suicis, TVC, unr the headle “Homosexual Urban Legends, ” claims that “[t]he ld, hard fact is that teens who are stgglg wh homosexual feelgs are more likely to be sexually molted by a homosexual school unselor or teacher than to m suici over their feelgs of spair.

The TVC also mak assertns on s webse about disproportnate homosexual pedophilia and attacks the ia that people are born gay and the claim that gays want the right to marry for the same reasons that heterosexuals do — the TVC suggts the real purpose of marriage equaly is to stroy the ncept of marriage and ultimately replace altogether wh group sex and polygamy.

Early Years: Same-Sex Marriage Bans In 1970, jt one year after the historic Stonewall Rts that galvanized the gay rights movement, law stunt Richard Baker and librarian Jam McConnell applied for a marriage license Gerald Nelson rejected their applitn bee they were a same-sex uple, and a trial urt upheld his cisn. ” This lg effectively blocked feral urts om lg on same-sex marriage for s, leavg the cisn solely the hands of stat, which alt blow after blow to those hopg to see gay marriage beg 1973, for stance, Maryland beme the first state to create a law that explicly f marriage as a unn between a man and woman, a belief held by many nservative relig groups.

GAYS PROTT LACK OF MARRIAGE RIGHTS

Why The Fight Over Gay Marriage In France Isn't Fished * protests against gay marriage *

In 1989, the San Francis Board of Supervisors passed an ordance that allowed homosexual upl and unmarried heterosexual upl to register for domtic partnerships, which granted hospal visatn rights and other years later, the District of Columbia siarly passed a new law that allowed same-sex upl to register as domtic partners.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* PROTESTS AGAINST GAY MARRIAGE

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class="styl_ntaer__ZKkl3" data-activy-map="social-share-lks-article-top" data-ttid="social-share-menu"><li data-ttid="social-share-facebook" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_facebook__bOW_X"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-share-facebook"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-twter" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_twter__ww7sF"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-twter"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-ptert" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_ptert__CaMm1"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-share-ptert"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-email" class="styl_em__b5A78"><a href="mailto:?subject=Universy of Florida stunts prott agast Ben Sasse’s anti-LGBTQ past & target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-share-email"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-py" 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data-activy-map="le-byle-article-top">By <span class="byle-name">Zachary Schermele</span></div></sectn><div class="article-body__ntent article-body-font--loadg"><p class="">Hundreds of Universy of Florida stunts held protts this week cricizg the anticipated appotment of Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., to lead the school. </p><p class="">A printial search mtee <a href=">unanimoly approved</a> Sasse last week as s sole falist for the top job. Prr to his electn to the U.S. Senate 2015, Sasse had led a small private Lutheran llege Nebraska for several years. </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><div id="taboolaReadMoreBelow"></div><p class="">Much of the outrage Monday was lored by stunt opposn to his past stanc on LGBTQ rights, such as his objectn 2015 to the Supreme Court’s legalizatn of same-sex marriage the landmark se Obergefell v. Hodg — he lled a “disappotment” — and his <a href=">ntued assertn</a> that the “sancty of marriage” is one of his  top prri Congrs. </p><p class="">A crowd the <a href=">Gaville Sun</a> timated at about 1,000 people, cludg stunts and staff, stormed a buildg Monday which Sasse, who is expected to <a href=">rign</a> om the Senate before the end of the year, was holdg a seri of planned town halls. </p><p class="">The prott agast his appotment is the latt velopment at the tersectn of LGBTQ rights and an creasgly policized public tn landspe Florida, a state that has long been seen as a sort of <a href=">ground zero</a> the fight for LGBTQ equaly the Uned Stat. </p><figure class="styl_leImage__yAWZ0 styl_medium__OMa6x"><picture class="styl_image__1qciH"><source media="(m-width: 1000px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="Stunts prott as Sen. Ben Sasse" height="1649" width="2500"/></picture><figptn class="ptn styl_ptn__Pe5JC"><span class="ptn__ntaer" data-ttid="ptn__ntaer">Stunts prott as Sen. Ben Sasse speaks at a Stunts Open Fom at the Universy of Florida Gaville on Monday.</span><span class="ptn__source">Dirk Shadd / Tampa Bay Tim via ZUMA Prs Wire</span></figptn></figure><p class="">Sasse has said that as universy print, he would do his bt to reprent the views of  lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer stunts. But for some, his ndidacy has lled to md the universy’s <a href=">anti-LGBTQ history</a> and the extent to which many of them feel ntu to <a href=">sile</a> their needs and experienc, four LGBTQ stunts told NBC News. </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">“To thk that the lear of our school is gog to be someone who don’t reflect our valu is vastatg,” RJ Della Salle, a hman who is gay, said.</p><p class="">Della Salle was one of the stunts who attend the protts, which dispted the qutn-and-answer ssns Sasse was holdg as he <a href=">stggled to make himself heard over</a> shouts of “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Ben Sasse has got to go!” Sasse said at the fom that he “tellectually and nstutnally weled” the monstrators.</p><p class="">While Sasse was speakg, Della Salle was outsi while his boyiend, Evan Smh, was si the room, where the protts grew so disptive that people said they felt the walls shakg. </p><p class="">“They were bangg on the door and the railgs and the walls,” Smh said. “We felt the whole thg shakg.”</p><p class="">Sasse left whout engagg the protters. Durg the foms, however, he addrsed a number of qutns on his past polil stanc and attempted to suggt that he uld still reprent the views of the nearly 60,000 stunts and thoands more staff at the Universy of Florida, one of the largt schools the state, even if they nflict wh the posns he has held as a polician for the people of Nebraska. </p><figure class="styl_leImage__yAWZ0 styl_medium__OMa6x"><picture class="styl_image__1qciH"><source media="(m-width: 1000px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="Senate Intelligence Commtee Hearg On SolarWds Hack" height="1666" width="2500"/></picture><figptn class="ptn styl_ptn__Pe5JC"><span class="ptn__ntaer" data-ttid="ptn__ntaer">Sen. Ben Sasse listens durg a Senate Intelligence Commtee hearg Washgton on Feb. 23, 2021.</span><span class="ptn__source">Drew Angerer / Bloomberg via Getty Imag file</span></figptn></figure><p class="">“Do I support and affirm everybody this muny?” Sasse <a href=">said</a> when asked about his support for the LGBTQ muny. “Absolutely.” </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">In July, Sasse <a href=">told NBC News</a> he believed the Rpect for Marriage Act, which would dify the right to same-sex marriage to feral law the wake of the reversal of Roe v. Wa, was an attempt by Hoe Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to “divi Ameri wh culture wars.”</p><div class="remend-tersectn-ref" data-activy-map="remend-article-body-remend" data-ttid="remend-wrapper"></div><p class="">On same-sex marriage, Sasse acknowledged Monday that he has the past had “disput” about which cisns should be ma by urts vers state legislatur, but he lled Obergefell the “law of the land” and said “nothg about Obergefell is changg the Uned Stat.” </p><p class="">A universy spokperson cled to ment further. In the <a href=">announcement</a> last week of Sasse’s selectn as the sole falist, Rahul Patel, <a href=">chair</a> of the printial search mtee and a universy tstee <a href=">appoted</a> by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republin, lled Sasse “right for the Universy of Florida” and “right for the state of Florida.”</p><p class="">“Ben brgs tellectual cursy, a belief the power and potential of Amerin universi, and an unmatched track rerd of learship spanng higher tn, ernment and the private sector,” Patel said a public statement. </p><div class="remend-tersectn-ref" data-activy-map="remend-article-body-remend" data-ttid="remend-wrapper"></div><p class="">Smh, a 20-year-old polil science and history major, lled Sasse’s expected appotment “really sry.” </p><p class="">“While the print of the universy isn’t gog to ci thgs like gay marriage or other thgs like that, his ma job is reprentg the universy,” Smh said. “It’s much more the symbolic reprentatn, that he don’t reprent the stunt body and the diverse faculty.” </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">A school print potentially motivated by polil cisn-makg is a e for ncern, acrdg to Lisa Stt, a psychology profsor. On top of her day-to-day work for the universy, Stt also has a third grar an <a href=">elementary school</a> n by the universy. Among other ncerns, she said, she wonrs whether Sasse’s terpretatn of the state’s Parental Rights Edutn Act, which crics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law, uld have an impact on both her child’s school and the universy’s school of tn, which tras future tors. </p><p class="">“He has a history of votg agast lots of aspects of people’s right to exist,” Stt said. “I thk that’s very problematic to have all of that impactg how he mak universy cisns.” </p><p class="">The appotment seems to have flamed a broar sense of excln felt by LGBTQ stunts at the universy, acrdg to Alex Noon, the print of OUTLaw, the unaffiliated LGBTQ anizatn for the law school. </p><p class="">In March, for example, a founr of ​​Liberty Counsel, an evangelil Christian legal anizatn that has been signated an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, was ved to speak at one of his urs, emails shared wh NBC News show. After phback, stunts were given the optn to not attend class the day the gut speaker, Matt Staver, was ved to attend, though one of the urse’s stctors an email fend the tnal value of hearg a talk by Staver, who has argued ont of the Supreme Court. </p><p class="">“We have to be super proactive for anythg related to queer stunts, bee they jt don’t thk about ,” Noon said. </p><p class="">That sentiment dat all the way back to the mid-1950s and 60s and the Johns Commtee, a group formed by the state Legislature and supported by the universy’s print wh the exprs purpose of targetg and rootg out gay members of the universy. Over a perd of about a , the mtee forced approximately 50 stunts and more than a dozen faculty members off mp, acrdg to the <a href=">mp newspaper</a>, the Inpennt Florida Alligator. </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">The effort had a chillg effect that kept LGBTQ members of the Universy of Florida mostly silent about their inti until the 1980s, acrdg to the <a href=">universy’s webse</a>. Sce then, an LGBTQ advisory mtee has ma nsirable ground s fight for queer rights and reprentatn on mp. In 2003, for example, the universy’s nondiscrimatn policy was updated to prohib discrimatn on the basis of sexual orientatn, and aga amend 2011 to clu genr inty and exprsn. More recent ws om the mtee have e the form of more genr-ntral bathrooms and cln trag for faculty and staff. </p><p class="">Damon Veras, a 21-year-old senr who is gay and a member of the mtee, said there’s still room for improvement. The universy’s <a href=">LGBTQ+ Affairs office</a>, for example, has a high staff turnover rate, he said.</p><p class="">He said a “silver lg” of the protts was that many LGBTQ stunts ma their ncerns more wily known. But he said the policizatn of the universy’s learship won’t change anytime soon. </p><p class="">“The next step is jt ntue to brg issu like this to the new print’s attentn,” he said, “and make clear to him that queer and trans folks exist."</p><p class="endmark"><strong><em>Follow </em></strong><a href=" target="_blank"><strong><em>NBC Out</em></strong></a><strong><em> on </em></strong><a href=" target="_blank"><strong><em>Twter</em></strong></a><strong><em>, </em></strong><a href=" target="_blank"><strong><em>Facebook</em></strong></a><strong><em> & </em></strong><a href=" target="_blank"><strong><em>Instagram</em></strong></a>.</p></div><div class="article-body__ntent article-body-font--loadg"><div class="expand-byle-ntributors articleByleContaer"><div class="expand-byle article-expand-byle" data-activy-map="expand-byle-article-bottom"><span class="byle-thumbnail byle-thumbnail--no-image expand-byle__thumbnail"></span><span class="byle-name expand-byle__name">Zachary Schermele</span><span class="byle-social expand-byle__social"></span><div class="expand-byle__b-wrapper"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article-body--right-rail-ntaer"><div data-ttid="right-rail-ntaer" class="article-body__right-rail layout-grid-em grid-l-4_5-l grid-l-3_5-xl grid-l-ph-half-xl"><div class="ad article-body__right-rail--ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxrail" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[[300,250],[360,360]]],[[758,1],[]],[[0,0],[]]]" data-offset="10" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div></div></div></div><span></span><div class="body-bottom-remend"><div class="ad ad--midrponsive ad-ntaer dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="midrponsive" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[[700,1],[5,5]]],[[758,1],[]],[[0,0],[]]]" data-offset="300" data-reh-terval="0" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div></div></div></div></article></div></div><div id="hfs-footer" class="dn-prt" data-activy-map="hfs-footer"><footer class="hfsf" ><div class="ner"><div class="logo"><a href="><svg class="peack" viewBox="578 62 67 39" xmlns=" fill="currentColor"><g fill-le="evenodd"><path d="M579.074 90.58c1.717-4.494 6.472-6.08 10.697-3.37l18.29 12.754h-22.18c-4.62 0-8.252-4.23-6.8-9.385"></path><path class="feather" d="M579.074 90.58c1.717-4.494 6.472-6.08 10.697-3.37l18.29 12.754h-22.18c-4.62 0-8.252-4.23-6.8-9.385"></path><path class="feather" d="M597.563 75.863l9.442 21.613-19.478-13.35c-4.887-3.24-3.896-8.79-1.19-11.237 3.83-3.24 9.245-2.12 11.226 2.97"></path><path class="feather" d="M610.57 70.93l-3.433 24.19-9.772-23c-2.113-5.75 2.64-9.516 5.81-9.583 3.632-.396 8.188 2.38 7.396 8.394"></path><path class="feather" d="M625.494 72.103l-9.707 23.067-3.102-20.82c-.265-3.17 1.716-3.237 2.443-3.832-.133-.463-1.124-.463-1.124-.463h-1.848c-.198-5.42 4.028-7.8 7.462-7.535 3.697.132 7.856 4.428 5.876 9.583"></path><path class="feather" d="M635.338 84.167L615.86 97.584l9.177-21.348c2.775-6.742 9.245-5.42 11.556-2.842 2.51 2.51 3.235 7.6-1.255 10.773"></path><path class="feather" d="M637.448 99.9h-22.515l18.29-12.756c4.49-2.975 9.244-.266 10.498 3.635 1.327 4.36-1.65 9.12-6.27 9.12"></path></g></svg></a></div><nav class="lks"><ul class="lks__wrap" data-l-2="14" data-l-3=15><li><a href=" target="_self">About</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Contact</a></li><li><a href=">Help</a></li><li><a href=">Careers</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ad Choic</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Privacy Policy</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Do Not Sell My Personal Informatn</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CA Notice</a></li><li><a href=">Terms of Service (Updated JULY 7, 2023)</a></li><li><a href=">NBC News Semap</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Closed Captng</a></li><li><a href=">Advertise</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Select Shoppg</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Select Personal Fance</a></li></ul></nav><div class="py"><p>© 2023 NBC UNIVERSAL</p><div class="brands"><a href="><svg viewBox="0 0 120 20" fill="none" xmlns=" aria-labelledby="nbc_news_logo"><tle class="nbc_news_logo">NBC News Logo.

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