Stephen Ellison

UC Berkeley Student Rep Gets Backlash For Stance on LGBT Issue

A student representative at UC Berkeley is facing a wave of criticism for not supporting an LGBT proposal.

Isabella Chow says her Christian beliefs guided her decision, and now some students are demanding her resignation.

The proposal approved by the UC student government condemns the Trump administration for its plan to define gender as the sex a person is born with. Chow abstained and is now under verbal attack.

Protesters gathered outside a recent UC Berkeley student senate meeting over or Chow's abstention.

"It asked me to support organizations whose primary purpose is to promote the LGBT community and lifestyle, which conflicted with my Christian values," Chow said.

At the campus known for free speech, Chow’s freedom of thought is under attack.

"Tonight is not about free speech but about the separation of prejudice and personal beliefs with institutional policy," said Regan Putnam of the Queer Alliance and Resource Center at Cal.

The pushback has been strong and at times vulgar.

"I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been called the F-word online and in person, and it hurts," one student said.

Student Poorvi Acharyal said, "If you think the LGBT people are against nature, your opinion is invalid."

Chow says people can get along even if they do not agree practically and theologically 100 percent of the time, and she’s calling for more LGBT inclusiveness on the part of Christians.

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