1,000 expected at 'Rock Indiana' counterprotest

Hate, discrimination, intolerance and bigotry.\nThose are the words IU junior Matt Brunner uses to describe SJR7, Indiana's proposed amendment to ban both same sex marriage and civil unions.\n"It's just a really bad amendment," he said. "We want to stand up to the hate that it promotes."\nOn Tuesday, the group Advance America will be rallying in the Statehouse rotunda in Indianapolis to support the proposed amendment. Advance America is a conservative grassroots organization based in Indianapolis and led by attorney Eric Miller. Members of Advance America could not be reached by press time of this article.\nIn response to this gathering, members of Indiana's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community will stage "Rock Indiana," a counterprotest from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. outside the Statehouse.\nPepper Partin, organizer of the counterprotest is expecting a large turnout.\n"We'll probably get at least 1,000 people," she said. "It's possible we'll even have 1,500 people."\nPartin said that attendees will range from children to senior citizens. While the majority of people will be from the GLBT community, she said there will be a high percentage who are concerned about the constitutionality of the amendment.\n"Anytime you single out a group of people and want to write discrimination into the Constitution, it's wrong," she said. \nHelen Harrell, adviser for the IU student group OUT agrees that the proposed amendment is discriminatory.\n"The Constitution is supposed to protect everyone equally, but this would actually deny a whole group civil rights," she said. "What's happening in our country and in our state is simply gay bashing. It's mean-spirited on the part of the government."\nHarrell noted that same sex couples would not be able to enjoy many of the freedoms married couples share, especially for financial and insurance purposes. \n"There are over 1,000 rights people automatically get when they get married," she said. "This amendment would completely deny gay people of those rights."\nBrunner, who volunteers at the IU GLBT student support center, said he will be going to the protest and has been organizing groups of students to carpool. \n"There's even a group on Thefacebook for people who want to go," he said, citing the 68-member online group titled "I'm Going to the Rally on March 8 to Stand Up Against Discrimination in Indiana." \nBrunner estimated that about 100 IU students will attend.\n"This is the civil rights movement of our time," he said. "I hope we send a message of equality and love."\nIn addition to the counter protest, the students and faculty of Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis will be holding a discussion forum in response to the Advance America demonstration. Organizer Pamela Bliss said there will be a debate between the amendment's author, Republican Sen. Brandt Hershman, and Indiana House Representative and IUPUI Law Professor Democrat David Orentlicher. \nAlthough the event was originally intended to be a discussion with audience participation, Hershman has requested that he and Orentlicher take written questions from the audience instead. Bliss said if audience members have additional questions or comments on the issue, they will be encouraged to write letters to their state representative. \n"It will be predominantly students and I think we'll see a good mix of people, both GLBT and not," she said. "We're definitely expecting a full house."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Kelly Ginty at kginty@indiana.edu.