Same-sex petition to be given to Herman

Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community and their allies will present state Rep. Lynn Herman, R-Centre, with a petition in favor of creating domestic partner benefits for Penn State employees at 4:45 p.m. today at the Allenway Building, 315 S. Allen St.

State Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre, and state Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, already have received copies of the petition, said Tony North (graduate-developmental psychology), petition organizer.

North said the petition has accumulated approximately 2,700 signatures since he and Steve Goodreau (graduate-anthropology) started it on Feb. 8. He hopes to persuade Herman to support the implementation of domestic partner benefits at the university by showing how much support the movement has received on campus and in the State College area.

"We're just trying to show them how much support there is," North said. "In three short weeks we've gotten so many signatures. We hope to persuade him to support same-sex benefits."

--by Alexandra Rodriguez