Not even a 2 degree wind-chill could cool the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Ally Alliance at its rally in the free speech zone in front of Parks Library on Thursday afternoon.

Supporters for the LGBTAA gathered because of a proposed draft of the student organization recognition policy.

The proposal would grant religious organizations the right to limit membership on the basis of shared beliefs and goals.

They will also be able to adopt a non-discrimination statement that is consistent with those beliefs and goals, allowing those groups to automatically exclude people on the basis of their sexual orientation as well as race, sex, age, religious affiliation, color, marital status and disability.

“I don’t understand how an institution of higher learning came to even consider a policy as ridiculous as this one,” said Penny Rice, coordinator for the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center and graduate student in education leadership and policy studies.

Kris Olds, adviser for the LGBTAA and program assistant for the Department of Public Safety, agreed that the change in policy is not a good idea.

“The big issue, beyond discrimination and labels, is that we have a non-discrimination policy, and the university administration is changing it,” Olds said. “This is a troubling trend that could become a slippery slope.”

Iowa State has joined other colleges and universities around the country that have encountered similar opposition to the topic.

Approximately a dozen other universities have been pressured to alter their non-discrimination policies for certain religious student organizations – usually by the Christian Legal Society.

Three universities have already been taken to court, two of which were law schools being sued by Christian Legal Society.

In nearly all of the cases, the universities satisfied the concerns of the groups by clarifying their non-discrimination policy to grant all groups the right to limit membership based upon their certain set of beliefs and goals.

“I am paying as much as everyone else to attend this university, therefore I should be able to join any group or organization I choose to,” said Kelly Helling, co-president of the LGBTAA and senior in communication studies. “I am a lesbian, but it doesn’t define me. It’s only part of who I am.”

Dan Rice, an academic adviser for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Ames City Council member, said he feels embarrassed to look at the petition being signed against the policy and not see the names of his colleagues.

“This is an attack on civil liberties. It calls to question tremendous values in this country,” he said. “We are being asked to exclude, and that is not what Iowa State University is about.”

Students are urged to sign the petition, which can be found at www.petitiononline.com/SORP.