A new caucus within the College Democrats intends to focus on lesbian, bi, gay and transgender concerns, organizers said this week.

Members of the caucus, which formed last week and is called MSU Stonewall Democrats, hope to unite LBGT and Democratic voters to benefit both sides.

"Essentially it's an organization that tries to not only make the Democratic party better on LBGT issues, but to get the LBGT community involved," said Nathan Triplett, youth organizer of the Michigan Democratic Party and MSU College Democrats executive board member.

The Stonewall Democrats is an LBGT Democratic organization which recently launched the Stonewall student network in an effort to promote organizations with a similar focus to campuses nationwide.

The name Stonewall comes from the June 1969 Stonewall Rebellion in New York City, where LBGT bar patrons fought back after being thrown out of a gay bar. The event inspired LBGT activism nationwide.

"It's about getting more people who sometimes feel left out of the system to push it left instead of not voting or voting for a third party," MSU Stonewall Democrats interim Chairman Jon Hoadley said. He added that although the party doesn't always line up with LBGT concerns, he hopes to see that improve.

MSU's caucus is the second in the nation, after the University of Michigan's.

Both groups attended a kickoff event Sunday in Ann Arbor with openly gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who said he supports the program.

Ken Nadolski, who helped organize U-M's chapter, said finding common goals between LBGT organizations and Democrats can help both groups.

The political science senior said the director of Stonewall Democrats used to be executive director of Young Democrats of America and that this might be why student chapters are receiving increased attention.

"He knows the importance of young Democrats in America," Nadolski said.

Erin Trussell, a member of the MSU College Republicans, said the organization didn't have any plans to form an LBGT caucus, but they're not against it.

"Special interest groups like that are a good thing," the political theory and constitutional democracy junior said. "It would definitely be considered - we open the floor to anything our members would want to talk about."

The MSU Stonewall Democrats aren't having discussions just yet, Hoadley said.

Right now he's gathered a core group of 24 interested students, and they're identifying LBGT community members and other progressive voters.

"Then we can start tackling the larger issues," Hoadley said.

The LBGT community recently has been affected by the Marriage Protection Act, which recognizes only unions between a man and a woman and the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, which removes sexual orientation and gender identity from workplace discrimination.

Today at 5:30 p.m. in the Wonders Hall Kiva, openly lesbian human rights activist and social worker Chrissy Gephardt will speak.

She also is the daughter of Democratic presidential candidate Dick Gephardt.

Events such as Chrissy Gephardt's discussion show the start of the connection between Democrats and LBGT groups, Hoadley said.

"I came out as a Democrat before I came out as gay," he said.

For more information on the MSU College Democrats, visit www.msu.edu/~msudems