Louisiana was the first of an avalanche of more than 35 states to start petitions to peacefully withdraw from the Union on the official White House website, and citizens are continuing to add new signatures.

As of Monday night, the petition reached its goal of 25,000 signatures necessary to warrant a response from President Barack Obama.

This does not mean Louisiana can legally secede, but it does mean Obama must respond within 30 days, according to the U.S. Constitution and text on the site.

Actual secession would involve consent of Congress and the president, two things political science professor James Garand says are not currently plausible.

Garand said the petition is a manifestation of the nation’s differences, rather than the start of a serious conversation about certain states seceding.

However, Garand said he could see people thinking of secession as an option.

“Many people are wondering if there is really enough to tie Americans together the way there has been in the past,” he said.

Garand said people of different political backgrounds are disconnected and cited same-sex marriage as an issue that leads to different conversations from the political parties.

There are many other issues where this is true, Garand said, and it has formed two cultures alien from each other within the United States, wherein one side “cannot fathom” the other’s viewpoint.

Some students assumed the petition meant people were serious about seceding.

Biological science senior Quinn Thibodeaux said the petitions are ridiculous.

“People need to stop acting like the world is going to end,” Thibodeaux said.

Names are protected on the website, so those who sign only have to enter their first name and last initial for public viewing.

Michael E. from Slidell created the petition last Wednesday, and support grew exponentially. Until the weekend, the petition had fewer than 1,000 signatures.

Some of the signatures on the Louisiana petition are from citizens of Tennessee, Michigan and Nevada, among other states, but the majority are from citizens of Louisiana.

Texas’ petition claims the most signatures, with 86,000 as of Tuesday evening, after Micah H. set it up on Friday.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has issued statements saying he does not approve of the measure.

A few anti-secession petitions have been posted as well.

One is titled, “Deport Everyone That Signed A Petition To Withdraw Their State From The United States Of America,” and has 3,500 signatures as of Tuesday evening.

Another calls for the exile of these citizens, as well as all citizens who signed a petition regarding the secession of their state.

Some petitions the White House has responded to include publishing the White House beer recipe as well as contentious issues such as greater protection of same-sex marriage and women’s health relating to contraception.

All of these are available online at petitions.whitehouse.gov.