CSE’s year in video and images! Thank you for being with us every step of the way in 2013. None of this would be possible without your belief that LGBT people and allies in the South can help our country realize the promises of equality.
1) On January 2nd, five LGBT couples applied for marriage licenses in Hattiesburg, Mississippi as part of the WE DO Campaign. These brave couples took this act, knowing they would be denied licenses, as a show of love in the face of discriminatory laws that relegate LGBT to second-class citizen status in Mississippi. Below, Rolanda and Dawn at the counter applying for a license.
2) From January 2-17, CSE traveled across seven Southern states (Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia) to stand with 37 LGBT couples as they applied for marriage licenses in their hometowns. Matt and Raymie on their farm in White Pine, Tennessee applied for a license in Hamlin County.
3) Tim and Mark were married on January 17th in Washington, D.C. after being together for 20 years. Just three days before, Tim and Mark were denied a marriage license in their hometown of Winston-Salem, N.C. as part of the WE DO Campaign.
4) Time magazine lists North Carolina as a marriage battleground state as a direct result of the WE DO Campaign.
WATCH: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxkQ-uz_8AE[/youtube]
5) The Campaign for Southern Equality was honored to receive the HRC North Carolina Equality Award! We had a great time at their annual gala and literally took home the bacon, which was an item in the goodie bag.
6) Cameron, a sixth-grader from North Carolina, wrote a letter to each of the Supreme Court Justices about marriage equality and her two moms. Sheila and Susan, have twice applied for a marriage license in NC.
Read her letter to the Justices and a personal response from Justice Sotomayor to Cameron:
7) A packed house for a Light the Way to Justice vigil in Asheville, North Carolina calling for the Supreme Court Justices to deliver full equality under the law. We were hopeful and nervous before the Supreme Court rulings on DOMA and Prop 8. Our amazing legal team (thank you Meghann, Arayah, and Collyn!) was honored to assist on an amicus brief submitted in this case under the leadership of the Utah Pride Center; the brief argued for the urgent need for federal equality for those living in states where discrimination persists in every sphere of life.
CSE Hometown Organizing Teams held vigils across the South, including on the beach in Mississippi.
8) A CSE Family Dinner – crawfish boil style – at Sara and LB’s farm in Petal, Mississippi. Southern people like to eat!
9) CSE coordinated Letters to the Editor across the South in advance of the SCOTUS ruling on DOMA. Another Letter to the Editor in favor of marriage equality! Way to go Ivy, who lives in Piedmont, South Carolina, and who leads the Gender Benders, a group we’re proud to partner with.
10) Hard at work in the YWCA of Asheville garden as part of CSE’s Day of Service Project. — at YWCA of Asheville. It was a beautiful, if very rainy summer in Western NC. Teams also did service projects in Hattiesburg, MS, and Greenville, SC.
11) On May 22nd, faith leaders in Buncombe County, North Carolina gathered outside the county courthouse to speak out against laws and proposed policies that negatively impact low-income and minority residents of the state as part of Moral Mondays. The Campaign for Southern Equality was proud to participate. Read about the rally here: http://bit.ly/13NhG49. Elder Hayes of NAACP addresses the crowd.
14) CSE organized a dynamic conversation on Faith & Sexual Identity at the YWCA of Asheville! A big thank you to the discussion moderators – Rev. James Lee, Secretary of the Baptist Ministers Union (pictured speaking), and Craig White, of the Campaign for Southern Equality.
24) CSE partnered with Freedom to Marry on a video that shows the reality of being an LGBT family in the South.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh1B9Ni9iEk[/youtube]
25) As the NAACP of NC barnstormed the state growing the Moral Monday Movement, CSE was honored to be part of a coalition sponsoring Mountain Moral Monday, which brought out a crowd of approximately 8,000 from across the mountains. WATCH CSE’s director, Jasmine Beach-Ferrara’s speech here:
26) During July, in 5 cities across Mississippi – Gulfport, Hattiesburg, Poplarville, Jackson and Tupelo – CSE organized the first coordinated actions for LGBT rights in the state.
27) Haley, our awesome intern, mailing letters to every marriage license office in the South.
28) Candy and Sabrina had a great since of humor in the face of discrimination after being denied a marriage license in Gulfport with their 4 children looking on.
29) Diane (Dizy) Walton, an amazing member of our Legal Team, led workshops on how LGBT people can protect themselves under the law in 4 Mississippi cities. Thank you to the Human Rights Campaign for sponsoring our series of 9 FREE community legal workshops during 2013.
30) Hundreds stood in the rain to support couples applying for marriage licenses in Greenville, SC.
31) And then Ivy and Misha showed incredible strength in face of discrimination.
WATCH: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbXRZor7nRE[/youtube]
32) We feel very lucky to have met so many amazing people this year. Sharing meals and sharing stories in our fight for equality. We had a lot of fun along the way. Thank you to everyone who joined us on this journey!
And, as our Campaign Manager Lindsey Simerly likes to say, “Go Panthers!”
If you’ve scrolled down this far, we know you’re a strong supporter of the push for marriage equality in the South. Can you make your year-end, tax-deductible gift to CSE right now? Your donation will go directly to our continued fight against unjust and immoral laws like Amendment One.
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