Hey y’all –
I have some news to share with you that is truly bittersweet: After almost 4 years here, I’ve accepted a position that will end my time on staff at the Campaign for Southern Equality. In my new role, I’ll be working across the United States and Canada to strategize with and train youth-serving organizations – mostly camps – to better serve trans and LGBTQ+ youth and to build systems of support for the trans and LGBTQ+ staff working with them. At this moment, the gravity of political attacks targeting trans youth and their allies is undeniable and this is the next step in how I, personally, will respond.
The Campaign for Southern Equality has always been a place where I have been encouraged to pursue projects that align with my skills and passions, where I can make a difference where and when it is needed most. And this moment has been no different. Moving forward, I may not be at CSE, but I most definitely will be with CSE in our communities’ fight for the freedom, rights, and well-being of trans and LGBTQ+ youth.
I know right now the CSE team is hard at work connecting with organizations across the South to partner on how best to confront this year’s wave of horrible anti-LGBTQ+ attacks and particularly how to help people prepare for laws that could restrict access to transgender-related care. I am inspired by and wholeheartedly support these efforts, and I know you’ll be hearing more about them soon.
Something I’ve grown to understand at CSE and that I’ll carry with me is that we can do this serious – and, at times, heart-breaking – work, and we can do it with joy. I’m thinking about the times the CSE team launched T-shirts into the stands at an Asheville City Soccer Club game with a giant slingshot, the times that Liz Williams and I rigged up a projector and car battery in the back of my truck to project videos on buildings in downtown Asheville, and the time the SC United for Justice & Equality team organized a kickball game and demonstration at the state house in South Carolina. Those were times that reminded me that there are moments when our joy can be the most powerful force we have.
It’s with immense gratitude, some sadness, and – yes, great joy – that I thank you for being a part of my experiences as a staff member at CSE. I hope you’ll join me in continuing to support the Campaign for Southern Equality in new ways as we all meet what comes next.
Forward Together,
Al Murray
They/Them
Outgoing Director of Relationships & Special Projects
Campaign for Southern Equality
