The Lavender South - Campaign for Southern Equality

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➡️ Write For the Lavender South
➡️ Why is This Project Called the Lavender South?
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The Lavender South is a project of the Campaign for Southern Equality – and an opportunity for queer and trans people in the South to tell their stories of resilience and resistance, joy and pain, during a time when their communities are under attack. We know that every queer Southerner has a story to tell, and at CSE, we have cultivated a community that wants to engage with these stories. Through this project, we hope to uplift the voices of the most marginalized in our community, such as transgender people, youth, BIPOC folks, immigrants, and working class people. Through telling queer Southern stories, we hope to illuminate the challenges and the joys of LGBTQ+ Southerners in our time, and spark conversations among our community.

Write for The Lavender South

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Why is this project called The Lavender South?

During the 1950s and 60s, the gay and lesbian rights movement was blossoming in the United States. Groups like the Mattachine Society and The Daughters of Bilitis were pushing for greater visibility and rights for gays and lesbians. The response to this movement was a moral panic about homosexuality among government officials, who believed that gay and lesbian government officials posed a national security risk because of their “weak moral character”. This led to gay and lesbian government workers being dismissed from their positions. The event was coined the “Lavender Scare”, because historically, men believed to be gay were described as having “a streak of lavender”. In the years following the Lavender Scare, lavender was reclaimed by the queer community as a symbol of resistance and empowerment. It is for this reason that we have chosen to call this project the Lavender South.

Today, LGBTQ+ people are making progress. More and more people are embracing and celebrating the queer people in their lives and communities. We have made huge steps towards legal equality, securing the right to live, work, and build our families while publicly identifying as LGBTQ+. As in the time of the Lavender Scare, this progress is threatening to some people, including conservative government officials who are doing everything in their power to take away our rights and freedoms, and push us out of public life. This is especially true for transgender and gender expansive members of our communities, who are facing a massive wave of legislation attacking their right to equal education, voting, employment, and healthcare. A large number of anti-LGBTQ+ and specifically anti-trans bills have passed here in the South, where an estimated 5 million LGBTQ+ people make their homes. The purpose of The Lavender South is to elevate LGBTQ+ Southerners’ voices during this tumultuous time in our history.