Good morning –

This week our team at the Campaign for Southern Equality was fired up about being in Charleston to announce a federal lawsuit challenging an anti-LGBTQ law in South Carolina that prohibits public school health education classes from including any discussion of same-sex relationships, except in the context of sexually transmitted diseases. 

We are honored to represent our members as an organization plaintiff in this case, alongside LGBTQ youth from the Gender & Sexuality Alliance and South Carolina Equality, and we’re grateful to be represented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal, and private counsel – Womble Bond Dickinson, Brazil & Burke, and law professor Clifford Rosky. Click here to read more about the case in the Charleston Post & Courier.

The Campaign for Southern Equality is a plaintiff in this case because we understand the irrefutable truth that LGBTQ youth in South Carolina are equal. And with this lawsuit, we seek to ensure that the laws of the state catch up with this truth. 

We’re in awe of the brave LGBTQ young people who are pushing back against this discriminatory law – including Eli Bundy and all of the members of the Gender & Sexuality Alliance, for which Eli serves as president. Eli is 15 years old and they have spoken out on behalf of all LGBTQ youth in the state, determined to communicate a simple message: LGBTQ students deserve the same dignity and respect as any other student.

We wanted to be sure you had the chance to join us in saying THANKS to the many LGBTQ young people involved in this case. Click here to send a message of love and support to LGBTQ youth in South Carolina, and we’ll be sure it reaches the young people represented by this case. 

I have such tremendous hope about this case. I know – because I have seen it happen again and again, and because my faith teaches me it is possible – that people change, communities change, and laws change. 

It’s time for this law to change. It’s time for South Carolina to be a place where LGBTQ youth – and every single child across the state – has an equal opportunity to thrive. 

Thank you for your support,
Jasmine Beach-Ferrara
Campaign for Southern Equality