Friend:

We dream of a South where LGBTQ people can get the health care they need in their hometowns. Access to health care is a basic human right – it’s about surviving and thriving.

Today we’re excited to announce a step forward in this work. We’ve just awarded $30,000 in Southern Equality Fund grants focused on transforming the landscape of LGBTQ health equity in the South. The grants will support Western North Carolina Community Health Services, CHOICES Memphis, Gender Benders in South Carolina, and Nationz Foundation in Virginia. 

These amazing organizations are on the front lines of serving LGBTQ Southerners’ health needs. They are developing new models that increase access to care and ensure that people are treated with dignity and respect in health care settings. With our financial support, they’ll be able to expand their programs and try out new ideas.

We’re working every day to help build a South where LGBTQ people can thrive. Can you chip in right now to ensure that we can continue to support groundbreaking work to increase LGBTQ Southerners’ access to health care with your donation of $15, $10, $5, or more? Click here to give.

One of the things I’m most proud of about our team at the Campaign for Southern Equality is our commitment to thinking outside of the box and making connections between amazing work happening in different parts of the South, in this case from Memphis to Richmond to Asheville to Greenville.

That’s exactly why we started the Southern Equality Fund in 2015, as an out-of-the-box idea through which we route 10% of our annual budget to LGBTQ grassroots leaders and groups on the frontlines of transforming the South. SEF is how we are moving funding and resources to people and places doing creative and impactful work in the South, especially those who face structural barriers to funding. 

Moving money is a critical strategy in Southern organizing, and this $30,000 grant round is about meeting short-term needs (like providing free STI testing at LGBTQ community center) and developing long-term models that can ultimately be replicated across the South (like ensuring that health clinics are welcoming spaces for trans and nonbinary patients). Click here to support this work by kicking in $15, $10, $5, or whatever you can. 

I’m excited about the work ahead – and honored to be a part of it. 

Jasmine Beach-Ferrara
Campaign for Southern Equality