Friends –

I’ve been glowing all week from Sunday’s “Trans & Queer Field Day,” an event in Columbia, SC designed to celebrate the end of the 2021 legislative session in South Carolina.

The first half of this year has been so hard for many reasons – but one of the chief reasons it’s been challenging for trans Southerners is the relentless onslaught of anti-trans legislation filed in state after state. We faced it in my own state of South Carolina, and for months, a wonderful team of organizers has come together to push back. The SC United for Justice & Equality coalition, which the Campaign for Southern Equality helps to lead alongside 30+ other LGBTQ and allied organizations, successfully helped to defeat more than a half dozen attempts to discriminate against transgender youth.

On Sunday, our community came together to celebrate – first with a beautiful demonstration of the Transgender Pride flag on the steps of the SC Statehouse, and then with a day of community-building and games at a nearby park. Want to see a recap of the powerful day of protest and community? Click here to see photos. 

My favorite moment of the day was turning around after speaking at a press conference/rally condemning anti-transgender attacks and seeing so many South Carolinians holding a beautiful – and giant – pride flag on the steps of the Statehouse, the exact place where we've heard so many harmful things about trans people this session. I can't tell you how healing that moment was for me. 

Beyond that, the organizing team helped to bring healthcare and legal services to LGBTQ people in non-clinical settings, my personal passion as a queer organizer. Over the course of the day, we helped 100 South Carolinians get tested for HIV, provided nearly a dozen COVID-19 vaccines, and helped hundreds of folks receive letters for their gender marker changes, begin hormone replacement therapy, access mental health services and somatic practitioners, and more. 

The entire day felt like a massive breath of relief after such a tough session. I hope taking a look at photos and video from the day will give you the same sense of joy that I felt. Click here to take a look. 

In community, 
Ivy Hill
Community Health Program Director
Campaign for Southern Equality

P.S. We were honored to connect Field Day attendees with access to the COVID-19 vaccine, right on site! Do you need more information about the vaccine, too? Talk with your health care provider to get the facts about COVID-19 vaccines, because #WeCanDoThis. Find a vaccine location near you: 

🔎 Search http://vaccines.gov 
💬 Text your ZIP code to 438829 
☎️ Call 1-800-232-0233