John –

When I think back on 2022, one dominant theme that stuck out to me was the ways that LGBTQ young people came under political attack after political attack. State lawmakers pushed to exclude transgender youth at school, ban affirming books with LGBTQ characters, censor LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum, and deny trans students the ability to use the restroom. These attacks are a big part of what motivated me to start working with the Campaign for Southern Equality this summer.

One of my first projects here was to coordinate a “Back-to-School” care package kit for LGBTQ youth all across the South. With assistance from our amazing volunteers, we assembled 300 care packages that included letters of support from queer adults sharing their experiences, water bottles, school supplies, Bombas socks, and our brand new Supportive Schools guide. We teamed up with some amazing organizations to get the packages into the hands of young people – and this fall my colleague Kiran Tin wrote up spotlights about each organization. 

I wanted to be sure the CSE community knew about these seven great organizations, which are making a huge impact for LGBTQ youth in the South. Read Kiran’s interviews with the organizations’ leaders here:

Here are the individual links:

• Magic City Acceptance Center • Birmingham, AL
• Prism United • Mobile, AL
• Time Out Youth • Charlotte, NC
• LGBTQ Center of Durham • Durham, NC
• Uplift Outreach Center • Spartanburg, SC
• YouthOUTRight • Asheville, NC
• Oasis Center • Nashville, TN

Through these care packages we hope to have contributed a smile and the knowledge that their community is here to support them to young people, especially as many are headed back to school after the most hostile anti-LGBTQ legislative sessions on record.

We already expect 2023 to be another challenging legislative session for LGBTQ+ youth in the South – and the Campaign for Southern Equality is gearing up to work harder than ever in support of dignity and equality for queer young people. We’re proud to be working in partnership to change the narrative in the South and are in awe of these partners who are creating inclusive spaces where queer youth can thrive.

Please make sure to read their stories, available here. 

Thank you,
Lore Lane
They/Them
Impact Coordinator
Campaign for Southern Equality 

P.S. Want to support other projects like this? Make a donation to the Campaign for Southern Equality and we’ll put it to work supporting LGBTQ+ youth all across the South.