Giving LGBTQ Mississippians resources to make positive change in the state.
Based in Asheville, North Carolina, Campaign for Southern Equality launched in 2011 with the mission to promote both legal and lived LGBTQ equality throughout the southeast, which they do through three core programs: the Legal Equality Project, the Southern Equality Fund and the Community Health Program.
For a long time, Mississippi has had one of the lowest rates of spending in the whole country when it comes to LGBTQ issues. The LGBTQ Fund of Mississippi is working with Campaign for Southern Equality to change that, and to give voices to unheard LGBTQ communities who are yearning for change and progress.
“We’re firm believers in the power of local organizing, and part of that means moving resources to peoples’ towns, especially places that have been historically under-resourced. As we do this work, we really prioritize making grants and moving funds that are led by people of color, transgender folks, and people in smaller towns and rural areas, recognizing that in all of those cases those people face greater structural barriers to accessing the resources and funding for their work,” said Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, Executive Director at the Campaign for Southern Equality.
“This grant will allow us to provide early stage grants and funding to folks in Mississippi who have an idea for a project that will help support LGBTQ equality, and our goal is to say yes to folks who have ideas and then to help them connect with the resources they need to turn those ideas into reality and action. We’ll provide grants and training, and as there are projects and groups out there who are ready for the next stage in their work, we’ll be a bridge for them into the LGBTQ Fund of Mississippi for opportunities for larger funding levels,” said Beach-Ferrara.
Achieving legal and lived equality in the south
The primary goal for Campaign for Southern Equality is to achieve equality in every town across the south and across Mississippi. Historically, the challenge has been limited funding to LGBTQ individuals wanting to create change in their hometown.
“What that really requires is that LGBTQ folks take the very brave step of coming out in their hometown, and creating visibility and telling stories and organizing. There’s a lot of work to be done, and we believe that that work starts in peoples’ hometowns. More often than not, people are struggling to find the resources to launch these projects. What we try to do is say yes to people and we believe in you, and here’s some fuel in your tank to take this idea you’ve got and find out how to make it happen,” said Beach-Ferrara.
Equality, Dignity, & Opportunity
“What our work is about, first and foremost, is helping to create a south where LGBTQ people, and everybody, can thrive. That means living their lives with equality, with dignity, with the opportunity to pursue their dreams, and feeling like folks can claim the south as their home. They can be out and be authentic and not have to live in fear. That’s what’s at the heart of our work,” said Beach-Ferrara.
Campaign for Southern Equality’s work is rooted in commitments to equity and empathy: equity that includes making sure that we are thinking and acting and talking, particularly with issues of racial equity, and a basis of empathy in every interaction, including interactions with those who oppose the work they’re doing.
Learn more about the Campaign for Southern Equality by visiting their website, Facebook, or Instagram.