Join Us for a Grassroots Lobby Day in South Carolina to Protect LGBTQ+ Youth
On Thursday, March 10, members of the LGBTQ+ community and our allies in South Carolina will come together at the Statehouse in Columbia for a Grassroots Lobby Day to Protect LGBTQ Youth.
The Lobby Day coincides with a subcommittee hearing on H.4608, a bill that would restrict transgender students from participating in school sports. The SC United for Justice & Equality coalition will meet up in the morning, attend the hearing to testify against H.4608, gather for a 10:00am press conference, then meet with lawmakers and speak out against anti-LGBTQ attacks in South Carolina.
Attacks on LGBTQ+ young people in South Carolina have escalated in 2022, with a wide range of bills targeting youth for exclusion and discrimination. We’ve seen efforts to ban transgender young people from participating in school sports, allow for a broad “license to discriminate” for medical providers, and ban reproductive healthcare; curriculum censorship bills that would make schools less safe and inclusive; and attempts to sanction the dangerous, debunked practice of ‘conversion therapy.’ These are all efforts to erase and silence trans and queer young people in South Carolina.
To RSVP, just fill out this form and we’ll get you all of the details you need. See you there!
THE DETAILS
What: Grassroots Lobby Day to Protect LGBTQ+ Youth in SC
Where: Meet at the SC Statehouse – 1100 Gervais St., Columbia, SC 29208. We’ll email with more specifics on where to meet up before Thursday.
Who: You, your friends or family, and lots of supporters of LGBTQ+ equality in SC!
When: Meet at 8:15am ET.
What to Bring: Think about what you want to say about your support for LGBTQ+ and especially transgender youth. Prepare a 2-3 minute speech about the anti-LGBTQ+ attacks (including the sports exclusion bill, curriculum censorship bills, and conversion therapy bill).
RSVP: You must RSVP for the event so we can stay coordinated. Just fill out this form below and we’ll be in touch.
TIMELINE
8:15am – Gather at the SC Statehouse (we’ll email RSVPs with specific location)
8:30am – We’ll head into the hearing on H.4608, the anti-transgender student sports bill. Anyone who is able to testify against the bill should sign up to testify.
9:00am – A subcommittee hearing will be held on H.4608, with opportunity for community members to speak out against the bill.
10:00am – Following the hearing, we’ll host a press conference speaking out loudly and proudly against these anti-LGBTQ attacks. We encourage every supporter of LGBTQ+ equality to join us for the press conference and gather behind the speakers holding a sign or a flag declaring your support.
10:30am – We’ll host a brief training on speaking with lawmakers, then launch into conversations with legislators and film videos for social media expressing our support for LGBTQ+ youth in SC.