North Carolina, Southerners on New Ground (SONG)
November 7, 2012

As Lesbian, Gay, Trans, Bisexual, Queer people and our allies, we members of North Carolina SONG woke this morning to a world that in many ways, is very much the same as it was the night before. We see a North Carolina where scarlet and orange leaves pile up around us. Still we have breath. We have the warmth of our bodies. Still we are resilient.

Our vision of Queer Liberation remains steadfast. For LGBTQ people and our allies this election season has brought both victories and setbacks. The campaign to defeat Amendment 1 called together people of goodwill, passion, dedication, and fortitude to defeat discrimination. We formed coalitions, collaborations, alliances and friendships and raised our voices for fairness and liberation. We ran, bussed, drove, and trekked through all of North Carolina’s 100 counties — holding thousands of conversations in community assemblies, congregations, corner stores, dinner tables, phone calls and door-by-door. We trained 100s of new organizers and activists to continue to demand the world that we all deserve.

And in the vernacular of the civil rights movement, we are in no ways tired. We continued these conversations— in North Carolina and throughout the South — after the passing of Amendment 1. We stand on common ground with Immigrant and Undocumented communities, People of Color, Women, the Workers and the Unworking. We stand in solidarity with our people throughout the world who today continue to suffer the loss of land, home, and loved ones — due to the policies and practices of hatred and greed. We understand that we all count and we will continue to demand an end to violence in all it’s forms: physical and sexual, mental and verbal, spiritual, economic, cultural … and we are growing stronger every day.

We believe in Queer Liberation, where justice, dignity, community, and safety are a birthright for all.

We believe in a North Carolina and in a South where we can all exist. As members of the Southern Movement Alliance, we recognize today as Day One of the Peoples’ First 100 Days. We wake up this morning with work to do ourselves.

We are dedicated to stopping the assaults of LGBTQ people. We are committed to ending the attacks on immigrant and undocumented communities. We are staunch in our resistance to military and police surveillance of our communities, especially the profiling and targeting of people of Color and Trans people. We will continue to demand universal, comprehensive, and affirming health care that respects our bodies and identities. We will continue to demand a free and quality public liberatory education. We will continue to insist on housing that is safe. We will continue to work to transform our institutions into sites of abundance and creativity — finding other ways to address harm than by turning to the police, prisons, and punitive measures. We are dedicated to a clean and healthy planet where soil, water, and air and all species are treated with respect and gratitude. In the wake of yet another hurricane, and in the birth of the new term “super storm,” we see yet again, why our struggles must be connected. We stand in solidarity, across borders, with all those who are stranded in water, and with all those who always get helped last.

We refuse to be divided — to be used as a wedge issue that splinters our resistance. We will continue to organize for collective liberation no matter who is in office.

Our vision of queer liberation is expansive. Therefore, the scope and depth of our work must also be expansive. We wake up this morning to men in power, yes. We choose to work in coalition, in a practice of love, and in collaboration. We are determined to build the liberatory, beloved communities where we desire to live, in the places we call home.

For more information about North Carolina’s SONG, visit southtosouth.org