Equality Brief: Edition 8
Your Bi-Weekly Update on Advocacy, Policy, and Action
Hey y’all! What a week. South Carolina’s legislative session is finally over, and we’re here with receipts, reminders, and a little righteous rage (all love, of course).
May 8th marked the official end of this year’s legislative session, and what a ride it’s been! If you’re tired? Same. If you’re cautiously proud? Also, same.
This session was dripping with anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. Lawmakers came for trans youth, for gender-affirming care, for our right to live openly in school settings.
Some days, it felt as if they were attempting to legislate us out of existence.
Fueled by national narratives, SC legislators filed a record number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills, most of which never even left committee. Not because they changed their minds, but because you didn’t.
You flooded inboxes. You testified. You packed rooms. You showed up with clipboards, comment cards, and coffee. When there wasn’t room to speak, it was because too many of us showed up to be heard. That’s collective power.
Bills stalled out this year. Not by accident, by strategy. That’s a win. That's our win.
On May 20th, Columbia City Council tried to quietly fast-track a repeal of its 2021 ban on conversion therapy for minors. Instead, y’all packed the chamber so full they had to open an overflow room. Twenty people testified, reminding council that this ordinance saves lives.
Council voted 7-0 to defer the repeal vote until after the state budget is finalized. That’s not a finite win yet, but it’s an important pause. And we’ll take that over a rollback any day.
Now it's back.
The repeal of the conversion therapy ban is officially on the agenda for a special council meeting this Tuesday, May 27th. You can view the meeting agenda here.
Our partners at Harriet Hancock Center and ACLU-SC have been working behind the scenes to coordinate, and this time we’re ready.
ACTION ALERT
Attend the Columbia City Council Special Meeting on Tuesday, May 27th at 3pm.
Pack the room. Bring your people. Let council know: Columbia stands with queer and trans youth—and we are not backing down.
Let’s cut to the chase: the new state budget is a host of wins and losses.
The bad news first. Proviso 113.10 made it into the final budget. It’s a dangerous move aimed at defunding cities - like Columbia - that have ordinances banning conversion therapy. In other words, the state is threatening to punish local governments for protecting LGBTQ+ youth. It’s petty. It’s harmful. And it’s exactly the kind of overreach we’ve come to expect.
Even worse? Rep. Bruce Bannister has reported that someone from the City of Columbia actually asked state legislators to keep the proviso in place to pressure City Council into repealing the ban. If true, that means we have some work to do in Columbia.
ACTION ALERT
Call your Columbia City Council members. Tell them loud and clear: Stand firm. Keep the ban on conversion therapy. Our kids are watching.
Here’s a glimmer of hope: Proviso 117.209—the one pushing the harmful “only two sexes” language in state agencies and universities—was thrown out. Rep. Leon Stavrinakis called a germaneness rule on it, and it was ruled out of order. Technicality? Yes. But also a win we needed.
Unfortunately, our state is taking it's cues from the Federal Government. Congress is now pushing a federal budget that includes sweeping cuts to Medicaid.
The budget includes language that would:
Ban Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming healthcare for all trans people
Exclude transition-related care from being covered under Essential Health Benefits (EHB) in state health plans
Over a quarter-million trans adults in the U.S. are enrolled in Medicaid. This would put their care, and lives, at risk. And we are not okay with that.
ACTION ALERT
Tell your U.S. Senator: VOTE NO on any budget that includes these discriminatory provisions.
Partner Shout Out! Huge thanks to our friends at A4TE (Advocates for Trans Equality) for sounding the alarm on this and working around the clock to get us organized. We see you.
All eyes are on the Supreme Court as we await a decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti, the most significant trans rights case to reach SCOTUS in years. Oral arguments were heard on December 4, 2024, and a ruling is expected this June.
So, what’s at stake?
This case challenges Tennessee’s law banning gender-affirming care for anyone under 18. Brought forward by the ACLU, Lambda Legal, and families including Samantha and Brian Williams and their 15-year-old daughter, the case is about more than just one state; it’s about whether extremist lawmakers can override parents, doctors, and the entire mainstream medical community to score political points at the expense of trans kids’ lives.
Tennessee’s law doesn’t just ban care moving forward - it forces trans youth already receiving care to stop, putting their mental and physical health directly at risk. It even gives people the right to sue doctors who provide medically necessary care.
“I want this law to be struck down so that I can continue to receive the care I need, in conversation with my parents and my doctors, and have the freedom to live my life and do the things I enjoy." - Samantha and Brian Williams’ daughter
This isn’t just a Tennessee problem. A bad ruling in Skrmetti opens the door for similar bans across the country, including right here in South Carolina. Make no mistake, we're mobilizing.
We’ve said it before; advocacy is not a sprint - it’s a group marathon with detours and stale snacks. But we're all still here, together.
So, use the next few months to take a breath. Take a nap. Take your joy seriously. You can’t pour from an empty cup, and we’re gonna need a refill.
In solidarity,
The AFFA Action Team
Call your South Carolina State Senator and tell them to strike Proviso 113.10 from the state budget.
Live in Columbia? Call your city council member and tell them to vote NO on repealing Ordinance 2021-021.
Show up on Tuesday, May 27th at Columbia City Hall. You don’t need a speech - just bring your presence.
Call your U.S. Senator and tell them trans healthcare is non-negotiable.
Keep an eye out for updates on U.S. v. Skrmetti, especially action alerts.
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook so you’re not the last to know when things heat back up.
