Sept. 20, 2011 is a day to celebrate! Why? Because it marks the official repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and we are celebrating loud and proud in South Carolina.

In Columbia, join SC Equality, The Harriet Hancock Center and Service Members Legal Defense Network (SLDN) for a celebration ceremony including comments from Rep. James Smith at the Veterans Memorial, followed by an after-party at Blue!

In Charleston, we partner with Take-Over Charleston, AFFA, and SLDN for a celebration including live music and great speakers at Taco Boy! Details here.

SC Equality and AFFA are longtime members of the SC Progressive Network.

By Christine Johnson
SC Equality

I was frankly a little scared when I returned to South Carolina for employment in 2010. Raised in Charleston 30 years ago and recalling the discrimination my African-American friends endured, I suspected that as an open lesbian, I might face similar discrimination and lack of understanding. I knew some people would think I “chose” to be lesbian and that I was both unpatriotic and godless. I knew many would not understand the way I value family and treasure authenticity or my profound respect for the Constitution.

When I came home, however, I remembered that I was also proud of the richness of diversity, culture and tradition that makes South Carolina my true home. We celebrate arguably the best cooking in the country and the most gracious hospitality, and we know the value of simple kindness. We are diverse in race, ethnicity and faith, and when it really comes down to it, we respect one another as fellow South Carolinians.

Make no mistake, I’ve found my fair share of unkind folk. I’ve been the target of disrespectful gestures, called tasteless names and heard jokes at my expense, but mostly found that “bless your heart” is the common response to sharing my sexual orientation and work in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy. In addition, I’ve found a LGBT community that, although challenged and discriminated against, thrives in my home state. And you know why? Because like you, South Carolina is their home too, and we share a similar adoration of this beautiful place.

People both in and out of South Carolina are surprised to learn that in 2008, the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School estimated there were 117, 500 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people living here. And according to the 2010 Census, there are 11, 532 same-sex couples in our state.

But the numbers shouldn’t surprise us, because there is no difference in the per capita number of homosexuals born in South Carolina than in California or New York — and apparently, home is where your heart is.

Last summer, S.C. Equality conducted a survey of more than 1,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender South Carolinians, from 44 of 46 counties. More than half had lived in South Carolina for more than 20 years, 86 percent were raised Protestant, 64 percent attend church, and nearly 10 percent had served in the armed forces. So there it is: We are growing in number and love our state, are patriotic and God-fearing, and I suspect that when all is said and done, there is no constitutional or justifiable reason to treat fellow South Carolinians as less than equal under the law.

Yes, there are those who perceive homosexuality a choice and a sin according to their beliefs, and I can respect that. But we cannot grant rights, protections and entitlement to only some people based upon our religious beliefs. Our federal Constitution grants equal protections, and creating classes of people based upon discrimination is unconstitutional. There’s simply no way around it.

So, we can agree to disagree, each with individual opinions and beliefs, voting our consciences, but at the end of the day, we are all South Carolinians with hopes and dreams for our families and our futures. Although there is much that makes us different, there is so much more that makes us one. Different isn’t bad, diversity is a blessing, and for me, home absolutely is where my heart is.

Johnson is a former two-term member of the Utah House of Representatives, and is executive director of S.C. Equality, a longtime member of the SC Progressive Network.

By Jaime R. Harrison
SCDP 1st Vice Chairman

My first political memory is sitting on the floor in front of the television watching the results of the 1984 Presidential election with my grandfather. I asked him hundreds of questions about the candidates, the White House, and past Presidents, and in his loving way, my grandfather attempted to answer each question to the best of his abilities.

Society would have classified my grandfather as a simple but hard-working man, a product of the segregated south. He didn’t have much money, he didn’t have much education, and he didn’t have a fancy job. But what he had and cherished was his dignity, his family, and his right to vote. It was a right that he didn’t always have — and sometimes didn’t even exercise. Nonetheless he felt it was a right that could not and would not be taken away from him.

The South Carolina Voter ID bill that was passed with GOP support and signed into law by Governor Haley, disenfranchised more than 180,000 South Carolina citizens, and if my grandfather was still alive it would have disenfranchised him as well (after having his leg amputated he no longer had a government issued Driver’s license).

Thanks to the efforts of the Democratic members of the Senate and House, the SC Progressive Network and others to oppose the bill on the grounds that it discriminates against minorities and seniors, the Department of Justice is asking for more information about the legislation.

As Americans – not as Democrats, nor as Republicans, but as Americans – we must keep the pressure on the DOJ, in the 60-day window we have to make sure the SC Voter ID bill is finally struck down. This bill not only affects our state but others across this nation, who are facing the same efforts to suppress voter participation.

As Americans, members of our armed forces have given their lives to help other nations realize the blessings of liberty and democracy. Politicians on both sides of the aisle applauded when Iraqi citizens were able to exercise the right to vote for the very first time. In Iraq, one woman stated that voting for the first time was “as if I’ve just been born” and another stated that it was “the best thing I have actually ever done in my life.”

How as a nation can we sacrifice the lives of our children so that others may enjoy the fruits and practice of democracy, but find every possible way to disenfranchise citizens on our very own soil? Our leaders should make it easier for citizens to be a part of our thriving democracy.

My grandfather passed away in 2004, and one of the last things that we did together was that I took him to cast his last vote for President. I got into politics and became a lawyer because I wanted to make a difference and prove that the American dream could work for everyone – rich or poor, black or white. Disenfranchising voters is not American, and the SC Voter ID bill is more of an American nightmare rather than the fulfillment of the American dream.

Folks like my grandfather are counting on all of us to do everything within our means to make sure that this law and others like it are not enacted. Contact the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division (vot1973c@usdoj.gov) and share your thoughts on this unjust legislation.