Throughout this past summer, the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP organized and led Moral Freedom Summer.

This ambitious project was a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the original Mississippi Freedom Summer and a massive grassroots organizing effort in response to the alarmingly regressive policies that were coming out of state legislature, including the worst voter suppression law in the nation.

As was true 50 years ago, the effort in 2014 was led by young people. One thing that was noticeable this time around was the open inclusion of LGBT individuals and organizations.

With an investment from the State Equality Fund and oversight by Equality Federation staff, six organizations received funding to help support the vision of Moral Freedom Summer. In addition to the NC NAACP, this project included three LGBT organizations: Equality North Carolina (ENC), Freedom Center for Social Justice and Southerners on New Ground (SONG). Also included were two other organizations with a history of working on LGBT issues and working closely with the NAACP: Democracy NC and NC Student Power Union.

After the initial research and interviews that led to the development of the State Equality Fund proposal, the Federation’s work shifted to one of advisor, convenor and trouble-shooter. We had regular phone calls with organizational partners and made several visits to the state to see the work in action. It was particularly inspiring to attend the initial gathering of partners and young organizers to hear their vision for the summer.

By the beginning of June, over 30 young people—primarily young people of color—had been hired to spend 11 weeks in targeted counties across the state engaging in voter education, voter protection and voter registration. Some of these youth had done organizing before; others were brand new to the work. But all of them were angry at the direction they saw their state moving and excited to be part of a new “Moral Movement” whose vision was most passionately articulated by NC NAACP President, The Rev. Dr. William Barber II.

The partner organizations had a critical role to play in both recruiting organizers and providing them with training. The result was that LGBT youth were an important part of the organizer cohort and all the organizers went into the field with a much better understanding of who LGBT people are and the unique issues that our communities face.

While ENC, SONG and Freedom Center were invaluable in bringing a queer perspective to the Moral Freedom Summer organizers and agenda, they played an equally valuable role in raising awareness among their own members about issues like voting rights, immigration and health care.

Through social media, tabling at Pride events, and community forums, LGBT activists in North Carolina were making the intersectional connections and showing that supporting reforms on these broader issues wasn’t just the right thing to do for others, but also impacted those in our own community as well.

The project was not without its bumps and obstacles, but by the end of the summer new voters had been registered, tens of thousands of conversations had occurred across the state, and a new generation of activists had been trained and motivated. Of equal significance, partnerships and personal relationships between and among LGBT and progressive organizations in the state had been strengthened.

As partner organizations complete their final reports, they will reflect on this summer, seeking to learn from the setbacks and determine how best to build upon the successes. What is already clear to us at the Equality Federation, however, is that intersectional, collaborative work strengthens the outcomes of all of our efforts.