SCUUJA News & Updates

A message from our Executive Director: Thank you for supporting SCUUJA!

January 2025

Thank you to everyone who helped us successfully meet our $2,000 year-end matching gift challenge! We are now well into the many challenges of 2025, at the national level and at the state level, with attacks on immigrants, the environment, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ and especially trans rights, and too much more.

We must resist the harm, while also building our own networks of love, support, information, and positive action. You can always support SCUUJA financially by clicking here or on the donate tab in the menu line above.

Most important is the support you give to the people in our congregations and communities who need it the most. The work of justice is not easy, but we can do more when we organize, stay connected, and ground ourselves in truth and love.

In Community,

Rev. Nathan Woodliff-Stanley

A post-election message

November 2024: This is a challenging time for many of us, but be assured that no matter what happens in the months and years ahead, we have each other, and we will never give up on justice.

Along with our congregations, partner organizations, other UU State Action Networks, and wider UU resources, SCUUJA is preparing for the environment we face post-election, including the 2025 South Carolina legislative session and the work that will be needed to protect those who will likely be most vulnerable in the next year and beyond.

For now, here are a few resources for you to use right away:

November 20 is Transgender Day of Remembrance, and the UUA's UPLIFT program has shared a video that you can watch on YouTube at this link
Tuesday, November 19 at 8:00 p.m. EST, a virtual Forward Together gathering is being held by Side With Love in the aftermath of the election. You can sign up for that event using the RSVP link here

You can find other resources at the UUA's Community Resilience Hub.

For your calendar, please hold Thursday, December 5, 7:00 p.m. for SCUUJA's Annual Year-End Meetup, where we will recap 2024 and look at SCUUJA's plans for 2025, with opportunities for you to connect and engage. We will send a link in the December newsletter.

We also deeply appreciate all those who came to SCUUJA's Fall Festival and who have supported SCUUJA financially so our statewide work is possible. If you have given to SCUUJA at any time during the year (except for unidentified cash or plate collection gifts), you will get a statement in January. In the meantime, please remember SCUUJA on Giving Tuesday, December 3, or in any year-end giving that you do. You can always give to SCUUJA here.

You can also volunteer for one of our six Action Teams as we prepare for 2025 and the South Carolina legislative session starting January 14. For more information or to volunteer, contact Rev. Jean Heriot at jean@scuuja.org.

We will have plenty of challenges ahead, but we come to this moment with the strength of our connections, the strength of our UU values, and the strength of our love.

In faith,

Rev. Nathan, Rev. Jean, and the SCUUJA Board

SCUUJA Faithify campaign suceeds

Summer 2024 - Thank you to everyone who supported SCUUJA's Pride Month Faithify Campaign (you can see the results here)! Be watching for follow up, and email nathan@scuuja.org if you want to sign up for SCUUJA's LGBTQ+ Action Team!

Until this past month, South Carolina was the deepest-South haven for gender-affirming care for transgender youth. For two years, the South Carolina UU Justice Alliance (SCUUJA) fought hard alongside trans-led and trans-affirming partners to protect medical care for our state’s transgender community. But this year, despite intense resistance, anti-trans zealots pushed through an extreme gender-affirming care ban on the last day of the South Carolina legislative session, which was signed into law on May 21, just last week. This law not only bans all forms of gender-affirming care for trans youth in the state, creating felonies with extended statutes of limitation for doctors who provide such care, but it also limits care for transgender adults who use Medicaid or work for the state, and it has a provision requiring school personnel to out students to their parents if they are suspected of questioning their gender identity.

So how do we respond? Not by giving up, but by increasing our support for South Carolina’s trans community as Unitarian Universalists who value justice centered in love. Please help us show that when LGBTQ+ communities are attacked, Unitarian Universalists respond.

This Pride Month Campaign with a goal of $4,700 (a dollar for each directly affected person in this state) will fund:

UU relationship-building with trans-led and trans-affirming partners
Resources to help UU congregations and trans communities navigate the new reality in South Carolina
Information and education on trans welcoming and support in UU congregations
A South Carolina UU LGBTQ+ Action Team
Trans-affirming children's books for UU congregations in the state
An LGBTQ+ justice workshop at the SCUUJA UU Fall Festival on October 5
Sharing lessons with the Coalition of UU State Action Networks (CUUSAN) so other states can benefit, too.

We have an all-or-nothing goal of $4,700 or more in June, so please support SCUUJA here!

Pictured above: Each link in the pink, white, and blue paper chains, displayed in the South Carolina State House, represents one of the 4,700 South Carolina youth or adults who will have their access to health care restricted as a result of the new anti-trans law.

Pictured above: Board Members Connie Quirk and Kenni Cummings with SCUUJA Executive Director Rev. Nathan Woodliff-Stanley at the State House last year.

All-Male court upholds South Carolina abortion ban

August 2023 - When the newly all-male South Carolina Supreme Court upheld a severe six week statewide abortion ban on August 23, it reversed the Court's decision less than a year earlier that a nearly identical ban violated privacy rights in the state constitution.

After this new restriction, SCUUJA is exploring ways our congregations can support abortion access and reproductive justice in the state, working with partners and building on existing resources. This will be a topic in one of our justice workshops at the October 7 Fall Festival.

In the meantime, here are some resources for you to explore:

Whatever happens in our state, SCUUJA will continue to work for justice, including access to abortion care.

Partner Voices: South Carolina NAACP

Pictured above: Mrs. Brenda Murphy

September 2023 - the Rev. Jean Heriot spoke with Mrs. Brenda Murphy, the President of the NAACP South Carolina State Conference and member of SCUUJA’s Board, about what is happening across the state.

Of particular concern is book banning. The NAACP SC has been monitoring local school districts across the state as challenges to books in schools and libraries have increased.

The conservative organization Moms for Liberty has been active across the state working to ban books that mention race and ethnicity, critical race theory, and LGBTQ+ perspectives. Local NAACP units are attending local school board meetings to express their views and to encourage parental input regarding what is appropriate for teaching/learning in schools.

Listings of potential books to be banned are usually not made available for parental review and input prior to presentation to the School Board. The NAACP advocates for parental input when decisions are being made and for the process to be inclusive. They partner with other advocacy organizations to stop book banning as the current process exists.

The SC NAACP and local units are engaged in redistricting for local school districts. This has been an ongoing process and need due to challenges communities are faced with at the local level, especially the merger of school districts. Other challenges being addressed by the NAACP SC include the use of public funds (vouchers) for private school funding, a law recently signed into effect by the governor.

At the national level, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear Alexander v. State Conference of the NAACP. Though a lower court ruled that the South Carolina’s redrawn 1 st Congressional District map was racially discriminatory, the SC state is challenging the decision. President Murphy is hopeful that the SCOTUS will agree with the State Supreme Court decision that lines are to be redrawn to reflect the equitable and fair representation of the people.

Finally, the NAACP South Carolina State Conference Convention will be held October 12 th through the 15th in Sumter, SC. Congressman James Clyburn will be in attendance and other Statewide Advocacy Groups. The theme for this year is “Preserving Our Heritage and Public Education”.

Partner Voices: We Need Medicaid Expansion

By Sue Berkowitz, Executive Director of Appleseed Legal Justice Center & SCUUJA Board Member

Thousands of South Carolinians, many of whom are essential workers who have provided critical services during the pandemic, have gone without healthcare for far too long. South Carolina is one of 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid under the federal law that guarantees the matching funds. Both red and blue states have taken advantage of the federal law.

Due to the lack of expansion in South Carolina, there is a large healthcare gap in the state. Some South Carolinians are making too much income to be eligible for Medicaid and also not enough to afford care from the health insurance marketplace, leaving them with no healthcare options in between. This is called the Coverage Gap.

If South Carolina decided to expand Medicaid today, over 345,000 individuals would be able to enroll in Medicaid and have a real option for healthcare. Families would be healthier, small businesses employing these low-wage individuals would have more productive workers, and the state and counties would save significant dollars from being relieved of the financial expense for providing healthcare to the incarcerated.

Want to get involved?

Join as a Member of CoverSC: Organizations who join as a member support Medicaid expansion and will take an active role in using coalition messaging with the organization’s constituents and informing the Coalition of its communications and events relevant to Medicaid expansion.
Join as a Supporter: Organizations or individuals who join as a supporter are in favor of Medicaid expansion and are willing to have their name listed as such, and will be informed of the Coalition’s activities.

Learn more about CoverSC.

Special session abortion ban signed by Governer is put on hold by judge

After a determined effort led by women in the South Carolina House and Senate and allies and activists for reproductive freedom and justice, defeating the House abortion ban and preventing the Senate ban from passing during the regular session, the six-week Senate ban (S474) passed this week in special session and was signed by Governor McMaster on May 24. However, a Circuit Court judge has now granted an injunction against the new law while it is challenged in court, so for now abortion remains legal in South Carolina up to 22 weeks.

A similarly-extreme six-week ban was previously found to be an unconstitutional violation of privacy rights by the state Supreme Court, but the law's proponents are counting on the current all-male Supreme Court to ignore that precedent and uphold the ban. Regardless of what the Court ultimately decides, SCUUJA and our partners will continue to uphold reproductive freedom, gender justice, and rights for all people in South Carolina. We thank everyone who has called, emailed, and showed up for this and other justice issues. Our work at the State House will continue, but not everything is about the legislature. We will also continue working with our UU congregations on the spiritual, educational, and direct service sides of justice, including abortion access. Our efforts will be needed no matter what happens next, so thank you for remaining connected to SCUUJA and our partners through it all.

SCUUJA Faithify campaign suceeds!

We are grateful to everyone who supported the recent South Carolina UU Justice Alliance campaign on Faithify (a UU crowd funding platform)! We successfully raised $5,000 to help us qualify for a $5,000 match from the UU Funding Program to build and sustain SCUUJA's work for justice in South Carolina. The Faithify link is now closed, but you can still give to SCUUJA at the "donate" link at the top of the front page.

Legislative Update: January 2023

Pictured above: SCUUJA Board Members Connie Quirk & Kenni Cummings with SCUUJA Executive Director Rev. Nathan Woodliff-Stanley at the State House.

The South Carolina legislature opened on January 10, and SCUUJA will hold its first legislative update meetup on Thursday, January 26 at 7:00 pm (by Zoom). No need to sign up—if you are getting this newsletter, you will get an invitation with a Zoom link for that meetup.

As challenging as the legislative environment may be, there are positive bills that have been introduced.

Among them are:

An inclusive nondiscrimination bill (H3738, a priority of SC United for Justice & Equality and LGBTQ allies)
A reproductive freedom bill (S29, a priority of several organizations supporting reproductive freedom and justice)
A hate crimes bill (S3, a priority of the NAACP and other allies)
Automatic DMV voter registration (S6, a priority of the League of Women Voters)
Some ACLU-supported rights bills (H3140 Tenant Right to Counsel, H3306 Ban the Box, and S278 Juvenile Justice Reform)

There are of course a slew of bills pushing abortion bans, book bans, voter disenfranchisement, and discriminatory anti-trans policies. We want to help you respond to these attacks. We will have more information to give in our legislative update January 26, so put it on your calendar now!

2023 Priorities & Holiday Blessings from SCUUJA

December 2022 - Holiday blessings to all as 2022 comes to a close! Thanks to you, SCUUJA has come a long way in its first year, as Rev. Jean describes below. Now we are actively preparing for 2023. About two dozen SCUUJA supporters joined our December 7 all-state meetup, where we shared stories and shared our priority issues for the year ahead. Based on Board priorities, the meetup, what we have learned from our partner organizations, and what we have heard from you, here are some things we will be working on in 2023.

Pictured above: SCUUJA Executive Director Rev. Nathan Woodliff-Stanley

Legislative priorities:

Support action against hate crimes (with NAACP and other partners)
Support any improvements to voting rights (with League of Women Voters
Support any progress on protecting DACA (with Appleseed and others)
Support any openings toward Medicaid expansion (with several partners)
Oppose bans on abortion or health care (with WREN and Planned Parenthood)
Oppose book bans or “CRT” bans (with Right to Read Coalition)
Protect transgender youth and LGBTQ+ rights (with ACLU and other partners)
Watch other SC emerging issues (such as juvenile justice, education, gun violence, and climate)

The South Carolina legislative session begins January 10 and ends May 11. We expect to hold legislative issue meetups at 7 p.m. on January 26, February 23, March 23, April 20, and a May 25 wrap-up. This spring, we expect to offer a deeper six-session educational program on transgender welcoming in our congregations. We will dialogue with our partners, gather UU social justice leaders and ministers, and hold an in-person all-state Unitarian Universalist gathering in the early fall. Be sure you are signed up for email updates to get notices of all our events!

We know how much our UU congregations do, so we will highlight your work whenever we can. Please read Jean’s summary below of what South Carolina UUs have been doing to serve our communities in the holiday season! Please keep sending your updates and photos!

With best wishes for the New Year,

- Rev. Nathan

2022 SCUUJA Year-in-Review

2022 - In January of 2022, we launched the South Carolina Unitarian Universalist Justice Alliance (SCUUJA) with the support of the UU Funding Program and a few committed UUs. Who could have foretold that in just a year we would have so much support and engagement for the work of justice in South Carolina! Our congregations and our partners responded with optimism, faith, and commitment to bring changes in our state.

Early on we saw the introduction of anti-trans bills and anti-Critical Race Theory bills (anti-CRT) in our state legislature. The Rev. Lisa Bovee-Kemper, then development minister at the Greenville UU Fellowship, drafted a letter in opposition to the anti-CRT bills, SCUUJA shared it widely across the congregations, and nearly 200 individual UU’s signed it. We sent it on, and along with many other partners, those anti-CRT bills were defeated.

The Rev. Pippin Whitaker, then director of SCUUJA, organized with the SC United for Justice and Equality and with the Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network (WREN) to speak out and lobby against anti-trans bills and all but one of these were defeated. Meantime, Rev. Pippin and Rev. Jean Heriot (director of organizing and training) went across the state and spoke to all our congregations and heard what each congregation was doing with respect to justice work. We held state-wide meetups on Zoom so that folks could hear and learn from each other. We also did a trans training with Alex Kapitan, a trans UU leader.

Rev. Jean took up the coordination piece for the UU the Vote initiative and worked closely with Ms. Brenda Murphy, SC NAACP president, to help organize get out the vote work in our congregations. Two congregations, Spartanburg and Aiken, took on the UU challenge to become “Good Trouble” congregations magnifying the voices of UUs. All congregations did voter rights work: our partner organization Vote Forward reported UUs across the country sent out 5.7 million letters! SC was a great part of this effort!

Then over the summer, Rev. Pippin accepted a call to the Athens congregation, Rev. Jean did interim work as director, and the board hired Rev. Nathan Woodliff-Stanley as the executive director starting September 1. Over the summer, the Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court brought the SC State Legislature into action as they tried to pass restrictive anti-abortion bills. This effort had us heading back to the State House, as members of our congregations and Rev. Jean came to Columbia to testify against these bills, and congregations sent letters and made calls to state representatives.

Currently, things are in flux as the most restrictive anti-abortion bills did not pass and the bill banning abortion after six weeks is still being litigated in the courts. We know new anti-abortion bills will be forthcoming this January. We must be even more vigilant. We were also working on building our board, our mission statement, bylaws, and financial base.

Thanks to your generous contributions, we met a matching grant of $5,000 from Fathify. By September, we reached our full board complement of seven: with UU justice leaders and partner organizations serving the most vulnerable in our state.

We have on our board an organizer from WREN, Kenya Cummings, the director of SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center, Sue Berkowitz, Esq., and the president of the SC NAACP, Brenda Murphy. Board members from our UU congregations include Rick Hahnenberg (Spartanburg), Board President; Pat Chaney (Greenville); Richard Hayes (Charleston); and Connie Quirk (Columbia). We held a board retreat in September to plan for the coming year, followed by a meetup with congregational members in December to elicit their priorities.

We have also contacted our partners to determine what they are placing on their list of actions in the coming year. All these conversations are helping inform SCUUJA about next steps (see above by Rev. Nathan). We wrote another grant to the UU Funding Program and received it. We kept you posted about all these actions and plans using emails, our newsletter, posts to Facebook and calls to action.

We are so thankful for the many ways you work with us and with those centering the voices and authority of people experiencing injustice across the state. Together we work toward a more just South Carolina. Blessings indeed!

- Rev. Dr. Jean Heriot

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