On Saturday, February 8, I joined tens of thousands of people—including an impressive team from Equality North Carolina—for the Moral March on Raleigh, the largest gathering in the South since Selma.

Led by the NC Chapter of the NAACP and involving over 160 coalition partners, the Moral March was an opportunity to stand up against the state legislature’s attacks on the poor, immigrants and women, public education, labor, LGBT people, and most notably voting rights.

Marches and protests are nothing new in our movement, but this one felt different. It was as multi-racial and intergenerational as any I’ve experienced in my decades as an activist. It was also refreshing to see straight allies holding LGBT equality signs while queer leaders spoke out from the stage about voter suppression and immigrant rights.

Without a doubt, something special is happening in the state of North Carolina because of the unique leadership of the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, the president of the NC NAACP. Rev. Barber will forever be a hero to LGBT people in North Carolina because of his early and passionate opposition to Amendment One. He is also someone who has sparked a deeper understanding: whether the attacks are based on race or immigrant status or sexual orientation or gender identity, those attempting to restrict our rights must be confronted with a unified voice.

Saturday’s Moral March was a wonderful opportunity to stand unified and move forward together. But it wasn’t a one-off event. It also marked the kickoff of North Carolina Moral Freedom Summer—50 years after the historic Mississippi Freedom Summer—which will bring together young organizers to work in key counties across the state in a massive effort to educate, mobilize and register voters.

Equality Federation is excited to be involved with a piece of the planning of Freedom Summer. With monies from the State Equality Fund, we are providing funding to the NC NAACP, as well as to Equality NC, Southerners on New Ground, Freedom Center for Social Justice and Democracy NC to assist with training and organizing and to help engage more LGBT activists in the work.

Voting rights. Immigrant rights. Health care. Racism. These are all LGBT issues, even if some of us haven’t always considered them to be. We hope this project will provide one new model for our movement as we work to win not just legal equality but lived equality. We look forward to sharing some of the lessons learned with our Federation members and allies as in the months to come.