Dear SONG family, allies and supporters,

Nine years ago when Paulina and I became Co-Directors of SONG, the organization had few monetary resources and a small group of active leaders. What we lacked in money though was not overshadowed by the immense love from people around the South or by the legacy of the dream of SONG that was dedicated to our people. That legacy and LGBTQ Southern leaders called us to grow, to build, and to fight for our communities.

We have done that. We have done that because we were a kindred set of individual people who united in our vision, in our principles, and in our will to act from that place. We did it because we were willing to take risks, to be flexible, to make mistakes and to learn from them. We did it because our sheer love for our communities would not allow us to quit. When I became SONG’s Co-Director I had high hopes that this day would come: the day that SONG was so full of leadership, good work, and power that I could step down as Co-Director and pass my position on. That day is here. I will be transitioning out of the co-directorship at the end of this year.

This past year has been one of a lot of learning for me, as I know it has been for many of us. I have thought a great deal about how best to match my actions and choices as a leader to both what I believe this moment needs and to my principles. In movement terms, I think we are at the beginning of a new time that is characterized by (among many things) the ascension of some extraordinary new leaders, in particular trans leaders and leaders of color. It is a moment that is electrifying to be part of and it inspires me to lead. As a white leader in an LGBTQ movement full of transition, I recognize how important it is to lead from other seats than a Director’s chair. Ships sail or falter based on a whole crew, not only a captain and when captains appear out of the ranks it’s important that they get their rightful place and time in power. The accompaniment and support I can provide new captains is one of the best ways I can lead right now both for SONG and for the movement.

I believe that the things we build in movements do not belong to us, because we do not build them as individuals; we build them together and when we build our ships to be strong they live and breathe on their own. SONG reminds me of this fact all the time.

I want to tell you that SONG has chosen my successor and that the new Co-Director has the unanimous support of the board and staff. For myself, there is no person I would rather see take my seat in leadership, by Paulina’s side, than this incredible leader. We will introduce them to you as the new Co-Director in the next few weeks. I believe deeply in the next era of SONG and will stay on staff through next summer to help support its success and the success of our thrilling collaboration with Transgender Law Center, TLC@SONG. I have full faith that SONG’s bold work will continue full speed ahead through this transition.

I cannot begin to name my gratitude to all of you without this letter becoming a laundry list. In nine years I have never once held the illusion that I could have done, or SONG could have done, any of this without each of you. The wider us of movement is the means by which all of this has been accomplished. Without all of you I would have been one person with one identity and set of experiences who would have remained terribly uninformed, unpracticed, and ineffective. A central part of being queer for me means being in it with all of you, and that is a requirement of leadership in the LGBTQ movement that I hold myself to. I believe that we are not appointed leaders, rather through showing that our concerns and political will extend beyond our own individual lives and stories we are willing to be transformed in the work, and we earn the privilege to lead. Year after year SONG has given me a gift of grace: the chance to walk, risk, lose, and win by your side.

Perhaps whenever a leader begins the process of leaving their ship they begin to see just how powerful and beautiful it is, because they are starting to look at it from the open water. I am not down in the hull meeting with our team; I am not out on the deck at the wheel with my Co-captains looking out to sea. I am looking at the ship itself. I begin to see what keeps it afloat, from afar; the details fade and I start to see what really matters to me about it. What really matters to me about SONG are the things we have won that are often intangible. These intangible “wins” are irreversible. They have transformed the places we live, the way we see and are seen, and us, the LGBTQ people who have become the leaders we have been asked to become.

Leaving this ship, it looks so bright and full against the sky. It looks so ready to chart the seas that are ahead. It remains my honor, and my joy, to continue to meet you in the open water of movement, just from the position of a different seat.

I’ll see you out there.

With love,

Caitlin