Harriet Hancock, pioneer of South Carolina’s LGBTQ+ rights movement, dies at 89

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - The Harriet Hancock Center shared the passing of founder Harriet Hancock Wednesday night.

Hancock left a significant legacy among the Midlands LGBTQ+ community, contributing toward several local groups over the last 40 years.

Hancock’s son Greg came out to her in 1980. This inspired her to found the Columbia chapter of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) in 1982.

Famously, she cofounded Palmetto AIDS Life Support Services (PALSS) in 1985 during the height of the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. According to the Harriet Hancock Center, PALSS has become a critical support organization over the years as the state and region continues to rank among the worst for rates of HIV infection.

Hancock also helped organize the first Pride march in South Carolina. She helped lead more than 2,000 people down Main Street to the State House in 1990. She is considered “the Mother of SC Pride.”

She passed days before her 90th birthday.

The Harriet Hancock Center was the first LGBT+ resource center in South Carolina and the only LGBTQ+ community center in the state to serve all ages. The center wrote about her passing on their social media.

“Harriet lived long enough to see a South Carolina that changed in ways that would have been difficult to imagine when she first began this work. She also knew that the work was unfinished,” the post said.

Anyone interested in supporting Hancock’s legacy through the Harriet Hancock Center can donate here.

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