09/24/2026
Tonight, PALSS mourns the passing of Harriet Hancock, a courageous advocate, trailblazer, and beloved champion for South Carolina’s LGBTQ+ community and people living with HIV and AIDS.
As a co-founder of PALSS formally known as (Palmetto AIDS Life Support Services ), Harriet stood on the front lines during some of the darkest years of the AIDS epidemic. At a time when fear, stigma, and discrimination threatened countless lives, she chose compassion, advocacy, and action.
Harriet helped establish Columbia’s PFLAG chapter and became an attorney, using her legal training to fight for the rights and dignity of LGBTQ+ individuals and people affected by HIV and AIDS. In 1990, she and her son Greg walked hand in hand at the front of South Carolina’s first Pride March, leading more than 2,000 people down Main Street toward the State House.
Harriet taught us that true allyship is not simply accepting people in private. It is standing beside them in public, challenging injustice, creating institutions, and using one’s voice to make room for others. Her legacy lives on through the countless lives she touched, the barriers she helped break, and the organizations she helped establish, including PALSS. The foundation she laid continues to inspire our mission to provide compassionate care, HIV prevention, education, and support to communities across South Carolina.
We extend our deepest condolences to her children, family, loved ones, the Harriet Hancock LGBT Center, and everyone whose life was forever changed by her compassion, courage, and unwavering commitment to equality. Harriet did not simply witness history. She helped make it.
Rest in power, Harriet Hancock. Your legacy will live on every time we serve someone with compassion, challenge stigma, stand for justice, and remind our communities that every life has value.
From all of us at PALSS, thank you for helping build an organization rooted in love, dignity, and service. We are honored to carry your vision forward. Your work continues through us. Your legacy will never be forgotten.
