09/24/2026
๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ง๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ง๐๐จ๐๐ค (1936-2026) was a fierce advocate for and true friend of the LGBTQ community in South Carolina. As she said in her remarks during the first Famously Hot South Carolina Pride March (known then as the Gay and Le***an Pride March or GLPM), โOur kids arenโt broken, and they donโt need fixing. Societyโs attitudes are broken, and they do need fixing.โ Over the course of nearly five decades, Hancock dedicated much of her time and energy to fixing those attitudes. She founded the Southeastโs first PFLAG chapter, co-founded PALSS, and was a key organizer in the stateโs first Pride march.
A โlater-in-life" attorney, Hancock worked with the Columbia Community Relations Council on the cityโs earliest anti-discrimination measures; she received the 1991 Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year Award from the South Carolina Bar for her work. The SC GLPM Community Center, opened in 1993, was renamed the Harriet Hancock LGBT Center in her honor in 2005. In recent years, she supported Historic Columbia's work in documenting the cityโs LGBTQ history by generously contributing her memories and timeโโIโll check with Harrietโ was uttered often, and she more than once picked up the phone to connect HC staff with activists and members of the community. Learn more about this work at historiccolumbia.org/lgbtq-history.
Historic Columbia extends its deepest condolences to her family and many close friends.
Harriet Daniels Hancockโs memories are preserved in this two-part interview recorded with USC alum Santi Thompson in 2007:
๐๏ธPart I: https://digital.library.sc.edu/exhibits/LGBTQ-Columbia/interviews/harriet-hancock/
๐๏ธPart II: https://digital.library.sc.edu/exhibits/LGBTQ-Columbia/interviews/harriet-hancock-interview-2/
๐ท 1: Hancock poses for the camera wearing the first GLPM-logo t-shirt and a Silence=Death Project Button. Hancock co-founded PALSS (Palmetto AIDS Life Support Services) in 1985. ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐บ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ข ๐๐ช๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ณ๐บ, ๐๐ฏ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข, ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ช๐ข
๐ท 2: Hancock (L) stands with South Carolina Gay and Le***an Pride Marchโs first co-chairs, Jim Blanton and Barbara Embick, June 23, 1990. ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐บ The State Newspaper ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฉ ๐๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ, ๐๐ช๐ค๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ช๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ณ๐บ
