The Carolinas’ LGBTQ+ community lost a Herculean champion this week.
Harriet Hancock, who was known by many as “Mama Harriet,” died Wednesday, September 23, just a few days before her 90th birthday.
Hancock was affectionately known by many as “Mama Harriet” because of her indefatigable support of so many LGBTQ+ folks in her city of Columbia, statewide and beyond. An initial founder of the SC Pride Movement, at a community picnic in September 1989, she walked around the crowd with a clipboard signing people up for a potential Pride parade.
She would also be foundational in the creation of the first PFLAG chapter in the Palmetto State, the Palmetto AIDS Life Support Services (PALSS) and the radio program Rainbow Radio.
Issues of LGBTQ+ equality were personal for Harriet. She held the hand of her son Greg during the first Pride march in Columbia and wrote about that hot June day in her contribution to “OUT LOUD: The Best of Rainbow Radio,” a collection of essays edited by Ed Madden and Candace Chellew.
In her essay titled “Walking Down the Street, Holding My Son’s Hand: Gay Pride 1990,” she wrote, “I took my son’s trembling hand in my trembling hand. We gave each other a squeeze, and we stepped onto Main Street. What a feeling of empowerment came over us — we were a part of history in the making! … I had held his hand when he was a carefree, suntanned little boy jumping the waves in the Florida surf. I had held his trembling hand in mine the night he came out to me. I had held his hand during troubled times, and I had held his hand during happy times. But there was never a time quite so special as holding my son’s hand, walking down Main Street, on June 23, 1990.”
For Hancock, it was never just about equality politics or human rights, though she was a tireless advocate; it was personal. She recounted her son’s coming out in an interview with Qnotes dated September 30, 2022.
“‘Mom, I’m gay,’ he told me. And I just said, ‘Is that what this is all about? I thought maybe you got caught smoking pot or you got arrested.’ I had to tell him that it was okay and that I loved him … In fact, I think we probably stayed up all night long talking and, you know, just loving each other.”
That’s what she did. She loved. And testimonies to that love are coming from all quarters.
Former Poet Laureate for Columbia, South Carolina, Ed Madden, who is Carolina Trustees Professor of English at the University of South Carolina and a longtime advocate for LGBTQ+ equality, said this about his long-time friend: “Harriet transformed the culture of South Carolina. She founded or co-founded organizations that led the way on LGBTQ rights and HIV/AIDS education and support. So many of us loved her, not just because of how she changed our culture, but also because she made us feel like part of her own family when our own families disowned us.”
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dr. Jermaine Johnson posted this on his Facebook page: “South Carolina has suffered a tremendous loss with the passing of Harriet Daniels Hancock. Harriet was a fierce champion for the LGBTQIA+ community, a mentor, and a steadfast supporter of so many across the Palmetto State and beyond … May her legacy continue to live on through the center and all those she inspired. My sincerest condolences to Harriet’s family and everyone who loved her.”
After an LGBTQ+ Center was established in Columbia, it was Madden and his husband Bert who pushed to have it renamed for Hancock.
“Ed Madden and Bert Easter. I love those two. They’re like sons to me. But they suggested it, and everyone agreed … It’s my community, it’s my family. I’m proud to have the center named after me,” she told QNotes in 2022.
Harriet Hancock loved, fiercely and proudly. From her son Greg when he came out to the thousands of lives she made better, she was and will always be loved in return.
At press time, no information about a memorial service for Hancock was available. This is a developing story; we will update with more details.
This story is brought to you by Rosedale Health and Wellness and Dudley’s Place.
