KJ Kearney: This is legitimately good.

I'm going to take this barbecue back to# Charleston.

We are here at the Hancock Center at one of their monthly potlucks, and we are eating# delicious, slow cooked, pulled pork barbecue.

If you are not standing with the LGBTQ community,# this is the kind of stuff you're missing out on.

When patrons of the Stonewall Inn,# including trans women of color, fought back against a police raid of a gay bar in# 1969, they sparked the modern Gay Pride Movement, but that was in New York.

In South Carolina, a# picnic, sort of like this one, took the growing Pride Movement here in Columbia to a new level.

I'm KJ Kearney, and this is Citizen Better.

The Harriet Hancock Center is focused# on advancing LGBTQ+ rights and safety.

And they know that sometimes community# safety just means getting people together for some good food, but they're also tapping# into Columbia's long history of protest.

Matthew Butler: So back in the '80s, the community would get together at Dreher Island# State Park and have a picnic.

Dreher Isl.. of course, is a lovely place at Lake Murray.# It's very secluded.

We're still very much in the Conservative South, the Bible belt,# and so for folks to get together in a public setting was not something that was# very appetizing for folks at the time.

KJ Kearney: But activists like Harriet Hancock, the mother of a gay son, were interested in making# more of a statement.

She took a clipboard and collected names of people who were participating# in Columbia's first Pride March the next year.

Matthew Butler: That first march, people were scared.

The city couldn't really# offer protection or wouldn't provide the resources necessary, so people were scared.

I mean, you# could still be fired.

People were considering wearing clown makeup, and a number of people# actually did, and then others were concerned about being shot.

I recall Harriet telling me she# and her son walking and they were just in tears, in tears.

People were wiping the makeup off# their faces as they got closer to the State House because they realized what a powerful moment# that was for the community in this first march.

KJ Kearney: Matt's not talking about Stonewall in the '60s.

He's talking about a pride march in 1990.

The# march that started with people wearing makeup to hide their identities ended with# the group finding safety in numbers, marching to the State House to make demands of# non-discrimination.

It's understandable that people were worried historically.

Institutions# like the justice and healthcare system don't keep all of us safe, particularly for the# LGBTQ+ community who have often faced threats to their safety from these systems.

Police raids were frequently used as a tactic to intimidate and beat patrons of gay# bars through the '50s and '60s.

State laws criminalizing same-sex sexual relationships# weren't ruled unconstitutional until 2003.

Marriage equality has existed nationwide for less# than a decade and 137 bills have been introduced in the state and federal legislators to ban# gender-affirming healthcare this year alone.

Matthew Butler: This year, very unfortunately, the state legislature passed and the governor# signed into law a bill that bans medically necessary care for trans kids.

KJ Kearney: Because these institutions aren't always safe for# and trans people, the Harriet Hancock Center works to build community safety from within these# systems by educating people about legislation that affects their community and helping# them contact their lawmakers to advocate for themselves.

But they also build safety from# outside these systems by forming a network of support groups and resource guides for LGBTQ-owned# and friendly businesses and service providers so that people can feel confident that they will# be safe and included in choices as major seeking transition-related healthcare or planning a# wedding to as minor as getting a haircut that expresses who they are.

Cristina Picozzi: Often when people are in crisis, they might not# even know what they need.

And so fo.. resource center, we're looking at how can we help# fill in those gaps and make it less overwhelming for them, whether they're looking for a medical# resource that's affirming or behavioral health, or even someone who's looking for an aesthetician# that supports transgender or gender expansive people.

KJ Kearney: And members of Harriet Hanco.. surrounding counties, sometimes driving an hour# or more just to have a space where they can be their authentic selves.

Cristina Picozzi: We really are trying to create as many# spaces and tell people, you are safe here.

We accept you for who you are, even if you# don't know exactly who that is quite yet, to give them that space to rise up and just be# themselves because queer joy also matters.

KJ Kearney: That's why here you'll find multiple generations sharing a meal together in a space they know# they'll be accepted and understood, like Harriet herself, who still attends every potluck.

Harriet Hancock: My son came out to me as gay in about 1980, '80,# '81, and he was just reluctant to tell me this because he did not know how I would take it.

And# I knew that he needed me.

He was distraught.

He was in a terrible situation having to come out# to your mother and be fearful of rejection, not knowing what's going to happen to you.

I just# put my arms around him and hugged him and I said, it's okay, and everything's going to be okay.

So# he was extremely relieved.

I said, it's okay.

I accept you.

I love you unconditionally, but# it's going to be a problem for other people and I don't want you to be mistreated.

We're talking about 1981 here.

I was more concerned about what society and how this# world was going to be treating my son, and I wanted to change that.

I didn't# want my son to have to live with that.

KJ Kearney: You've been doing this work since 1982, so I.. Harriet Hancock: Because there is a need, and I am totally invested in this.

This community# has been wonderful to me.

I have made so many friends within the LGBT community and they have# enriched my life.

I can tell you that my life has been enriched by this wonderful people, and if I# have helped them, I will continue to help them as long as I've got breath in my body.

KJ Kearney: Community safety can come in many different forms,# but if we can learn anything from Harriet Hancock is that a lot of it is just about showing up for# your community consistently for as long as you can.

Where support and safety don't always exist# in traditional systems, activists like her have long worked to build alternatives because while# you can and should participate in the democratic process, at the same time, we don't need to wait# for institutional approval to build community and support each other.

My name is KJ Kearney# and thank you for watching Citizen Better.