Myrtle Beach, SC stands behind Pride Month support following Horry County reversal
Myrtle Beach leaders are distancing themselves from their Horry County counterparts, who voted last week to back out of supporting Pride Month.
“I can’t speak for the county; I just know the city believes in treating everybody fair,” City Council member Michael Chestnut said. “Everybody has a right to be what they want to be and who they want to be, and we should treat them all with respect and dignity.”
On May 24, the city approved a proclamation acknowledging June as Pride Month, praising its LGBTQ+ community for its contributions to “overall civic, academic and economic growth and development.”
Horry County Council took the same step a week earlier, but they backtracked June 7 in a rare but controversial move to rescind its support.
County Council next meets June 21, but it’s unclear whether officials will discuss Pride Month again. Chairman Johnny Gardner was not immediately available for comment.
“If someone wants to open that dialogue up, we’re going to do that,” said councilman Bill Howard, whose district includes Myrtle Beach. “The city does its thing. We haven’t talked about it yet.”
Terry Livingston, Grand Strand PRIDE’s executive director, praised city officials for standing behind their public support for his community.
“It seems our leadership at the county level is not interested in building a culture of inclusiveness and acceptance,” he said. “Please know that Grand Strand Pride is working hard to separate the good leadership here at the city from the negative leadership at the county on inclusion, diversity and equality.”
On June 16, the city’s Twitter account responded to a post criticizing Horry County for its about-face.
Myrtle Beach’s Chapin Park on Thursday hosted a Grand Strand PRIDE event. Its pamphlet included a copy of the city’s proclamation and a letter from Mayor Brenda Bethune.
“This event, and others like it, are a great opportunity to celebrate, honor and recognize the lives and work of our diverse community that makes Myrtle Beach so special,” she wrote. “... Please know that I am so proud of how far our community has come in accepting and loving our LGBTQ+ members.”
Importance of proclamations for LGBTQ, other communities
Though proclamations don’t carry the force of law, Chestnut and other city leaders said they play an important role in helping to define accomplishments, issues and organizations.
“I’ve never looked at it as not meaning anything,” Chestnut said. “When we do a proclamation, it’s legit.”
A review of City Council agendas show seven other proclamations have moved through the panel since Jan. 25.
City spokesman Mark Kruea said any member of council or the public can request a proclamation. Often, they are tailored toward an individual — perhaps a family wants to recognize a loved one turning 100 or the birthday of an historic business — and are processed with little fanfare.
Other times, the city will localize a national event or circumstance, such as Greek Independence Day to reflect Myrtle Beach’s sizable Greek population.
“Controversial national and world topics would be placed on a Council agenda for a formal vote, but we get few of those, as some sort of local interest usually drives the request for a proclamation in the first place,” Kruea said.
John Krajc, a city councilman whose real estate firm co-sponsored this year’s PRIDE event, took a dig at county leaders for backtracking.
“As a proud ally to the LGBTQ+ community, we have so many great things going on in the city,” he said. “I can say as a councilman of Myrtle Beach, I’m concerned about good people, period. I don’t put labels on conservative, liberal, gay, straight, black, white. I’m thankful and grateful to give my support to the community.”