Conway mayor’s Pride Month proclamation nearly cost her job. She’s ready to do it again.

Barbara Blain-Bellamy admits she never saw it coming.

Within days of issuing a June proclamation recognizing Pride Month, Conway’s long-serving mayor found herself in what would become the most contentious decision of her 30-year political career.

“I expected some push back. I knew the issue itself was controversial. I didn’t expect that full congregations and 41 pastors would take such offense at something that seemed to me the exact right thing to do,” Blain-Bellamy told The Sun News Nov. 7, shortly after gutting out an election night win that keeps her in city hall through 2026.

Her opponent, Ken Richardson, accused Blain-Bellamy of putting politics ahead of policy.

“Now, I don’t have bit of problem with Barbara feeling any way she wants to about (Pride Month), but when you’re the mayor of Conway, you’re the mayor of Conway. And sometimes what you say has repercussions, and that’s what happened here,” Richardson said during an Oct. 25 debate at Coastal Carolina University.

Blain-Bellamy issued the June 5 proclamation — a symbolic gesture that carries no legislative weight — on her own, though city council members would ultimately back her move by voting to support it several weeks later.

That made Conway the second Horry County community to formally recognize Pride Month. Myrtle Beach has done so for years.

“Too often, the LGBTQ community is used politically to divide, but at the end of the day we are seeing more and more examples like this where the majority of Americans welcome a diverse community,” Terry Livingston, co-founder of Grand Strand PRIDE, said Nov. 8.

As tourists arrive on the Grand Strand by the millions every year, Conway leaders have tried to capitalize by making heavy investments downtown.

Its Main Street district is dotted with artisanal cheese shops, bakeries, a haberdashery and dozens of locally-run restaurants.

How can city leaders justify those costs and promote Conway as a haven for all if a group of people feel isolated, Blain-Bellamy wondered.

“I grew up in Conway during segregation. During Jim Crow. And the experience that I had was not one where there was a lot of hatred thrown my way. I was never called names to my face,” Blain-Bellamy said. “And I want to be that person that lets somebody in.”

Shortly after Blain-Bellamy’s public stance, Langston Baptist Church pastor Brandon Blair urged her to resign.

“We’ve had Barbara at our church and prayed over her multiple times. I’ve supported her personally on many things that she’s done,” Blair said Nov. 8. “If she wants to support gay pride herself, she has the right to do so. But to proclaim it over the city, that’s proclaiming it over my church as well.”

About 3.5% of South Carolinians over the age of 18 are members of the LGBTQ community, according to data from nonprofit think tank Movement Advancement Project.

“I grew up believing certain things and one is that you accept everybody. You love everybody,” Blain-Bellamy said.

Blair said he was grateful Richardson was on the ballot despite coming up short.

“I’m thankful that voters had a choice so that they don’t have to be complicit with the actions of our mayor,” he said. “We don’t have to worry about election results, because we realize who’s in control of it all.”

Buoyed by her victory, Blain-Bellamy said she’ll continue to recognize Pride Month through her power as mayor.

“I don’t see why I wouldn’t do it again and again. I did what I believed in, and the day I stop being able to do what I stand for is the day I’m no good for the city, and I’m no good for myself,” she said.

This story was originally published November 8, 2023 at 1:14 PM.