Horry Republicans supported Pride Month, until they noticed. Where did council go wrong?
Horry County Council members on Tuesday did something highly unusual. They voted to nix a not-legally-binding resolution after having voted to approve it last month.
That resolution? To declare June as Pride Month.
It’s a decision that’s highlighted the long-simmering tensions between conservative Christians and the LGBTQ community. The local LGBTQ advocacy group Grand Strand Pride was behind the resolution, organization leader Terry Livingston said, and local conservative pastors, like Rev. Mack Hutson, led an effort to nix the resolution.
“This news dampens our spirits but we resolve to make progress by continuing our advocacy work to make all of Horry County inclusive, diverse and equal for all,” Grand Strand Pride said in a statement Wednesday.
County Council passes such resolutions often, declaring days or weeks or months to be in recognition of a person or group of people. At the May 17 meeting where council unanimously passed the Pride Month resolution, for example, the council also unanimously designated May 15 to 21 as “National Public Works Week.”
But the Pride Month resolution drew protest from pastors and other “conservative constituents,” council members said Thursday, prompting council member Danny Hardee to ask for a “reconsideration” of the resolution where council voted to overturn it.
Other council members, though, said they weren’t aware of the resolution because it was placed on the “consent agenda” a part of the meeting agenda that allows the council to pass a slate of non-controversial legislation with one vote.
“We had no idea and that’s our fault, we had no idea it was the LGBTQ (resolution),” council member Johnny Vaught, who is also running for council chairman, said. “And everyone else picked up on it and they were going to fill the chamber with members raising hell if we didn’t do something about it.”
“Apparently the Chairman missed it too because it should have been an item for discussion,” Vaught added. “And we had egg on our face because we didn’t discuss it.”
Such resolutions have become more common recently in the county, and Myrtle Beach has adopted a similar measure declaring June as Pride Month. Grand Strand Pride, the group behind the Horry County resolution, said the reversal “dampen(ed) our spirits” in a statement.
Pastors like Hutson, of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Conway, were among those calling council members demanding they reverse the resolution.
In an interview, Hutson said he and others were upset with the resolution in part because LGBTQ people are a small minority in Horry County compared to the population of conservatives who view them negatively.
“I don’t feel like the majority of the people of Horry County were very happy about our county putting a stamp of approval…on the month of June being declared gay pride month,” Hutson said. “Everybody I had talked to was totally against it. The gay community (are) not the only people who live in Horry County.”
Vaught said he also heard from several people who identify as LGBTQ who supported the resolution but that the majority of feedback was from people opposed to it.
“This is still the Bible Belt and there’s a lot of conservatives around here,” he said. “I have to serve the majority of my constituents and the majority of my constituency is saying we don’t want that.”
Hutson on Thursday said he was pleased to see the council’s reversal.
“I’m so proud of Horry County Council that they had enough backbone to do that,” he said.
How the resolution — and reversal — happened
The Pride Month resolution that landed on the council’s May 17 agenda came from Grand Strand Pride, a nonprofit that supports LGBTQ people and hosts Pride events.
Livingston, the head of the group, said Thursday he submitted the resolution to the council clerk in late March, and asked that it be placed on council’s agenda at the last meeting before June.
Pat Hartley, the clerk, confirmed that and said groups submitting such resolutions is “par for the course.” She said she formatted the resolution into the county’s format and placed it on the consent agenda, which Chairman Johnny Gardner approved prior to the meeting.
Gardner didn’t return a phone call Thursday requesting comment. All members of council voted to approve the contents of the agenda, and unanimously approved the Pride Month resolution at the May 17 meeting.
Livingston, though, argued that the council members should have been aware of the resolution because he copied them on the email he sent to Hartley. He said he was disappointed when he figured out that council had “quietly rescinded” the resolution.
“It took me a while to find it but all they did was refer to it by the resolution number and rescinded it,” he said. “If it hadn’t been for someone bringing it to our attention I don’t think we even would have known.”
He said the council’s action was “a wake up call.”
“From an advocacy standpoint we’ve taken a rest and this is a call that we still have work to do,” Livingston said. “We can’t rest if we want to continue celebrating Pride in the future.”
Vaught said the council rescinded it quietly “to keep from stirring up our more conservative constituents.”
Indeed, Hardee, prior to council approving the agenda on Tuesday, asked for a reconsideration of “resolution R-51-2022” and didn’t give additional information.
It took the council only 30 seconds to do away with the resolution on Tuesday. Hardee did not return a phone call seeking comment on Thursday.
Some council members said Thursday that they weren’t against the content of the resolution, but said the council should have held discussion on it and held a roll-call vote on it.
“It’s not that anyone has any problem with any group, the way it was written was the issue,” said council member Harold Worley, who represents the North Myrtle Beach area, referring to the way council passed the resolution.
Bill Howard, who represents part of Myrtle Beach, echoed that sentiment.
“It’s not something anyone is against or for its not a political statement, we’re trying to do what’s right for the community,” he said.
What message does the nixed resolution send to LGBTQ people?
Several council members argued that their issue was with the way the Pride Month resolution was passed, not with LGBTQ people.
“I respect them, I employ them, I’m friends with them, I think they have a place on this earth just like everyone else,” Howard said. “Everyone is equal.”
Vaught, too, said the council’s action wasn’t a rebuke of Pride events in the county.
“We’re not saying don’t celebrate it, go ahead and celebrate it however you want to,” he said. “We just don’t feel good as a government sanctioning it.”
County Council, though, sanctions many causes and groups via resolutions. The council in 2020 for example, passed a resolution honoring a ham radio operator. And in May, the county passed a resolution declaring June 6-10 as “Horry County Employee Appreciation Week.”
But Livingston said rescinding the resolution sends a message to LGBTQ people that they may not be welcome in Horry County.
“We’re going to start having more backlash. This is going to become more common instead of less common in my view of the future,” he said.
And, he added, rescinding the resolution doesn’t make Horry County look good as it tries to recruit companies to its industrial parks and other sites to diversify the local economy.
“(Corporations) look at things like diversity and inclusion of local government to determine if they want to come because they know that’s important to bringing new talent to an area,” he said.
“It’s going to look bad for the county.”
This story was originally published June 9, 2022 at 1:54 PM.
