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A “free mom hugs” booth at Lowcountry Pride Celebration in Port Royal offers hugs to anyone that needs one. When people come out, Beaufort local Brigid Fackrell (left) said it’s important to “be there” for them.
Li Khan
The Island Packet
Compared to the pride festivals of New York and San Francisco, Beaufort County’s annual gay pride event is relatively low-key.
There were no parades, no huge crowds and no “leather daddies” at the Lowcountry Pride Festival in Port Royal on Sunday. Instead, LGBTQ community found a bounce house, a coffee cart, and a Filipino food truck.
“We’re very community driven,” said Angela Wright, co-chair of Lowcountry Pride. “We’re really big on resources.”
Lowcountry Pride has held annual pride celebrations in Beaufort County since 2019. The first event was held in Bluffton and drew more than 400 participants. The event has been held in Live Oaks Park in Port Royal for the past three years.
The organization hosts support groups, book clubs, and monthly socials for LGBTQ individuals in Beaufort Country, which includes Hilton Head, Bluffton, and Beaufort.
Other nonprofit organization set up tents in Live Oaks Park on Sunday, such as PFLAG Savannah, which offers monthly peer support groups for LGBTQ individuals and their families. LGBTQ individuals with family members that are struggling to accept their identities are encouraged to bring their family members to PFLAG meetings.
Some members of the LGBTQ community in Beaufort County are still learning that there’s a local pride event where they live.
Beaufort native Monica Gates, 27, didn’t realize Sunday morning that the event she was going to was a pride event. She was there to help her sister, who was there as a vendor.
Gates, who is biracial and LGBTQ, said of the growing up in the area: “I see the divide ... it’s like, you want to fit in, but you can’t.”
Monica Gates, 27, holds a lesbian pride flag between her teeth. A Beaufort native, Gates said she “sees the divide” over LGBTQ issues in her area. “It’s like you want to fit in but you can’t,” said Gates. Li Khan The Island Packet
Beaufort is “a small town in a red state,” Wright said. “And so you would think that maybe the queer community is not well represented.”
But queer people are “everywhere,” she continued.
“These are people who are part of our community, and you interact with them every day,” said Wright.
Check out more photos from Lowcountry Pride Festival:
Local teen Vivienne Yates sells rainbow beaded bracelets while donning several pieces of her own jewelry necklaces that feature the colors of the pansexual pride flag. Yates calls her jewelry “Ultraviolet Kandi”. Li Khan The Island Packet
A light-up pride sign faces 14th street at Live Oaks Park in Port Royal. To its left and right are signs commemorating transgender rights activists Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson. Michelle Jenkins The Island Packet
Beaufort artist Tatiana Tatum dabs paint on her brush at her stall at Lowcountry Pride Celebration on Oct. 19, 2025. The bisexual artist’s work centers women, often half-submerged in water, or with fishy tails drinking beer by the docks. “Resilience is an important thing for me,” Tatum said. “You don’t drown when people tell you to.” Li Khan The Island Packet
PFLAG Savannah reps David Lewis (left) and Niki Moran (right) came to Lowcountry Pride. LGBTQ individuals with families that are struggling to accept their identity are encourage to bring their families to PFLAG meetings, where they will find a safe space to ask questions and learn about the LGBTQ community. Li Khan The Island Packet
Bluffton locals Jeff Weldon, 64, and Cindy Weldon, 70, showed up to Lowcountry Pride as allies to the LGBTQ community. Their son, who is gay, lives in Indiana. “We’re proud of our son and his husband,” Ms. Weldon said. Li Khan The Island Packet
Vendors in tents sell artwork, jewelry water bottles, coffee, baked goods and more at Live Oaks Park in Port Royal Plaza for the Lowcountry Pride Celebration. Li Khan The Island Packet
A “free mom hugs” booth at Lowcountry Pride Celebration in Port Royal offers hugs to anyone that needs one. When people come out, Beaufort local Brigid Fackrell (left) said it’s important to “be there” for them. Li Khan The Island Packet
An “ask me anything” table offers a judgement-free zone for people with questions about the LGBTQ community to seek answers. When Sam Baggett (center, he/they) came out to his parents, he was the only queer person his family members knew. “All the questions, bigotry and the stereotypes ... on top me having to figure out how I was going to be in like, myself, that was a lot,” Baggett said. Booths like these “ease the burden” on individuals who come out to their families by offering a space for confused family members who want to be supportive to ask uncomfortable questions. Li Khan The Island Packet
Matthew (left, he/him) and his partner Tyler (right, he/him) both grew up in the Beaufort area. “There’s little pockets of queerness everywhere,” said Matthew. “You just gotta know where to look.” Li Khan The Island Packet
Chad Rentz, who teaches at Lowcountry Montessori, shoots hoops with his sons Sebastian and Julian. His wife, Tanya (not pictured), said they came to event to show their support for the LGBTQ community and “show out kids an environment where people are loved.” Li Khan The Island Packet
An eventgoer looks through a basket of free stickers at Lowcountry Pride’s 2025 celebration, held in Live Oaks Park in Port Royal. Li Khan The Island Packet
Geneva Hatfield, 41, came to Lowcountry Pride with her 15-year old, August. Li Khan The Island Packet
Monica Gates, 27, holds a lesbian pride flag between her teeth. A Beaufort native, Gates said she “sees the divide” over LGBTQ issues in her area. “It’s like you want to fit in but you can’t,” said Gates. Li Khan The Island Packet
This story was originally published October 23, 2025 at 11:06 AM.
Li Khan covers Hilton Head Island for the Island Packet. Previously, she was the Editor in Chief of The Peralta Citizen, a watchdog student-led news publication at Laney College in Oakland, California.
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