James Agens first attended the Famously Hot South Carolina Pride Festival in 2015.
The moment revealed to him that, as a queer teenager, there were others like him, he said.
"Just seeing so many queer people ... growing up and seeing that, it was almost like Disneyland," Agens said. "It's just like one of those moments of like, 'Wow, I'm really not alone.'"
Agens now serves on the South Carolina Pride Movement's board as the vice president of festivals and attends the Pride festival each year.
In his role, Agens is working on this year's Famously Hot South Carolina Pride Festival on Oct. 20 and Oct. 21, which includes a concert and parade.
The festival is not the organization's only focus, however. Agens said the movement is working every day to plan and promote Pride events while trying to increase visibility for the LGBTQIA+ community in the Palmetto State.
The board members of the South Carolina Pride Movement are in charge of all of the inner workings of the events. They communicate with sponsors, the City of Columbia, performers, attendees and more to plan events and projects.
“When I participated in my first Pride, and it was a realization as you look around and go, 'Oh, there’s 80,000 other people like me,'” Dylan Gunnels, the board's interim president, said. "There's power in seeing the fact that there are so many other people that are on the same journey and a part of the same community."
The board members communicate frequently to organize the Pride events. Agens said he spends time every day working on something for SC Pride.
Gunnels and Marketing Director Joshua Butler said the effort that goes into everything that the South Carolina Pride Movement has done and plans to do means more to them than just the events alone.
"It felt extremely motivating to be a part of something bigger than myself and to be a part of an organization that had meant so much to me," Gunnels said.
According to Gunnels, Butler and Agens, the sense of community they feel motivates them to stay involved with Pride. They said seeing how Pride has helped build up the LGBTQIA+ community reminds them of why they got involved.
"The reason why I got started into it was just trying to have the visibility stretch out to the more rural areas because I understand what it's like to feel like you're all alone in this world," Butler said.
The message and history behind all the festivities of South Carolina Pride is one that means something even bigger, Agens said.
The first Pride marches and protests fought for many of the same causes that the organization still stands for today, such as healthcare rights and education, according to Agens.
“Although Pride is a party now, it started as a riot, so we’re trying to still keep that momentum,” Agens said. "There's a reason why we're doing this."
Agens said the push to gain visibility is ongoing for the queer community, and so it remains one of the organization's biggest focuses.
“Pride has a really interesting stance because we’re all about visibility, which is a major issue within the community. And I think, a lot of the times, if you can at least bring visibility, you can start the conversation to those bigger issues,” Agens said.
Gunnels said one of the biggest aspects of visibility is making sure everyone from different backgrounds within the community is heard and their specific needs and issues are recognized. He said he hopes the organization can continue to improve the board's diversity in the future.
"We want to strengthen our relationships and diversify the board, the language that we use and the way that we can guarantee that particularly trans, non-binary, Black and brown folks feel safe and comfortable and seen and heard," Gunnels said.
Agens said the best way for people to get involved is to start volunteering at different Pride events, such as OutFest, the Get Lit Concert and the Nighttime Parade. He said he believes it is important for students to care about and be invested in Pride in order for people to be able to express themselves.
"When you think about how the community is changing and power dynamics — usually a younger voice — I don't know, it's just really important," Agens said.
Editor's note: Emmy Ribero contributed to the reporting in this article.