By: Paul Goldberg – Senior Correspondent | LGBT Politics USA

COLUMBIA, SC — (September 18, 2026) — The South Carolina Arts Commission approved approximately $3.7 million in grants for more than 170 arts recipients across the state — but postponed funding decisions for two LGBTQ+-focused organizations after commissioners questioned their “artistic merit.”




The two organizations are the Greenville Gay Men’s Chorus and Proud Mary Theatre Company, an LGBTQ+ theater company based in Spartanburg. Both had proceeded through the commission’s grant-review process before the board subjected their applications to additional review.

The commission is expected to revisit their funding at its October 15 meeting.

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Commissioner Questions ‘Artistic Merit’

During the August 20 meeting, Commissioner Russell “Rip” Parks raised concerns about the two applications and proposed excluding them from the broader grant approval until commissioners could further examine their artistic merit.

“The General Assembly holds this commission accountable for maintaining community standards,” Parks said, according to reporting by the Post and Courier. He added that commissioners had concerns about the two programs and questioned their artistic merit.

The Greenville Gay Men’s Chorus had been anticipating $13,050 in FY2027 operating support. Proud Mary Theatre Company was under consideration for $2,063 in grant funding plus $1,803 in bridge funding, according to South Carolina Public Radio.

The amounts combined represent a small fraction of the approximately $3.7 million approved for other recipients.




Emails Reveal Earlier Objections to LGBTQ+ Focus

The controversy extends beyond what commissioners said publicly in August.

Emails obtained through public-records requests show Commissioner Jessica Rourke had previously objected to funding organizations “structured around specific sexual orientations” and said public funds should not support drag performances. The ACLU of South Carolina subsequently warned the commission that allowing anti-LGBTQ viewpoints to influence grant decisions could raise constitutional concerns.

Parks similarly wrote in June that while the organizations had a right to advocate privately, he did not believe a state-funded agency should promote what he described as their “agendas.”

Those communications have fueled criticism from LGBTQ+ advocates and arts organizations that the additional scrutiny is based on the groups’ LGBTQ+ identities or programming rather than their artistic work. The commission has framed its current review around artistic merit and its newly adopted policy governing the use of grants to promote ideology.




South Carolina Commission Adopts New ‘Ideology’ Policy

At the same August 20 meeting, the Arts Commission adopted a resolution addressing the use of grant money for what it describes as the promotion of ideology.

The commission’s official website confirms that the resolution took effect immediately and that additional implementation guidance was issued on September 11.

The resolution states that grant recipients may be required to certify that commission funding will not be used for expression promoting an ideology. It also states that artistic expression itself is not inherently promotional.

That policy has drawn criticism over what constitutes “ideology” and how the standard will be applied.

The ACLU of South Carolina argues that the rule is vague and that the treatment of the two LGBTQ+ organizations is discriminatory. Those are the ACLU’s legal and policy claims; the dispute has not been resolved by a court.

State Law Protects Freedom of Artistic Expression

The controversy also raises questions about the Arts Commission’s statutory mission.

South Carolina Code Section 60-15-10 says state arts activities are to encourage and assist rather than limit the freedom of artistic expression. The same chapter establishes the commission and provides for gubernatorial appointment of its members with the advice and consent of the state Senate.

Read South Carolina Code Section 60-15-10

Arts writer Paul Hyde argued in a September 9 commentary for the South Carolina Daily Gazette that applying an undefined ideological standard to artistic expression risks encompassing virtually any serious artwork that communicates ideas. His piece criticized the commission’s treatment of the two organizations, while the commission maintains its review concerns artistic merit and its grantmaking rules.




Greenville Gay Men’s Chorus Raises More Than $21,000

The funding controversy has already produced a substantial fundraising response.

The Greenville Gay Men’s Chorus launched a fundraiser seeking $40,000 to help compensate for the potential loss of public funding. As of September 18, the campaign showed approximately $21,315 from 261 donations.

The organization says the pending $13,050 award represents a significant operating-budget shortfall and that it does not expect the commission to approve the funding in October. That expectation is the chorus’s own assessment; the commission has not yet made its final decision.

Greenville Gay Men’s Chorus fundraiser

October 15 Decision Looms

For now, neither organization’s funding has been finally denied. Instead, both remain in limbo while the Arts Commission prepares to reconsider their applications.

That October meeting could determine whether the Greenville Gay Men’s Chorus receives its proposed $13,050 grant and whether Proud Mary Theatre Company receives its proposed grant and bridge funding.

It will also provide the next test of how the commission applies its newly adopted policy on ideology — and whether the additional scrutiny imposed on the two LGBTQ+-focused organizations ultimately affects their eligibility for state arts funding.

JRL CHARTS LGBT Politics USA will continue tracking the South Carolina Arts Commission controversy and the October 15 funding decision affecting the Greenville Gay Men’s Chorus and Proud Mary Theatre Company.




Paul Goldberg
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