June 21, 2011

The Pride Parades of June

Cultural Awareness
and
This post is kinda of contination of the previous post on Boystown/NorthHalsted. The parades would not have happened without the support of the folks that called NorthHalsted home.
1970 image below - Gay Chicago Rewind
Collection Buttons since 1979
Terri Klinsky, a contributor to my Facebook site called LakeView Historical has been collecting parade pins since 1979 
Roscoe/Halsted
by 1969
ground zero for the future 
NorthHalsted neighborhood
photos via Saul Smaizys
The Father of Pride Parade
Richard William Pfeiffer, coordinator of the annual Chicago Pride Parade since 1974. He passed away Oct. 6, 2019, at the age of 70. Richard was a Chicago gay rights icon, pride parade maverick of over 45 years, member of Chicago's Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame, and an endless advocate for the LGBTQ+ Community. Richard's impact on the city of Chicago, the LGBTQ+ Rights Movement, and our own local community will be cherished and honored forever. 
– Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce
by Chicago Pride.com 
Pride Parade 
1970
'One year after the Stonewall uprising, Chicago's 1st Gay Pride Week took place with events ranging from a Gay Dance at the Aragon Ballroom, to Chicago Circle Campus workshops on topics ranging from "How Women of Gay Lib Relate to Women's Liberation" to "Legal Issues Concerning the Draft." The celebratory week culminated in 150-200 lesbians and gay men gathering at a Pride Rally and March In Bughouse Square. After inspiring speeches, waving banners and chanting "Gay Power," the marchers headed out on foot along sidewalks, down Dearborn to Chicago Ave, east to the Water Tower, then south on Michigan Ave. to the Civic Center (now Daley Plaza) for more speeches. Some marchers, caught up in the moment, circle-danced around the Picasso sculpture. Surprisingly nobody was arrested, though in the next Chicago Gay Lib newsletter, Rich Larsen noted: "By the time the group reached the Civic Center the pig brigade accompanying us numbered eight squadrons and two meat wagons." Read more from the link above.
'The 2nd parade in 1971 moved north and was less political and more festive, starting at Diversey Harbor, going west to Clark Street, then south to the Free Forum at La Salle Street. Although at the tail end of it, Clark and Diversey was and had been the gay neighborhood since the mid-'60s when Chicago's gay nightlife centered around a clutch of bars in the area: the Century, 2810 N. Clark St., Ruthie's 2833 N. Clark St., and a triumvirate of drag bars, Chesterfield, 2831 N. Clark, Annex, 2863 N. Clark, and Orange Cockatoo 2850 N. Clark Street.' - Chicago Pride.com
pin - Ebay
Pride Parade 
1972
'In 1972 an estimated 1,000 people braved hurled eggs and rocks as they set out from the lake, heading west along Belmont and then south on Broadway to the Free Forum for the rally; this would stay the route for some years.' - Chicago Pride.com
Pride Parade 
1973 

By 1973, the parade had moved its starting point to Belmont Harbor. The "gay liberationists" leading the charge numbered 300, according to the Chicago Tribune. At that point, the parade had moved closer to its currently location, starting at Addison and Halsted, in an area then referred to as "New Town." New Town first entered the Chicago lexicon around 1969, when high-end fashion retailer Paul B. Magit opened a boutique at 2900 N Broadway Street. Current residents despised the influx of overpriced stores and "young singles looking for action." [regarded as the most diversey area in Chicago].

Pride Parade
 1974
Pride Parade 
1975
Pride Parade 
1976
Diane Alexander White, photographer 
3 photos via Chicago Reader

1976 vs 2014
Pride Parade 
1977 
 photos below - Calumet 412



approaching Diversey Parkway

A protest at the Daley Center 
that year
her presence in Chicago had the opposite for the parade
Pride Parade 
1978
pin - Ebay
Pride Parade
 1979
Negotiating with Chicago Police
Pride Parade 
1980
Pride Parade 
1981
Day of Pride Proclaimed by the City
photos below - Cathy Gonzales
south of Diversey Parkway
Pride Parade 
1982

with a backlash for the Chicago Tribune's
 coverage of the Pride event
Pride Parade 
1983
The then Mayor Byrne on Broadway south of Roscoe 
photo - Calumet 412 via my friend Marc Moder
Pride Parade 
1984
photo above - Chicago.go Pride
in 1985
corner of Broadway and Belmont Avenue 
with Evergreen Foods (Walgreens) on the right 
& Nettlehorst School on the left
photo - Gay Chicago Rewind 
all photos below by Alan Light

1985 photo - The 'Rocks' Float 
Chicago's Mayor Byrne



Heading towards the park on Diversey Parkway

 chatting it up at the park after the parade
1985 vs 2014
An 1985 editorial by 
Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page 
Pride Parade 
1986
photo - Chicago.go Pride
During the 1970's activists began pushing for a gay-rights law in Chicago. The ordinance drafted by independent council members would have outlawed anti-LGBT bias in areas such as jobs and housing. The City Council voted against a proposed bill in 1979 and twice again in 1986.
 
photo above - Chicago History Museum
  Pride Parade 
1987  
photo - James R Anderson
via Forgotten Chicago Discussion Group
Mayor Washington in Lincoln Park, the park
University of Illinois-Chicago via Explore Chicago
Pride Parade 1988
Politics was the Theme
On December 21, 1988, with a vote of 28-17 the City Council passed the Human Rights Ordinance. This Passage of the ordinance on Human Rights, was a turning point in Chicago LGBT history because it granted the queer community social equality under the law and made it illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ individuals and other kinds of diversity and other such as people with disabilities, marital status, race, age, religion and several other categories. It was because of the strategies of the late Mayor Harold Washington, and the powerful “Gang of four”; Laurie Dittman, Rick Garcia, Arthur Art Johnston and the late Jon-Henri Damski; who served as a fierce group of activists who were instrumental in the final passage of the ordinance.
 Pride Parade 
1989  
above image - East Lake View by Matthew Nickerson 
photo - Chicago.go Pride
Grand Marshal for that year was Mayor Daley II who was the first sitting Chicago mayor to lead the Chicago parade and the first honorary chairman of the Gay Hall of Fame
Pride Parade 
1990
Pride Parade
 1991
heading towards the park at the tail end of the parade
photo - UC Special Collections Research Center-Facebook
and below
Students from the University of Chicago head to the park while crossing Diversey Parkway
photo - UC Special Collections Research Center-Facebook
Pride Parade 
1992
image - East Lake View by Matthew Nickerson
Pride Parade 
1993
 Gay Chicago Magazine image - Chicago Pride
pin - Ebay
Pride Parade 
1994





Pride Parade 
1998
image above - Ebay
The scene along 3300 block of Broadway
photo - Gay Magazine via Chicago Pride
Pride Parade 
1999
This was also the year of the 1st Black Pride Festival.
Candace Gingrich returned in 1999 with Olympic gold medalist Greg Louganis, but there were rumblings of dissent as some Pride-goers saw the parade turning into a showcase for corporate interests. Queer to the Left attached large dollar signs to the rainbow pylons and carried a banner that read: "Your Pride – Their Profits."
 Pride Parade 
2000
National Pride Month was established by Bill Clinton in 2000
Pride Parade 
2001
*under construction*
Pride Parade 
2002
 
Pride Parade 
2003
photos - Chicago Pride
 
Pride Parade 
2004

photos - Go Pride Chicago

 

Pride Parade 
2005
  photos - Go Pride Chicago

 photo below - Bobby Klamms, Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
Pride Parade 
2006
Grand Marshal was George Takei (Captain Hikaru Sulu of Star Trek series) Attendance was reported at 400,000
photo - Feast of Fun
photo - Wikiwand
photos above - Garry Albrecht
photos below - Go Pride Chicago
 
 Miss Flooze
 
 
 
Pride Parade 
2007
  photos - Go Pride Chicago
 
Pride Parade 
2008
photos - Go Pride Chicago
 
a counter demonstrator - always here to remind 
Lakeside Pride Freedom Band 
 Edison Wells as band leader 
 

Pride Parade 
2009
Gay Pride Month was rechristened by Barack Obama
photo - White House
 Pride Parade 
2010
This  parade was coined 'One Heart, One World, One Pride'. The Grand Marshal was Chely Wright with a attendance of 450,000. Chicago Black Hawks were featured in the parade after winning the Stanley Cup that year
she is testing out the runway
photos - Go Pride Chicago
Pride Parade 
2011
there was tons of videos that year
below is a sampler from YouTube
This year's parade featured some 250 entries, including the city's new mayor, Rahm Emanuel, who has one-up'ed his predecessor by "working this Sunday" 
photos - Go Pride Chicago
 
  2011 October
The parade route and time of the parade had changed. Over 800k in attendance that year. The plan of this new route and earlier time will hopefully create a more controllable and seamless environment for parade and non-parades attendees. The new route will extend five additional blocks and travels down along one zig zagged line instead of an triangular island that trapped residents for hours. This new route will allow spectators and residents more access and space to view the parade starting at staging area on Montrose Avenue. The parade entries will be limited to 200 with less political floats. The old route create a closed triangular island that limited emergency vehicle access to the residents in the 'island'.
 
2011 November
The new time of the parade was changed from 10am back to its original time of noon. The new parade route along Belmont Avenue would have conflicted with the Catholic mass ceremonies at Mt. Carmel Catholic Church and create no access to parish members to their parking lot. 
Pride Parade 
2012
A New Route
The 2012 parade was indeed something to celebrate. Three events happen this year. First, it's honorable now to be openly gay in the military, second the president of the United States supported the idea of marriage between same sex couples nationally, and third, the Illinois Attorney General echoed the presidents' opinion on marriage for the State of Illinois. The picture below sums it up for that year.
Green=Pride Route
Brown & Red=CTA elevated
Little Blue Figures=Access to other side of street only
the new staging area
north of Montrose
photo - Chicago Tribune
 photo - Chicago Tribune
photo - Chicago Tribune
photo - Chicago Tribune
photo - Chicago Tribune
 photo - Chicago Tribune
 photo - Chicago Tribune
Pride Parade
 2013

photos - Go Pride Chicago

 

LAKEVIEW — Lake View's top cop saw rampant public drinking at last month's Pride Parade — and if the parade happens again next year, he wants to limit entrances so police can check bags for liquor, he said. "It's virtually impossible for us to stop it once it's going on," Town Hall Police District Cmdr. Elias Voulgaris told Hawthorne Neighbors. "It's not impossible to stop it if we can prevent it from going in." Since Voulgaris assumed his command last year, he's touted a "zero-tolerance" policy on quality-of-life issues such as drinking and urinating on the public way. With big events like Pride, which swelled to more than a million people this year, police cannot dole out enough tickets for all the drinkers.

Pride Parade 
2014
photo - Channel 7 News
Part of the celebration in 2014 was when the General Assembly passed, the Governor of the State of Illinois signed the 
Marriage Equality law in November of 2013. 
photos - Go Pride Chicago
 

LAKEVIEW — After officials said more than a million people flocked to Sunday's Pride parade, some residents and their alderman are wondering whether it's outgrown the Lake View neighborhood. "I've had discussions that we are one or two incidents, or one or two parades, away from not having the parade. Period," Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) said Wednesday night at a community policing meeting. Tunney has said he'd be willing to move the parade Downtown after residents complained to his office about public drinking, trash and safety concerns. According to Town Hall district police, 45 people were arrested for misdemeanor crimes from 5 a.m. Sunday to 5 a.m. Monday. Two others showed up in felony bond court this week after they allegedly trashed a police car and tried to tackle an officer, respectively. A lot of constituents are wondering whether the parade has "outgrown the neighborhood," Tunney said. "As you know, people come from all over the Midwest. It is certainly an economic boon to the neighborhood, but not at the cost of public safety issues, and I think public safety comes first," he said.

CHICAGO — In announcing the results of a survey about the Pride Parade last month, Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) said respondents favored keeping the parade in Lake View. The survey results showed a majority of ward residents surveyed want the parade moved Downtown, according to data posted on Tunney's website Friday. The online survey polled more than 3,300 people, and the initial results released by the alderman's office said more than 55 percent of respondents favored keeping the parade in Lakeview. On Friday, a more detailed breakdown of responses showed that 51 percent of self-identified 44th Ward residents are in favor of moving the parade. About 61 percent of respondents said they live in the 44th Ward. The Pride Parade marked its 45th year in June, and drew more than a million people. The parade route snaked through Uptown, Boystown and Lincoln Park. After residents complained about trash, drinking and violence, Tunney said in July he'd be open to moving the parade.

He commissioned the online survey in August. "The survey indicated that Lakeview residents want the Pride Parade to stay in our community, but it also indicated that neighbors want to see real reforms," Tunney said when the results were released Sept. 25.

Pride Parade 
2015

2015 March 
Will this be the last year for the parade in Lake View? Are the costs too high? Crime and drunkenness the number one issue? 

The 2015 Chicago Pride Parade will be held in Boystown, not downtown, according to multiple city sources who spoke with CWB on the condition of anonymity this week. We first reported the development Tuesday morning. How organizers will address concerns of overcrowding, brawls, medical response difficulties, and persistent post-parade crime remains to be seen. But sources who spoke with CWB stated unequivocally that virtually every city department involved in the parade, including all emergency services, have expressed their beliefs that the parade should be moved to a more manageable location. Of course, first responders don’t make that decision. Politicians and the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events do. 

BOYSTOWN — Organizers of the Pride Parade will hire 90 off-duty police officers to assist with crowd control, but neighbors say it might not be enough to quell potential evening mayhem. After an estimated one million attendees left hundreds of citations and a damaged police cruiser in their wake last summer, city officials vowed to improve conditions or find an alternative location for the parade.

The June 28 parade will remain on the same route, but will hopefully be limited to 2½ hours, while checkpoints along the route will "really limit the amount of public drinking," said Erin Duffy, 44th Ward director of community outreach. Northalsted Business Alliance will have another 20 private security officers in the area from 3 p.m. until after bar close, the organization said Wednesday. "We have the ability to up the security so everyone has a good time and also gets home safe," said Chad Honeycutt, Northalsted assistant director of external affairs. As for the Chicago Police Department, Duffy said there will a "very large police force" to maintain order in the evening hours following the parade. Belmont Avenue will be barricaded, while mounted officers will patrol the area and other officers will be at CTA stations. But the off-duty officers will be gone around 6 p.m., which left some neighbors concerned.

Now, on that day ...
This years' celebration center on the marriage equality; Supreme Court decision that was decided a week before the parade. 

LAKEVIEW — The 2015 Chicago Pride Parade came to a grinding halt around 1:45 p.m. Sunday as protesters staged a "die-in" to draw attention to the challenges facing LGBT communities of color.

About 15 protesters, most wearing black shirts sporting #BlackOutPride logos, were marching in the parade before they reached Addison and Halsted streets. Then, some laid down on the ground and others sat in a circle around them, bringing the parade to a stop. They chanted "Black lives matter" and "Stonewall was a f---ing riot," a reminder of June 1969 riots for LGBT rights in New York that led to pride parades in Chicago and around the country. After the pause in the parade progression was noted by the crowd, some booed, while other cheered the protesters. Police officers spoke to a woman who appeared to lead the protesters, who refused to disband at officers' request. After about 10 minutes, about six of the protesters were led away from the intersection in handcuffs and taken to the Town Hall police district, 850 W. Addison Street.

photos - Go Pride Chicago

 
 
photos - Christopher Lee Paulsen
the 'I' in Victory apparently got lost in the crowd

The Mega Bar SideTracks float 
highlighting the U.S. Supreme Court decision 5-4
for Marriage Equality
photos - Garry Albrecht
a marriage equality float

Some parade-goers have been complaining for years that Chicago's pride festivities have gone corporate, and in the process turned into a commercialized spectacle and yet another excuse for straight people to day drink in the streets. Some LGBTQ revelers have simply chosen to stay home from the parade in response; others have turned to the growing Chicago Dyke March for a more indie alternative and still others have opted to bring their displeasure to the parade itself, as a group of #BlackLivesMatter protesters did last week, with a die-in style protest that brought the parade to a halt.

To test the theory, Illinois-resident Riley Kollaritsch crunched the numbers of parade participants, listed on the parade's website, and graphed them with a pie chart by organization type.

and days after
Days after the parade the aftermath conversion renewed a call to add 'fest-like' characteristics to it and keep the crazies out.

LAKEVIEW — While regrouping from last weekend's Pride Parade, officials are considering adding a staging area on Halsted Street for next year's fest to keep Pride attendees in and troublemakers out.

The idea of gating off the Northalsted strip for a permitted event was floated too late for the 2015 parade, but neighbors voiced support for it during a Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy meeting Wednesday at the Town Hall District, 850 W. Addison Street. The monthly CAPS meeting provided a sounding board for neighbors just three days after Sunday's parade, during which hundreds of thousands of attendees swarmed 21 blocks and cheered on 200 participating groups and floats.

Police said they discussed creating an event to block off the streets after the parade and take donations for entry, but, "at the time, it was too late to actually have a permitted event and shut down Halsted," said Capt. Bill Looney. The staging area could be used to streamline entrance to the festivities, acting as a sort of checkpoint for the throngs that flood the streets of Lakeview after the parade. Alternately, officials considered using the Northalsted strip to stage an "after party" that would concentrate post-parade activity, which in previous years has bled into residential sections of the neighborhood.

Pride Parade 
2016
a tribute to the victims of hate crimes

According to CNN Mateen carried an assault rifle and a pistol into the packed Pulse club about 2 a.m. Sunday and started shooting, killing 49 people and wounding at least 53, officials said. After a standoff of about three hours, while people trapped inside the club desperately called and messaged friends and relatives, police crashed into the building with an armored vehicle and stun grenades and killed Mateen.

Ray Rivera, a DJ at Pulse Orlando nightclub, is consoled by a friend, outside of the Orlando Police Department after a shooting involving multiple fatalities at the nightclub, Sunday, June 12.

Live updates: Latest news on Orlando shootings. “It appears he was organized and well-prepared,” Orlando Police Chief John Mina said early Sunday. Authorities said they haven’t found any accomplices.

 photo - Chicago Pride.com 
 photo - Chicago Pride.com 
This parade was also meant in remembrance of the victims of the Orlando, Florida mass murders that happened days before the parade in Chicago. An accounting from an article from DNAifno - 'Despite forewarning of thunderstorms predicted during majority of the 47th annual Chicago Gay Pride Parade, skies remained mostly clear after a brief drizzled moment before the parade began. The rain gave way to a moment of silence at Broadway and Montrose, honoring the 49 victims of the Orlando shooting on June 12. Their photos and names led the parade. "The most important thing to remember is that love will always conquer hate," said Jason Mendes-McAllister, a Chicago resident carrying a banner for his slain friend, Edward Sotomayor Jr. "Eddie was always about compassion for others, no matter if he had never met you before. "There's a lot of love in the community today, and that's what Eddie embodied."
The mass shooting at Orlando brought with it more security at this years event and with it an early end of the 'Pride on Montrose' celebration that are celebrated by 'folks of color' and their friends. Due to tighter security less arrests were made this year per DNAinfo.
 From the CTA
Greg Baird via Facebook 
Greg Baird via Facebook
 
Greg Baird via Facebook
photo - Chicago Pride.com
every mayor since Harold Washington
 has supported the parade and LBGTQ+ community 
Jimmy Kays via Facebook
for decades Sidetracks has video-taped the parade from the roof of their building for their patrons who wish not join the near million of participants on the Halsted & Roscoe
Mark Aaron via Facebook
photo - Chicago Pride.com
 photo - Chicago Pride.com
photo - Chicago Cubs
photo - DNAinfo
 photo - Chicago Pride.com
 photo - Chicago Pride.com
 photo - Chicago Pride.com
 photo - Chicago Pride.com
photo - Chicago Pride.com
 photo - Chicago Pride.com
2016 photo below - Jeffrey Lynch-Facebook
every June in Chicago is Pride Month
A New Name
'LGBTQ Pride Parade'
'Chicago’s Gay & Lesbian Pride Parade' is changing its name for 2017, but no other significant changes are planned, according to permit applications that have been distributed to the Chicago Fire Department and the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications' according to CWB Chicago.
with the increased crowds comes ....
the rules
This one is a toughy
let me help ya on #4

Transgender is an umbrella term that describes people whose gender identity or expression does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. For example, a transgender person may identify as a woman despite having been born with male genitalia.  – Live Science 

2017

A long-running tradition in Chicago, the annual Pride Parade is one of the city’s biggest summer events. Attendees can expect to see jubilant revelers throughout the full length of the parade, which takes place this Sunday, June 25 starting at the Montrose and Broadway intersection at noon. According to the Pride Parade’s official website, this year’s edition will feature 150 entries, including but not limited to parade floats, marching bands, and performance groups. The parade will run south on Broadway Avenue to Halsted Avenue where it will continue for several blocks before turning east on Belmont, then it’ll get back on Broadway heading south towards Diversey where it’ll conclude. - Curbed Chicago

The CTA Pride Train
2 photos - CTA
photo - Micheal Weber
The Pride Train pulls up to the Belmont Station
Chicago Skyline Preps for Sunday's parade 
photo - Marlene Abel Calderon Picture of Chicago-Facebook
Lake View East Chamber 
of Commerce Celebrates

photo - Lake View East Chamber of Commerce
More personal prepping 

photo - Paul Montodo
My friend's per-parade drink
photo - Greg Baird
Street Closures in Place

photo - Lake View East Chamber of Commerce
Security in Place
with an alert from CWB Chicago Boystown
photo - Anthony Meade
According to Anthony Meade, a freelance photographer, 
this is the second year that snipers were posted 
along the parade route for security.
Camping out along the Parade Route 
 photo - Lance Fross Wiede
photo - Anthony Meade
photo - Greg Baird
photo - Greg Baird

,photo - Greg Baird
 photo - Greg Baird

 photo - Greg Baird
photo - Greg Baird

photo - Greg Baird
photo above - Thrillist
photos below all by DNAinfo











On Sunday, a collective of trans and queer people of color shut down the Chicago Pride Parade at Belmont and Halsted to remind people of that history — and demand better for the future. Nearly 40 protesters marched between the WGN floats and the Chicago Coalition of Welcoming Churches in the second leg of the parade, which began at noon Sunday at Montrose and Broadway and finished just after 4 p.m. at Diversey and Sheridan Road. But for nearly 15 minutes, the coalition — filled with members of the Black Transgender Gender Non-Conforming Collective, Black Lives Matter Chicago, Jewish Voice for Peace, Assata's Daughters and Pilsen Alliance — chanted explicative-laced insults toward police officers and Donald Trump and denounced LGBTQ organizations they said overlook marginalized people within the community. "The rainbow masquerade is not enough," Vita Cleveland declared into a megaphone, fellow protesters echoing them. Later, Toni Marie Preston cried out in a hoarse voice that, "Black trans lives matter."

and then even more photos by Segal









 Ru Paul 



LBGTQ+ Pride Parade 
2019
Pride in the Park
...in Grant Park
for the 50th Pride Year

DOWNTOWN — A new music festival happening in Grant Park this June is bringing big name performers to the city during its 50th annual Pride weekend. While organizers expected the announcement to thrill the city’s LGBTQ community, some locals are feeling left out. “Pride in the Park,” a one-day music festival featuring Iggy Azalea and Steve Aoki as headliners, will happen June 29 in Grant Park’s Butler Field, drawing inspiration from Lollapalooza and electronic music festivals. The festival is produced by Dreambrite, a special event planning company co-founded by Dusty Carpenter, director of operations at Another Round Hospitality Group, and Ramesh Ariyanayakam, co-owner of the Kit Kat Supper Club and Lark Restaurant Bar in Boystown. “For years we’ve had Pride Fest, which is an amazing event one weekend, but then a dead period until the parade next weekend,” Carpenter said. “I’ve also heard people complain about Chicago never getting big talent for Pride. So I got the idea to help Chicago put on our Pride Month at the level of Pride in New York and San Francisco.” Representing Chicago in the lineup are drag queen Shea Couleé, rapper KC Ortiz and Miss DJ Meg. Other performers include singers Tamar Braxton, Taylor Dayne, Todrick Hall, Kathy Sledge and Gia Woods, as well as “Rupaul’s Drag Race” queens Alexis Michelle and Coco Montrese.

WHAT !! RAIN!! 
REALLY!!
It has never ever rained on the parade
The Chicago Pride Parade weather is usually hot. The average high temperature at O'Hare Airport for the parade day since 1970 is 83 degrees; the average low is 61 degrees; and 22% of parade days have seen measurable precipitation. The warmest pride parade was 99 degrees in 1983, and the wettest pride parade was in 1978 when 0.92 inches of rain fell. - Wikipedia
photo via Curbed Chicago
planning is everything ...

with the first LBGTQ+ mayor of Chicago
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these LGBTQ folks from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. It has never ever rain on this parade since its inception – never ever!!
‘Although cut short by severe thunderstorms, Chicago’s Pride Parade drew an impressive crowd along its four-mile route between Uptown and Lincoln Park on Sunday. This year’s event commemorated the 50th anniversary of the famous uprising following police raids on New York’s Stonewall Inn in 1969, a seminal moment in the LGBTQ rights movement. Lori Lightfoot, Chicago’s first openly gay mayor, presided over the festivities as Grand Marshall. While Pride is always a feast for the senses, this year’s edition got an extra pop of color thanks to new rainbow crosswalks along Halsted. As the party unfolded on street level, parade-goers also captured impressive shots of an ominous shelf cloud rolling in overhead. A sudden downpour did little to derail the festivities—at least until officials were forced to delay and ultimately cancel the celebration around 3 p.m. Hundreds of organizations, clubs, and companies participated in the parade. One of our personal favorites was AIA Chicago’s LGBTQI + Alliance, which marched with over-sized models of some of Chicago’s most recognizable skyscrapers including Willis Tower, the building formerly known as the John Hancock Center, and Jeanne Gang’s upcoming Vista Tower.’ - Curbed Chicago 2019
As additional note, this year marks the first time in a nation’s history there is a serious LGBTQ+ contender for the White House for the 
2020 election – Mayor Pete of Indiana. He was appointed Transportation Secretary to the Biden administration.
photos - Curbed Chicago





photo below - forgotten source
LBGTQ+ Pride Parade 
2020
Canceled due to Covid-19 for the First Time Ever
but not the memory of the day is not lost
Instead a Protest March/Parade 
in 2020
a new generation wants to be heard
LBGTQ+ Parade 
2021
will it happen?
May 2021
Sorry, 
but it's a NO Again 
for 2021
Septempber 1, 2021
Richard Pfeiffer
The parade organizers were to honor the organizer
 of all the parades since 1974 who passed in 2019
text - Go Pride Chicago
 LBGTQ+ Parade 
2022
It's Back!!
photo - John Bevar
other photos by Chicago Pride.com, 
Center on Halsted, and Southport Corridor News & Events
Staging Area
north of Montrose
2023 Parade
Security & Weather 
is a Concern 
a church group prepping it up
2 photos - LakeView Lutheran Church 
Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce Photos
some of the particapants
Lakeview East Cooperative Photos
An After Parade Report
fights & cars
Sponsorship Plan for 
2024
The City Scales it Down
for 2024
April 2024
May 2024

also in May 2024
new route


Lots of Police Presence 
and Still ...


Post Note: 
My Personal Pride 
by this blogger
Back in 1986 I meet Tim & Jim. These two adopted me into their community & their family of friends during a time when the community was still suffering the worst of HIV. They both taught me about safe sex and 'gay' life as we knew it. I was adopted twice in my life; first in 1955 by adofted parents Tom & Marge and then again in 1986 by Tim & Jim. - kinda lucky that way!!

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Important Note:
These posts are exclusively used for educational purposes. I do not wish to gain monetary profit from this blog nor should anyone else without permission for the original source - thanks!

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