Windy City Times: Pride '17 Million Strong: Celebration and resistance at 2017 Pride Parade
The following article was published on June 25, 2017. A link to the article can be found here.
By Staff
City officials predicted that one million Chicagoans and visitors viewed the 48th annual Chicago Pride Parade as it wound its way through the Uptown, Lake View and Lincoln Park neighborhoods on the city's North Side June 25.
It was a perfect day for pride celebrants, who were granted a reprieve from the blistering heat that often accompanies the celebration. Temperatures remained moderate throughout the course of the afternoon. As they do every year, LGBT organizations, local politicians, sports teams and religious groups, among numerous others, came together to mark the 48 years since the Stonewall uprising in 1969.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Supt. Eddie Johnson, joined by Parade Grand Marshal Lea Delaria, held a brief press conference before the parade started.
The parade was halted mid-afternoon by protestors wishing to call attention to systemic inequities against transgender individuals. The group who stopped near the intersection of Belmont and Halsted, said in a statement that they are "a Trans-led coalition of Chicago-based organizations—headed by the Trans Liberation Collective and including the BTGNC Collective, Black Lives Matter Chicago, Jewish Voice for Peace, Assata's Daughters and Pilsen Alliance."
The coalition published a number of demands in the statement, adding that, "Trans and queer communities … gather in a unified stance against the annual Chicago Pride Parade and Festival. We disavow the numerous atrocities done to the legacies of our ancestors and foremothers in the movement for trans and queer liberation, and the ever-increasing corporatization, whitewashing, gentrification, racism, and cisnormativity that have infused Pride for decades. This year, like so many years before, our communities have reached a breaking point."
Members, who carried representations of transgender activists Sylvia Rivera and Marsha Johnson, said that they will re-launch a Trans Pride celebration in 2018.
Numerous politicians took part in the parade, or at least sponsored contingents, among them Mayor Emanuel, who walked toward its head; former Gov. Pat Quinn, who followed shortly behind Emanuel; Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan; state Senate President John Cullerton; state Treasurer Mike Frerichs; and state Comptroller Susana Mendoza.
Conspicuously absent were state representatives and senators, who were required to be in Springfield for a special session addressing the state's budget crisis. State Rep. Greg Harris (D- Chicago) sent a large contingent, however.
Cook County officials included Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Treasurer Maria Pappas and State's Attorney Kim Foxx. Other city officials besides Emanuel included Clerk Anna Valencia and Alds. Proco Joe Moreno (1st), Raymond Lopez (15th), Deb Mell (33rd), Michele Smith (43rd), Tom Tunney (44th) and James Cappleman (46th). Lopez and Cappleman both marched alongside their husbands. Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner Debra Shore also took part.
Federal officials included U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth as well as U.S. Reps. Mike Quigley (D-5), Jan Schakowsky (D-9) and Brad Schneider (D-10). Marie Newman, who is mounting a campaign against incumbent U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-3) in 2018, took part as well.
Among the potential candidates running on the Democratic ticket against incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2018 who participated included state Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Chicago); Ald. Amaya Pawar (47th Ward); and businessmen J.B. Pritzker and Christopher Kennedy.
The Lakeside Pride Freedom Marching Band, whose parent organization, Lakeside Pride Music Ensembles, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, marched not only with a banner unveiling its new logo, but two of its historic banners as well. They joined with American Veterans for Equal Rights volunteers carrying an enormous American flag.
Several dozen individuals joined Equality Illinois' entry, which was led by the organization's CEO Brian Johnson and Director of Education Anthony Galloway. Lambda Legal featured participants holding signs marked, "Read my briefs." Gay Liberation Network's entry this year had over 100 participants in a solidarity contingent.
Center on Halsted's supporters marched with an entry themed to persistence, while Howard Brown Health's was presented in conjunction with Whole Foods.
Religious organizations included members of Chicago Welcoming Churches as well as a coalition of area synagogues. Participating higher education institutions included University of Illinois at Chicago, DePaul University, Rush and University of Chicago.