Chicago Pride Parade
The Chicago Pride Parade, also colloquially called the Chicago Gay Pride Parade, is an annual pride parade held on the last Sunday of June in Chicago, Illinois in the United States. It is considered a culmination of the larger Gay and Lesbian Pride Month in Chicago, as promulgated by the Chicago City Council and Mayor of Chicago. Chicago's Pride Parade is one of the oldest, and one of the largest by attendance in the world. Chicago's annual pride parade is organized by the all-volunteer non profit organization PRIDEChicago. The event takes place outside and celebrates equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people, which is also known as the celebration of LGBTQ rights.
Background
The first parade was organized on Saturday, June 27, 1970, as a march from Washington Square Park to the Water Tower, but then many of the participants spontaneously marched on to the Civic Center Plaza. For many years, the parade was held only in Lake View East, a neighborhood enclave of the Lakeview community area. Recent parades have expanded their outreach by extending the route into the Uptown neighborhood, beginning at the corner of Broadway and Montrose. The parade then proceeds south on Broadway to Halsted, continues south on Halsted to Belmont, then east on Belmont to Broadway and finally south again on Broadway to Cannon Drive and Lincoln Park.With the increasing political participation of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans and the community's relatively high financial resources through political action groups and as individual donors, Illinois politicians have increased their presence at the Chicago Pride Parade. Both the Illinois Democratic and Republican parties have been heavily represented, including by former Governor Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, and former Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, a Republican. Both had strong support from many gay and lesbian voters.
On June 28, 2009, more than 500,000 spectators watched the 40th Annual Chicago Pride Parade. Among the entries were several marching bands, dance troupes, twirlers, and many political figures. The 2010 parade featured an appearance from the Chicago Blackhawks' Brent Sopel and the Stanley Cup as part of the Chicago Gay Hockey Association's float. Sopel appeared in the parade to honor Brendan Burke, the gay son of the Maple Leafs' GM Brian Burke. Due to Chicago being one of the largest cities with a massive sports community, some other special guests have attended the Gay Pride Parade in Chicago, those include David Kopay, Billy Bean and Greg Louganis.
The 2011 parade included 250 entries and was attended by over 800,000 spectators, almost double the previous year, causing massive overcrowding and resulted in a reorganization of the parade route for the 2012 parade. Starting in 2013 the Chicago Pride Parade had reached over one million people each year, and the number continues to grow.
In October 2019, Richard Pfeiffer, director of the Parade since 1974, passed away.
The parade was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 parade was postponed to October 3, 2021, in the hopes that an in-person parade could be held. Due to the Delta variant, the 2021 parade was cancelled. The 2022 and 2023 pride parade continued with its original scheduling under the direction of Pfeiffer’s husband, Tim Frye.
The 2024 parade marched with a new start time, shorter route and 150 entries as the city sought to lessen its strain on various Chicago departments during a busy summer packed with other large-scale events, including the Democratic National Convention. Fortune Feimster was the 2024 grand marshal and the parade theme was Pride is Power.
On October 27, 2024, the City of Chicago recognized long-time parade coordinator Richard Pfeiffer with an honorary street sign "Rich Pfeiffer Parade Way" at the northwest corner of Belmont Avenue and North Halsted Street along the parade's route in Lake View, Chicago.