Sun. July 26, 2026
CHICAGO, ILL. -
By Michael Oboza, Special to GoPride.com
Chicago celebrated its 23rd annual Disability Pride Parade on July 25, 2026, marking a milestone as the longest-running Disability Pride Parade in the nation. Participants processed down Dearborn Street from the Harold Washington Library to Daley Plaza, bringing together advocates, community members and allies in a vibrant demonstration of visibility, heritage and joy.
Disability Pride Month takes place every July, honoring decades of advocacy. The movement was largely inspired by a draft written in 1987 by attorney Robert Burgdorf Jr. with the National Council on the Handicapped, now known as the National Council on Disability. That draft proposed a comprehensive civil rights law for persons with disabilities, leading to legislative proposals in 1988.
The efforts culminated when President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law in July 1990.
Bren Coombs, an organizer of Chicago’s parade and celebration, shared their thoughts from an organizer's perspective.
"Community. It's an opportunity for us to gather, meet people, have fun and celebrate how we are individual people, but also a collective community," Coombs said.
"I think it is also important for everyone else to see, disability can have joy. We are whole people. We are not defined by our disability. To create an environment that is welcoming of everyone."
Leo Wilder, a writer, educator, special education advocate, neurodivergent parent and Trans Up Front Illinois Radiant Leadership Award recipient, shared what the month means to them.
"I see any parade as an opportunity to gather together with people who share a common challenge or goal and to turn it into a celebration," Wilder said.
"It does not mean it is all happy and candy and fun. It is also a moment to be loud about what we need from our community, city, country and world."
Writer Ann Magill, who has disabilities, created the Disability Pride Flag in 2019 and redesigned it in 2021. The flag’s colors symbolize the diversity of disabled people, including red for physical disabilities, gold for neurodiversity, white for invisible and undiagnosed disabilities, blue for emotional and psychiatric disabilities, green for sensory disabilities, and black for mourning and rage for victims of ableist violence and abuse.
Following the procession, an official Disability Pride Flag raising and celebration at Daley Plaza featured music, food, accessibility information and family-friendly activities.
Allaina Humphreys became disabled just three years after the ADA went into effect. Humphreys is a self-employed graphic designer, business owner, intersectional disabilities and LGBTQ advocate, founder and chair of Bolingbrook Pride, vice chair of the Bolingbrook Arts Council, and accessibility advisory board member for Trans Up Front Illinois. She reflected on the core meaning of the observance.
"I don't come to the parade because I'm proud of my injury or disability," Humphreys said. "I come because I'm proud of the legacy of the people who put their bodies on the line, so that all of us could have a curb cut, a bus lift, a life. We inherited this work. The parade is a shining moment where we get to invite everyone in, to add their presence, their voice, their whole body, in whatever way feels right and joyful to them. It's pride in how far we've come, safety in being visible together and fuel for the work ahead."
Humphreys noted that the event sends a powerful message to the entire city.
"In one afternoon it says out loud to the public what policy takes decades to say: We are here. We have always been here. We belong here."
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