Thu. June 23, 2016
Chicago, IL -
The organizers of the 47th annual Chicago Pride Parade, have released the parade line-up, which includes 160 entries featuring colorful floats, decorated vehicles, marching bands and walking contingents representing community businesses, organizations, elected governmental officials and individuals.
The parade will kick-off with a tribute to the 49 killed in Orlando LGBT bar Pulse, sponsored by Windy City Times and ChicagoPride.com. Followed by the color guard headed up by the "Scouts For Equality" who will be carrying several flags including United States, State of Illinois, Cook County, City of Chicago, rainbow Pride flags and the State of Florida in honor of the Orlando victims. The group is made up of Scouts and their supportive families and friends.
The Grand Marshal for this year's parade is "Chicago Fire" star Monica Raymund.
When the 2016 parade steps off at noon on Sunday, June 26, there will be 55 less entries, down from 215 that participated in 2015. Reducing the total to 160 entries should reduce the overall length of the parade by 30 or 45 minutes, said PRIDEChicago coordinator Richard Pfeiffer.
Even before concerns over the Orlando tragedy, parade organizers announced a plan to increase the security presence along the 21-block parade route, nearly doubling the number of off-duty police officers from 90 last year to 160 this year.
At a news conference last week, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson announced there will be an increased presence of uniformed police officers, including officers on bike, civilian-dressed officers throughout the event and specially trained canines. Johnson stressed there is no evidence of a threat against the LGBT community in Chicago.
Like last year, a zero-tolerance policy for drinking along the parade route will be enforced with checkpoints along the route and could result in fines up to $1,000 for open containers.
"If people come to the parade with open bottles of alcohol, they are stopped," Pfeiffer told ChicagoPride.com. "That will be done again, and that's true of every parade (in Chicago), not unique to (just) the Pride Parade."
The parade, which is expected to draw over 1 million people, will begin at Broadway and Montrose in the Uptown neighborhood. The parade will then travel south on Broadway; then south on Halsted; then east on Belmont; then south on Broadway; then east on Diversey to Cannon Drive.
Chicago's annual Pride Parade is the culmination of June Pride Month and is organized by PRIDEChicago under the direction of Pfeiffer. (www.chicagopridecalendar.org)
2016 Line of March
1 Intro—Banner/Orlando Photos ( a tribute to the 49 killed in Orlando LGBT bar Pulse, sponsored by Windy City Times and ChicagoPride.com )/Color Guard ( Scouts for Equality )/Grand Marshal Monica Raymund with Clandestina — cars/walkers
2 Friends of the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame - float/car/walkers
3 Puerto Rican Cultural Center — Vida/SIDA — float/walkers
4 La Casa Norte w/Bank of America LGBT Pride Chicago group — trolley/walkers
5 Nettelhorst School — golf cart/walkers
6 Chicago Waldorf School — bus/walkers
7 Near North Montessori School — bus/walkers
8 Erie Family Health Center - walkers
9 American Veterans for Equal Rights/Jesse Brown VA Medical Center —car/walkers
10 Gay, Lesbian and Supporting Sailors ( G.L.A.S.S. ) — walkers
11 Lakeside Pride Music Ensembles — band w/van
12 Lesbian Gay Police Association/GOAL Chicago-float & police superintendent rep - car
13 Folia Brasil — walkers
14 Entry lines up on Sheridan: Organized Chaos Chicago — motorcycles w/Jeep
15 Elected Officials and candidates for elective office — walkers
16 Entry lines up on Sheridan: Bikes and Mics - motorcycles
17 ABC7 Chicago — float
18 Chicago Teachers Union, Local 1 — float/walkers
19 Chicago Black Gay Men's Caucus — car/walkers
20 Equality Illinois/Coca Cola Company — float/walkers
21 Uber Technologies — float/walkers
22 Trevor Project - walkers
23 Angles Pride Youth Program ( formerly LINKS ) — walkers
24 City Colleges of Chicago — float/walkers
25 Lambda Legal & Salesforce — float/walkers
26 UCAN — truck/walkers
27 Balloons by Tommy, LLC — bus/walkers
28 BP Products North America ( Pride Business Resource Group ) — bus/walkers
29 Chicago Gender Society & ChiChapter — float
30 Heels & Hardhats Contracting & Chicago Area Construction Trade Unions - truck
31 Chicago Gay Hockey Association — SUV/walkers
32 Chicago Dragons Rugby Football Team — walkers
33 Center on Halsted — float/walkers
34 AARP — trolley
35 Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce — float/walkers
36 MB Financial Bank — trolley/walkers
37 LGBT Chamber of Commerce of IL — trolley
38 PAWS Chicago — float/walkers
39 Windy City Cowboys — pickup truck/walkers
40 Hyatt Hotels Corporation ( HyPride Business Resource Group ) — float/walkers
41 R.O.T.C. ( Righteously OUTrageous Twirling Corps ) — pickup truck/walkers
42 Comcast Cable Communication ( Out Chicago ) & NBC Universal — double decker bus/walkers
43 Telemundo Chicago — float/walkers
44 Chicago Spirit Brigade with Youth Outlook — SUV/walkers
45 Howard Brown Health, Chicago House, TPAN/Ride for AIDS/Affinity Community Services — float/walkers
46 PFLAG Council of Northern Illinois; Johnson & Johnson — trailer/walkers
47 Navigant ( LGBTA employee resource group ) — float/walkers
48 Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center — trolley/walkers
49 Sidetrack — float/walkers
50 AIDS Healthcare Foundation/South Side Help Center — bus/walkers
51 WGN Television — float/walkers
52 WGN Radio with Jewel Foods — float/walkers
53 Asians & Friends Chicago — float/walkers
54 LEAGUE at AT&T Chicago Chapter — float/walkers
55 Univision Chicago — float/walkers
56 Chicago Coalition of Welcoming Churches — van/walkers
57 Unity in Chicago — trolley/walkers
58 Episcopal Diocese of Chicago — vehicle/walkers
59 Dignity/Chicago — Jeep/walkers
60 A Church 4 Me MCC — flatbed/walkers
61 Congregation Or Chadash & Am Kesaet of Temple Sholom - float/walkers
62 Beth Hillel Congregation Bnai Emunah — SUV/walkers
63 Anti-Defamation League & Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest ( Consulate of Israel ) — float/walkers
64 Elmhurst College — van/walkers
65 Nike ( LGBT & Friends Employee Network ) & OutSports ( Be True Out Sports )-walkers
66 Athletic Alliance of Chicago — float/walkers
67 Chicago Smelts Swim Team — float/walkers
68 Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association — float
69 Grab Magazine — float
70 Human Rights Campaign — vehicle/walkers
71 Wells Fargo & Co ( Pride Chicago Team ) & Chicago Gay Men's Chorus-float/walkers
72 Chicago Boyz — double decker bus
73 Robert Jeffrey Hair Studio — float
74 Chicago Cubs — float
75 OUT CHICAGO/@ Properties — float/walkers
76 KPMG LLP ( pride@kpmg ) — trolley/walkers
77 PepsiCo ( EQUAL ) — double decker bus
78 Roscoe's Tavern — flatbed
79 Chicago Fire Soccer Club & Section 8 Chicago NFP — firetruck/walkers
80 Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center — float
81 BMO Harris Bank ( LGBT Employee Group ) & Chicago Bulls — float/walkers
82 Rush Pride/Rush University — float/walkers
83 Presence Saint Joseph Hospital — trolley
84 Alcala's Western Wear/Bisexual Queer Alliance Chicago — float/walkers
85 Chicago Northside Toyota — trolley
86 Orbitz — Jeep/walkers
87 National Gay Pilots Association — flatbed/walkers
88 PRIDE EBRG American Airlines — golf cart mini plane/walkers
89 Boeing Company ( BEAGLES Chicago ) — pickup truck/walkers
90 United Airlines ( EQUAL ) — truck/walkers
91 Rainbow Special Interest Group of Chicago Area Mensa — vehicle/walkers
92 WXRT ( 93XRT ) & Four Seasons Heating & Cooling — float/walkers
93 Trojan — float/walkers
94 LA Tan — float/walkers
95 Lurie Children's Hospital — walkers
96 Flaggots Ohio — SUV/walkers
97 WCIU, The U — double decker bus
98 I Heart Media-WKSC 103.5 KISS FM & Redd's Apple Ale — float
99 Purdue University LGBTQ+ Student Alliance - walkers
100 Chicago Leather Pride — truck/walkers
101 Foreskin Pride — SUV/walkers
102 Hell in a Handbag Productions — flatbed/walkers
103 Phoenix Bar & Nightclub — float
104 DePaul University — walkers
105 Gay Liberation Network — pickup truck/walkers
106 Chicago NOW — car/walkers
107 About Face Theatre - walkers
108 Fox 32 Chicago — float/walkers
109 Thousand Waves Martial Arts & Self Defense Center NFP — walkers
110 Fantasy Nightclub — float/walkers
111 Stages Music Hall aka Smart Bar — float/walkers
112 SEIU Illinois Council — float
113 Civis Analytics — walkers
114 Broadway In Chicago — float/walkers
115 McGrath Lexus of Chicago — float/walkers
116 Mercy for Animals — SUV/walkers
117 Local 881 United Food and Commercial Workers — float/walkers
118 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois — float/walkers
119 Accenture and Avanade ( LGBT groups ) — double decker bus/walkers
120 Astellas US LLC — float/walkers
121 Northrop Grumman Corp ( Pride in Diversity Alliance [PrIDA] )—trolley/walkers
122 United Way of Metropolitan Chicago — float/walkers
123 Walgreens — pickup truck/walkers
124 Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. ( Take Pride ) — float/walkers
125 Aon Plc/Aon Service Corporation - walkers
126 Thresholds — float/walkers
127 LinkedIn ( Out@in ) — SUV/walkers
128 UNITEHERE Local 1 — float/walkers
129 Lakeshore Recycling Systems — truck/walkers
130 FCB Chicago — float/walkers
131 Baxter Healthcare Corporation ( Baxter Equality Network ) — trolley/walkers
132 ReMarked Salon/Concept Effects - trolley
133 JPMorgan Chase ( Pride Chicago ) — float/walkers
134 Lakeshore Beverage — car/walkers
135 Sears Holding Corporation ( PRIDE ) — float/walkers
136 Starbucks ( Pride Alliance ) — Range Rover/walkers
137 Allstate Insurance Co. ( PRIDE Employee Resource Group ) — float/walkers
138 Gerber Collision & Glass — van/walkers
139 Deloitte LLP ( Deloitte Chicago Inclusion Council ) — float/walkers
140 Siemens Corporation ( Siemens Pride ) — trolley/walkers
141 Mars "Pride" Team — float/walkers
142 Discover Financial Services — trolley/walkers
143 Chicago Athletic Clubs — float/walkers
144 Bloomingdale's - walkers
145 Thompson Chicago hotel — float/walkers
146 Chicago Apartment Finders Leasing Division of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage—car/walkers
147 Tyson Foods, Inc. ( Tyson Pride Network ) — extended float/walkers
148 Marriott International ( ONE ) - walkers
149 Groupon — float/walkers
150 Tesla Motors — car/walkers
151 JLL — float/walkers
152 TD Ameritrade — pickup truck/walkers
153 Tree House Humane Society and Heal Veterinary Clinic — float/walkers
154 Gap Inc. ( Gap GEAR-Gay Employee, Allies & Resources ) - walkers
155 CME Group, Inc. ( PRIDE ) — float/walkers
156 W.W. Grainger, Inc. ( Equality Alliance Business Resource Group ) — SUV/walkers
157 Fitness Formula Clubs — flatbed/walkers
158 Constellation Brands — double decker bus
159 Pandora Internet Radio — Chicago Office ( Chicago Pride ) — truck/walkers
160 ComEd — Bucket truck/walkers
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