Organizations call for city to restore 2024 Chicago Pride Parade to full capacity
Tue. April 30, 2024 8:27 AM by GoPride.com News Staff
Statement: Members of the Mayor's Advisory Council on LGBTQ+ Affairs, the Chicago Pride Parade Organizers, and supporting organizations call on Mayor Brandon Johnson to promptly restore the 2024 Chicago Pride Parade to its original capacity.
The Chicago Pride parade is an important historical, cultural, and community event. On June 27, 1970, Chicago became one of the first four American cities where a Pride parade was held after the Stonewall riots. The Chicago Pride parade is one of the largest and most prominent Pride Parades in the world. It is an important symbol of LGBTQ+ empowerment and visibility where LGBTQ+ people and our allies come together to celebrate our community as we demonstrate our collective power. The Pride Parade is also an important venue for our community. It is often the first place where young people can show up as themselves, celebrating their identities in a supportive, loving, and celebratory environment. The fact that so many allies want to be a part of the Pride celebration is a testament to the power the LGBTQ community has garnered over the years.
The City of Chicago and the State of Illinois have made great strides to advance the rights and protections of LGBTQ+ people. We urge the City of Chicago to work towards having the largest, most visible, and most powerful Pride Parade in the country especially at a time when LGBTQ+ communities, and in particular trans youth, are facing unprecedented and life threatening attacks.
We understand that the City is asking for some adjustments to the schedule to accommodate shift changes at the Chicago Police Department (CPD). We also understand that without much notice, CPD is now looking to enforce an ordinance that has never been enforced in this context. We urge community conversations around equitable enforcement of this previously unenforced rule and any other adjustments the City wants to make to the Parade.
The Pride Parade Organizers, Members of Mayor's Advisory on LGBTQ+ Affairs, and supporting organizations, call on the Mayor to do the following:
- Restore participation in the parade commensurate with prior years
- Start the parade one hour earlier, as requested, to accommodate for CPD's shift change
Along with the undersigned parties and organization, schedule community conversations to equitably discuss any concerns or proposed changes to all parades held in the City of Chicago including the St. Patrick's Day Parade, the Bud Billiken Parade, etc. engaging and collecting input from all relevant parties, the relevant Advisory Councils, and directly impacted communities.
We ask the Mayor and the City of Chicago to lean into their values of equity and transparency and work with Parade Organizers, the Advisory Council, and the supporting organizations to restore the Pride Parade and support the LGBTQ+ community in Chicago and beyond.
Respectfully,
Members of the Mayor's Advisory Council on LGBTQ+ Affairs
Maliyah Arnold
Dr. Christopher Balthazar
Donald Bell
Miguel Blancarte, Jr.
Robert Castillo
Starr De Los Santos
Anna DeShawn
Jin-Soo Huh
Kristen Kaza
Mony Ruiz-Velasco
Sanjeev Singh
Stephanie Skora
Eric Wilkerson
Parade Organizers
PRIDE Chicago
Supporting Organizations
The Association of Latinos/as/xs Motivating Action (ALMA)
Art Johnston and Jose "Pepe" Pena
Brave Space Alliance
E3 Radio
Equality Illinois
Dr. Robin Gay, Interim President & CEO on behalf of Howard Brown Health
Executive Director Kim Hunt on behalf of Pride Action Tank
Sidetrack
Windy City Times
The Chicago Pride parade is an important historical, cultural, and community event. On June 27, 1970, Chicago became one of the first four American cities where a Pride parade was held after the Stonewall riots. The Chicago Pride parade is one of the largest and most prominent Pride Parades in the world. It is an important symbol of LGBTQ+ empowerment and visibility where LGBTQ+ people and our allies come together to celebrate our community as we demonstrate our collective power. The Pride Parade is also an important venue for our community. It is often the first place where young people can show up as themselves, celebrating their identities in a supportive, loving, and celebratory environment. The fact that so many allies want to be a part of the Pride celebration is a testament to the power the LGBTQ community has garnered over the years.
The City of Chicago and the State of Illinois have made great strides to advance the rights and protections of LGBTQ+ people. We urge the City of Chicago to work towards having the largest, most visible, and most powerful Pride Parade in the country especially at a time when LGBTQ+ communities, and in particular trans youth, are facing unprecedented and life threatening attacks.
We understand that the City is asking for some adjustments to the schedule to accommodate shift changes at the Chicago Police Department (CPD). We also understand that without much notice, CPD is now looking to enforce an ordinance that has never been enforced in this context. We urge community conversations around equitable enforcement of this previously unenforced rule and any other adjustments the City wants to make to the Parade.
The Pride Parade Organizers, Members of Mayor's Advisory on LGBTQ+ Affairs, and supporting organizations, call on the Mayor to do the following:
- Restore participation in the parade commensurate with prior years
- Start the parade one hour earlier, as requested, to accommodate for CPD's shift change
Along with the undersigned parties and organization, schedule community conversations to equitably discuss any concerns or proposed changes to all parades held in the City of Chicago including the St. Patrick's Day Parade, the Bud Billiken Parade, etc. engaging and collecting input from all relevant parties, the relevant Advisory Councils, and directly impacted communities.
We ask the Mayor and the City of Chicago to lean into their values of equity and transparency and work with Parade Organizers, the Advisory Council, and the supporting organizations to restore the Pride Parade and support the LGBTQ+ community in Chicago and beyond.
Respectfully,
Members of the Mayor's Advisory Council on LGBTQ+ Affairs
Maliyah Arnold
Dr. Christopher Balthazar
Donald Bell
Miguel Blancarte, Jr.
Robert Castillo
Starr De Los Santos
Anna DeShawn
Jin-Soo Huh
Kristen Kaza
Mony Ruiz-Velasco
Sanjeev Singh
Stephanie Skora
Eric Wilkerson
Parade Organizers
PRIDE Chicago
Supporting Organizations
The Association of Latinos/as/xs Motivating Action (ALMA)
Art Johnston and Jose "Pepe" Pena
Brave Space Alliance
E3 Radio
Equality Illinois
Dr. Robin Gay, Interim President & CEO on behalf of Howard Brown Health
Executive Director Kim Hunt on behalf of Pride Action Tank
Sidetrack
Windy City Times