Abolish ICE contingent brings activist roots back to Chicago Pride Parade
Mon. June 29, 2026 6:48 PM by GoPride.com News Staff
photo credit // michael oboza
CHICAGO, ILL. -
By Michael Oboza, Special to GoPride.com
During the Black Cat demonstration, the Compton's Cafeteria riot and the Stonewall rebellion of the 1960s, the people most affected took to the streets to confront police brutality. These events happened before the Christopher Street Liberation Day March or the first Pride rally and march in the 1970s.
History repeats itself with different targeted minority communities.
In 2025, throughout the Northern District of Illinois, 55,000 habeas corpus cases were filed by immigrants, and many successfully challenged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In late 2025, U.S. citizen Keith Porter Jr., a member of Black Lives Matter-LA, was reported killed by ICE.
In early 2026, U.S. citizens Renée Nicole Good, a nurse and mother, and Alex Jeffery Pretti, a nurse, were reported killed by ICE.
Today, there continue to be countless reported and underreported illegal arrests by the Department of Homeland Security and ICE. These arrests of U.S. citizens of color, who have no criminal records, occur without legal warrants and deny individuals their due process protections under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
Early in the morning of the 55th Chicago Pride Parade, a few members prepared a trolley and music for a parade contingent.
Organized Communities Against Deportations, the Gay Liberation Network and Songs for Liberation, a protest music collective representing the voiceless, took to the street. They organized a collaborative Abolish ICE! ¡Abolir ICE! contingent to call for the abolition of police brutality and illegal federal immigration enforcement by ICE.
Dolph Paulsen, a member of Songs for Liberation, shared what Pride means to him.
"Pride means claiming the right to be ourselves, full spectrum of our humanity," Paulsen said.
Andy Thayer of the Gay Liberation Network shared the importance behind the Abolish ICE contingent.
"It's always been in the best sense, an act of solidarity. It's about supporting. We've to support our entire community or we'll all go down. When immigrants in general are under attack, it opens the front attack against queer people," Thayer explained. "Solidarity is at the core of Stonewall. And that's the ethos, we attend to bring today."
During the Black Cat demonstration, the Compton's Cafeteria riot and the Stonewall rebellion of the 1960s, the people most affected took to the streets to confront police brutality. These events happened before the Christopher Street Liberation Day March or the first Pride rally and march in the 1970s.
History repeats itself with different targeted minority communities.
In 2025, throughout the Northern District of Illinois, 55,000 habeas corpus cases were filed by immigrants, and many successfully challenged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In late 2025, U.S. citizen Keith Porter Jr., a member of Black Lives Matter-LA, was reported killed by ICE.
In early 2026, U.S. citizens Renée Nicole Good, a nurse and mother, and Alex Jeffery Pretti, a nurse, were reported killed by ICE.
Today, there continue to be countless reported and underreported illegal arrests by the Department of Homeland Security and ICE. These arrests of U.S. citizens of color, who have no criminal records, occur without legal warrants and deny individuals their due process protections under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
Early in the morning of the 55th Chicago Pride Parade, a few members prepared a trolley and music for a parade contingent.
Organized Communities Against Deportations, the Gay Liberation Network and Songs for Liberation, a protest music collective representing the voiceless, took to the street. They organized a collaborative Abolish ICE! ¡Abolir ICE! contingent to call for the abolition of police brutality and illegal federal immigration enforcement by ICE.
Dolph Paulsen, a member of Songs for Liberation, shared what Pride means to him.
"Pride means claiming the right to be ourselves, full spectrum of our humanity," Paulsen said.
Andy Thayer of the Gay Liberation Network shared the importance behind the Abolish ICE contingent.
"It's always been in the best sense, an act of solidarity. It's about supporting. We've to support our entire community or we'll all go down. When immigrants in general are under attack, it opens the front attack against queer people," Thayer explained. "Solidarity is at the core of Stonewall. And that's the ethos, we attend to bring today."