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Chicago Pride Parade
The Chicago Pride Parade 2006, on Halsted Street at Brompton Avenue
Status	Active
Genre	Pride parade
Location(s)	Chicago
Country	USA
Inaugurated	June 27, 1970 (1970-06-27)
Participants	15,000
Attendance	+1 million
Organized by	PRIDEChicago
Website	pridechicago.org

The Chicago Pride Parade, also colloquially (and formerly) called the Chicago Gay Pride Parade or PRIDE Chicago, 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 largest by attendance in the world. 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 ("Bughouse Square") 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 (and ability to handle crowds) 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 (NFL running back), Billy Bean (major league outfielder) and Greg Louganis (Olympic diver).

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 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.

Pre-Parade Celebration

The year 2019 marked the 19th Annual Pre-Parade Celebration, also known as Chicago's two day long Pride Festival. 2019's Chicago Pride Festival saw over 100,000 people, the festival is held on the Saturday and Sunday before the Pride Parade. Each year there is a suggested ten dollar donation while entering the festival for LGBTQ fundraisers, events, etc. The festival is open rain or shine and held in Boystown, a neighborhood of Lake View, Chicago. The streets are blocked off from traffic so the celebration can take place throughout the streets all weekend long. Each year there are multiple different performers performing on the three main stages at the festival. Some of 2021's performers included Betty Who, LeAnn Rimes, Pabllo Vittar, Alex Newell and Inaya Day. The Pre-Parade Celebration is just one of the many events held in Boystown in the month of June.

Dates and Attendance

Grand Marshals

Weather

The Chicago Pride Parade is held on the last Sunday in June, so the weather is usually warm. The average high temperature at O'Hare Airport for the parade day since 1970 is 83 degrees; the average low is 61 degrees; and 22% of parade days have seen measurable precipitation. The warmest pride parade was 99 degrees in 1983, and the wettest pride parade was in 1978 when 0.92 inches of rain fell.

See also

• LGBT culture in Chicago
• Pride Parade

References

1. "12 Biggest Pride Parades In The World". Grunge. June 2, 2022. Retrieved June 4, 2023.
2. "Gay Liberation Stages March to Civic Center". Chicago Tribune. June 28, 1970. p. A3. Retrieved June 9, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Outspoken: Chicago's Free Speech Tradition". Newberry Library. Archived from the original on February 17, 2005. Retrieved September 7, 2008.
4. Littke, Jim (June 25, 2010). "Sports' Most Macho Trophy Shows New Kind of Pride". National Hockey League. Associated Press. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
5. Greenfield, Beth (May 25, 2007). "A Month of Coming-Out Parties (Published 2007)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
6. "The World's Biggest Pride Parades". The Active Times. June 4, 2018.
7. "Richard Pfeiffer, coordinator of Chicago Pride Parade since 1974, dies at 70". ABC7 Chicago. October 8, 2019.
8. "Photos: 2022 Chicago Pride Parade". GoPride. June 26, 2022. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
9. Wittich, Jake (June 30, 2024). "Chicago Pride Parade sees massive celebration regardless of shorter route, entry cap". Windy City Times. Windy City Times. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
10. ^ "Chicago Pride Fest 2019 - Pre Parade Celebration". Chicago Pride Fest. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
11. ^ de la Croix, Sukie (November 26, 2009). "Gay Power: A History of Chicago Pride". Chicago Free Press. Archived from the original on December 8, 2009.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
12. Rotenberk, Lori (June 26, 1989). "Daley is first mayor to lead gays' parade". Chicago Sun-Times.
13. Baim, Tracy (July 2, 2003). "375,000+ at 2003 Pride Parade". Windy City Times.
14. Wayne, Kevin (June 28, 2004). "Gay Chicago Celebrates Pride". ChicagoPride.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2007.
15. Wayne, Kevin (June 27, 2005). "Chicago Celebrates 36th Annual Gay Pride Parade". ChicagoPride.com. Archived from the original on June 29, 2006.
16. "Chicago Sun-Times". Archived from the original on July 4, 2008. Retrieved June 27, 2006.
17. "Chicago Tribune news | Registration". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on June 28, 2007. Retrieved June 25, 2007.
18. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 15, 2009. Retrieved June 30, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
19. "450,000 on hand for diverse mix of stars in Pride Parade". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on July 1, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
20. "Chicago Annual Pride Parade". PRIDEChicago. 2010. Archived from the original on July 5, 2010.
21. "Pride Parade 2011". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011.
22. Hinkel, Dan (June 24, 2012). "Expanded Pride Parade Draws Record Number". Chicago Tribune.
23. Toner, Casey. "1 Million Celebrate at Pride Parade". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014.
24. "Chicago's 44th Annual Gay Pride Parade (6/30/13)". ChicagoPride.com. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013.
25. Bauer, Kelly & Parker, Alex (June 29, 2014). "Pride Parade 2014: 'You're Not Just a Second-Class Citizen'". DNAinfo. Archived from the original on June 27, 2015.
26. "Estimated 1 Million People Attend Chicago Pride Parade on City's North Side". ABC7 Chicago. Chicago: WLS-TV. June 29, 2015.
27. Berman, Melissa (June 27, 2016). "Chicago Pride Parade Draws an Estimated 1 Million People". Chicago: WGN-TV.
28. Cauguiran, Cate (June 26, 2017). "48th Annual Chicago Pride Parade Held on North Side". ABC7 Chicago. Chicago: WLS-TV.
29. "Grand Marshal announced for Chicago's 49th Pride Parade". Go Pride. May 18, 2018.
30. Ross, Jeremy (June 24, 2018). "Big Crowds Packed Chicago Pride Parade". CBS Chicago. Chicago: WBBM-TV.
31. "Lightfoot Named Honorary Grand Marshal of 2019 Chicago Pride Parade". ChicagoPride.com. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
32. "53rd annual Chicago Pride Parade brings over 1M people to North Side Sunday". WGN TV. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
33. "Esera Tuaolo at Chicago Pride". Windy City Times. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
34. "Fortune Feimster And Jax Smith Will Grand Marshal Chicago's 2024 Pride Parade". Block Club Chicago. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
35. June Daily Weather Records for Chicago Illinois

External links

• PRIDEChicago.org — parade's official website
• Northalsted.com - festival’s official website
• chicagopride.gopride.com — news and information about the parade and festival weekend, entries and performers

• Festivals in Chicago
• LGBTQ events in Illinois
• LGBTQ culture in Chicago
• Pride parades in the United States
• 1970 establishments in Illinois
• Recurring events established in 1970