June 1st officially began a month of celebration of pride in the international and local gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities. Each year, dozens of social, cultural, athletic and political events take place during June Pride Month. The largest event of the month is the Chicago Annual Pride Parade which is expected to attract several hundred thousand people. Similar parades take place in dozens of other cities worldwide.
Chicago's 35th Annual Pride Parade, on Sunday, June 27, will begin lining up at the corner of Halsted St. and Belmont Ave. At noon, the parade will step off from the Halsted/ Belmont corner, proceeding north on Halsted St. (to Broadway), then south on Broadway (to Diversey Ave.), and then east on Diversey Ave. to Cannon Drive. More than 200 registered entries will include businesses, organizations, individual marchers and political officials. Floats, decorated vehicles and marching units will be part of the procession.
Leading the parade will be Esera Tuaolo, gay former professional football player. He played with the Green Bay Packers and five other professional teams, and also played in Super Bowl XXXIII. He retired to pursue a career in acting and singing, most recently in a commercial for Chili's Restaurants. He and his life partner, Mitchell Wherley, also raise two adopted children.
Pride Parades were originally started to commemorate the night in June 1969 when gays and lesbians fought back during a raid at the Stonewall Inn, a New York City gay bar. Gay bars were routinely raided by the police in the 1960s across the country. That night a riot ensued, kicking off the formation of the modern day gay rights movement. Since that time, the parades have grown into celebrations that include social as well as political expressions of pride.
In Chicago, Mayor Richard M. Daley has issued his annual proclamation naming June as "Pride Month in Chicago" to recognize the many contributions that the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender communities have made to our city.
For more information, email PrideChgo@aol.com.
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