‘Pride should be a happy, welcoming place’: Thousands celebrate Chicago parade amid anxiety over anti-LGBTQ politics
Mark Brandt, 26, and Wes Conkling, 30, got up at 7 a.m. to make it to Chicago from Aurora for Sunday’s Pride Parade.
They sat on the sidewalk waiting for the procession to start, holding hands.
”I love the oneness of it all,” Brandt said. “I come from a family that’s pretty homophobic, if I’m being honest. I haven’t always been able to be open with myself and who I am.”
The march, which is the biggest in the Midwest, lasted for hours. Dozens of attendees said they felt the historic levels of support for LGBTQ people that have grown over the past few years, despite recent anti-LGBTQ legislation and some backlash.
Brandt and Conkling said they are in a “throuple” but the third member of their relationship wasn’t there. Conkling met Brandt’s boyfriend on Tinder, and the three of them have been together since February.
Conkling donned rainbow suspenders and had a rainbow flag painted on his cheek. He said he remembers what it was like 10 years ago, and called today’s attitude toward LGBTQ communities a “radical transformation.” As a transgender male, he said he appreciates Gen Z’s more open attitude toward trans people.
”As an older person — 27 or 28 — starting this process, it felt really nice that there was this burgeoning community to slide right into,” he said.
From Uptown to Lakeview, floats, trucks, golf carts and cars decked out with streamers and flags rolled down the street. People danced, played brass and beat drums, hoisted signs above their heads, did cartwheels and honked as they proceeded.
”This is what Pride looks like,” read one sign. “Curiosity over judgment,” read another.
At one point, it started to pour. The crowd and the participants were unwavering, letting the rain pound down. They cheered and swung multicolored beads over their heads.
One man bounced a baby on his shoulders, who cried out gleefully and spun around a small flag.
Laurie Hannigan, 60, from Oak Park, hadn’t been to the Chicago Pride Parade in six years. She used to march with the Oak Park Area Lesbian & Gay Association, in a float made from her pickup truck.
“It feels pretty good to be back,” Hannigan said. “I mean, I’m a little old to be marching this far, but it’ll still be fun.”
Hannigan and her niece, 26-year-old Jocelyn Davidson from Elk Grove Village, were passing out Pedialyte to passersby during the parade. Davidson, who is bisexual, said it’s getting scary because of recent political attacks on the LGBTQ community, making it even more important to celebrate Pride this year.
“Pride should be a happy, welcoming place,” Davidson said.
Advocates said Pride celebrations are crucial during a time when political conversations about LGBTQ rights have become more hostile.
The parade’s history can be traced to the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in New York City, a series of protests responding to a police raid of Stonewall Inn, a gay bar. Chicago’s first Pride march was held on the one-year anniversary of those protests.
Parade coordinator Tim Frye said that in terms of participants, this year’s parade is the largest in recent memory.
It’s also different because of the past year of anti-LGBTQ legislation introduced in many states across the country, which Frye said has brought some anxiety. But nearly every organization that participated last year returned for Sunday’s parade, along with new groups and organizations, he said.
“There was just this anxious feeling, but (returning participants) really wanted to be out and doing it,” Frye said.
It was the first Pride Parade for 16-year-old Maisy McDonough and 18-year-old Katie Bavirsha. They both did their rainbow eye makeup and face paint in the car on the way to Chicago and said they were excited to see everyone’s outfits.
They were marching with Cross of Glory Lutheran Church in Homer Glen. For Bavirsha, who said she’s an ally to the LGBTQ community, Pride month is a time to celebrate community.
”Let’s see where we stand as not only people in faith, but people who are uniting as individuals and coming together as people who are here to celebrate everyone’s differences,” Bavirsha said.
McDonough, who is bisexual, said she’s excited to “be united” after a tough year for the LGBTQ community.
”I think we really need the love of this parade,” McDonough said.
Arshawna Brown, a 19-year-old from Georgia, said she met her best friend Shyann Moncrief when the two of them were 6.
”She started playing with my hair in the middle of class and she was like: ‘We’re going to be best friends!’” Moncrief said.
Brown is now a hairstylist and the two of them are roommates in Rogers Park. They came with Brown’s family and set up a large speaker on the sidewalk to blare music and dance with her sister and aunt. They wore fishnet stockings and large hoop metal earrings with rainbow statement pieces: Brown in a butterfly rainbow bralette and Moncrief in a fluffy rainbow tutu.
Moncrief is a recent transplant to Chicago, and said she came here mostly because she was drawn to the open environment. She calls herself a writer, and said her favorite thing to write is “pretty poetry.”
”My sister is actually nonbinary. I come from the South, where it’s a lot more conservative. You don’t see as many open gay people,” she said. “The scene out here today, it’s striking.”
The best friends are bisexual and said they are still on a learning journey. They were brought up Christian and have enjoyed attending Pride events together and discussing them after.
“Seeing people out here who are openly religious but still gay is very comforting. It’s really cool to learn from that community and expand that knowledge,” Brown said.
William “Tripp” Kelley, 60, and Todd Armbruster, 65, wore matching rainbow jumpsuits and knee socks, grinning.
”We got these from my straight brother, who’s gayer than I am!” Armbruster said.
He pulled down his pants to show off their matching Calvin Klein rainbow underwear, also from his brother.
”What are you doing?” teased Kelley.
Kelley and Armbruster, who live in Edgewater, said they are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year. They met at Touché, a gay leather bar in Rogers Park.
”We go back every year on our anniversary,” said Armbruster, giving his partner a knowing look.
Kelley is from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Armbruster from Houston. Kelley said he came here searching for a place where he could feel comfortable as he was.
”Chicago has always brought that. Even today,” he said. “We have a beautiful home. We live in a beautiful neighborhood. We have beautiful friends.”
He said he sometimes gets nervous coming to events like this because bad things can happen, referencing the mass shooting that took place in Highland Park almost a year ago, killing seven people and wounding dozens more.
”We can’t let that scare us away,” he said. “There’s no stopping us. We’re here.”
