Jun 28

Jun 28 Gay Pride 2026

Demonstrations, Donald J. Trump, Festivals, Parades, Performance, Protest, Public Declarations, Things to Do in Chicago

The 55th Annual Chicago Gay Pride Parade has now come and gone. Living in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood for 32 years, I have attended or covered countless Pride Parades. As I spoke with an activist today, I recalled that the parade’s staging area was once at the intersection of Halsted and Diversey. Now the parade begins on Halsted several blocks north of Addison. Quite the change.

While today’s parade had its moments, the time has come for the organizers to throw out what has become a tired playbook. Despite the spectacle produced by the crowds lining the route, the parade has become monotonous, largely because over the years, it has been infected by large corporate and governmental interests. This year the parade included 155 entries, four more than last year. As usual, the politicians were out in force, recognizing that the once marginalized LGBQT Community is now a potent political force.

In recent years, the parade has stepped off the curb at 11:00 AM rather than at noon or 1:00 PM, as was the case in earlier years. City officials most likely required an earlier start time hoping to clear the streets of revelers before dusk. Based on the noise outside of my Roscoe Street windows tonight, an earlier start time does little to eliminate the chaos that unfolds in Lakeview’s streets near Boystown following the parade.

Visually, too many of the entries were undifferentiated. Twenty or thirty individuals wearing identical logoed t-shirts strolling behind two or three people carrying a large banner revealing yet another corporate sponsor. No musical instruments; no meaningful signage; and no effort to entertain. Just anodyne corporate conformity. This year’s participants included the CTA, Howard Brown Health, Ropes & Gray, Whole Foods, and Wintrust, among other familiar names. Presumably those and the other large corporate participants view the parade as a marketing opportunity while also mollifying the folks back in HR. Donald J. Trump may diversity in his gunsights, but corporate America can see beyond the Trump era.

Many participants are too lazy (or out of shape) to walk the 1.4-mile parade route. Instead they opt for one of the nondescript trollies or large tourist buses that shuttle groups along the route, meaning that the spectators lining the route see only glimpses of these participants through the trolley windows or by looking upwards at the bobbing heads seemingly detached from bodies.

While I can’t say for sure, the rather pedestrian floats appear to be recycled from year to year, with little freshening up. Most are lined with some sort of wire mesh filled with white crepe or tissue paper. Hardly a colorful rainbow. Little effort is expended on camouflaging the hideous trucks pulling the floats.

With the exception of the Lakeside Pride Marching Band, live music is largely non-existent. Yes, several people can be heard playing instruments as they ride on floats, but by and large, the streets are silent except for the crowd cheering along the route and the large audio speakers on some floats and trucks blaring ear-splitting disco music. Several groups were missing this year, including the cowboys who do a dance routine while twirling rifles, as well as the anti-circumcisionists. Far fewer women showed off their pastie-adorned otherwise bare breasts. The men folk were just as circumspect, with many foregoing junk-revealing spandex shorts. I saw no one marching in just a jockstrap. It’s not a look, but that didn’t prevent one or two participants from stripping down to the bare essentials.

Thankfully, the Bears and Pups still turnout, celebrating their kinks. I might have to get one of those pup masks for Halloween this year. The balloon people did turn out, but the herd was considerably thinner than in previous years.

As I walked a portion of the parade route, I thought the crowds standing behind the bicycle rack barriers lining the route looked thinner than in past years. Without any prompt from me, someone who apparently can read minds concurred with my observation. Notably, after the parade wrapped, the local newspapers described attendance as being in the thousands rather than the usual hundreds of thousands. My intuition tells me that 100,000 or 200,000 attended, but any effort at a crowd estimate is a fool’s errand. The spectators certainly didn’t number a million, a number that has been bandied about in prior years.

The Chicago Police Department was out in force. Police officers were on every corner. Vehicular access to the parade route from the adjoining side streets was cut off by large municipal trucks and police SUVs strategically positioned, meaning that no one could ram a speeding car into the spectators lining the route.

Interestingly, I saw a number of officers whose badges revealed that they were members of CPD’s anti-terrorism unit. Normally, at downtown rallies and marches, the officers are identified as members of the Critical Response Unit. One thing is for sure: If you were planning to stick up a store today, the place to do it was on the other side of town. It seemed like the entire Chicago Police Department lined the parade route and the surrounding streets. Don’t take that as a recommendation for next year’s parade.

The media reported that 34 people were arrested during the parade and at after-parties where people line the streets imbibing and twerking. I did see one counter-demonstrator clad in a t-shirt referencing Jesus taken into the custody. He spent most of the afternoon at the parade’s terminus holding a sign reading, “Don’t Take the Mark of the Beast," whatever that means. While the guy was fairly subdued, I sensed that he would be arrested before the parade came to its conclusion.

When I witness potential candidates for arrest at rallies and marches, the lawyer in me always wants to approach them, offering some free legal advice, “It just isn’t worth it. Chill.” But that’s not my job, so I just stand with a raised camera waiting. If I am honest, I hope that the idiot resists arrest, resulting in the police first clubbing him like a baby seal, and then dragging him to the transport wagon. Sorry, but for me, it’s about the visuals.

In years past, CPD has set up a barricaded area on Diversey for counter-demonstrators. The group from Florida that regularly showed up each year was conspicuously absent this year, as were the barricades designed to separate the counter-demonstrators from the celebrants. I used to capture some of my best parade images while standing next to the area reserved for counter-demonstrators. A guy named Reuben really knew how to bait the crowd.

After 90 minutes or so, when there were no units headed east on Diversey, my counter-demonstrator finally made his move, walking from the street corner to the otherwise empty parade route, where he headed west down Diversey. At that point, the police surrounded him.

I don’t know whether the officer in charge gave him a final warning, but the man eventually found himself in handcuffs, being escorted back to the corner, where he was placed into a small police vehicle for transport to wherever they finally took him. While sitting in the police vehicle, his smug look quickly evaporated. He now looked dejected, apparently realizing the gravity of the predicament he now faced. Once again, I thought, “it just isn’t worth it.”

When I spoke with an officer several years ago at a demonstration, I was told that the people who are arrested for disorderly conduct are taken downtown, where they appear before a judge. If I recall the officer’s comments correctly, the detainee usually receives a ticket for disorderly conduct, assuming the person did not resist arrest. The police seemingly give these sorts lots of latitude, hoping to avoid paperwork-producing arrests, but some people nevertheless push the limits too far.

The Gay Community’s success in achieving liberation and equality has undermined the parade as visual spectacle, which is why arrests are so much fun. For much of the parade’s 55-five-year history, the parade and its participants ozooed playful militancy, explaining why more than a few marchers were scantily clad, engaged in what is best described as salacious behavior, or at they least mimed such behavior. I saw far less twerking and pelvic thrusting today than I did a decade ago. Too many of those lucky enough to grab a spot on one of the floats wore blank stares—no waves or smiles. Anyone who rides a float is a performer and entertainer. They should act accordingly.

I saw very few bead necklaces tossed into the crowd, a practice that was a staple of past parades. Nor did I see marchers interact with spectators, which probably is attributable to the barriers lining the street.

Normally, I spend most of my time at the parade’s end point because I have a clear line of sight. Today, the police erected barriers limiting available photographic angles. The useless volunteer marshals dressed in pink t-shirts further obstructed my sight lines. Get the fuck out of my shot!

In short, the annual Gay Pride Parade has morphed into the Columbus Day Parade. Like their Gay brethren, Italians were once discriminated against. Now both groups use their parades to celebrate a homogenized, largely non-controversial heritage and culture.

The Gay Community, however, would be wise not to prematurely celebrate total liberation and equality. With Trump in the White House and the continuing ascendency of the Christian right, the Gay Community is not yet totally in the clear. I saw very few spectators or parade participants who seemed to recognize the risks posed by Trump and the Christian right. Nor did I see many references to Trump. One of the far-Left groups staked out a position at the end of the route, distributing literature and hoping to recruit new adherents, but I saw few takers.

I was pleased to see one group parading behind a banner that read, The Legacy Project, We Will Not Be Erased. The marchers carried images of notable Gays, including Freda Kahlo, Bayard Rustin, Dusty Springfield, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Alan Turing. Younger members of the LGBQT Community should know a little history—the time when members of the LGBQT Community were still closeted because they were viewed as social pariahs and deviants.

As for me, by 2:15 PM, I was hot, bored and thirsty. The final units had just turned the corner at the intersection of Broadway and Diversey, about six blocks in the distance. My patience has been taxed to the max. Off I went to buy a Diet Coke and to find some shade. The parade is too long.

Before ending, let me salute the Pups and the Bears. They keep what should still be a visual spectacle interesting, at least when they pass by.

[Click on an Image to Enlarge It. The Images Are Not Necessarily in Exact Chronological Order]