Sundays parade was themed on "Solidarity Through Pride," which was more sorrowful, coming just two weeks after the Orlando mass shooting at the Pulse gay club, where 49 people were killed.
For the past few years Chicago’s Pride Parade has been marked with some victories for LGBT people. Last year the North Side Parade came on the heels of a Supreme Court ruling holding that same sex couples had a constitutional right to marry nationwide.
When the parade started around noon, a group of marchers led the procession carrying signs with the names and images of the Orlando victims. At the front of the line was David Sotomayor, who carried the photo of his cousin, Edward Sotomayor, Jr. Sotomayor said, "Our community is about tearing down walls, not building them up. Love will always conquer hate, and we have to remember that."
Iselle Heredia, a 19 years old said, "It's a celebration, and it's supposed to be fun. Obviously the circumstances are bad. But there's always going to be hate in the world. It's disgusting that some people grow up with that kind of ignorance. But all we can do is be here and try to educate people." But for some people the impact of Orlando shooting massacre was too pathetic to overcome.
Many families brought their children to teach them about love and acceptance. Medina, who is straight, said he has raised his kids differently, and his 29-year-old daughter just got married to another woman. Madina said, “we can't live a lifestyle in a vacuum, we have to live life with an open heart, with open eyes and an open mind, and that starts when you're young.”
For some couples, Pride marked a milestone in their relationships.
Maureen Nelson and Shelly Hurst, of Ukrainian Village, have been coming to the Pride Parade for years, but 2016 marked their first as an engaged couple. Nelson, 33, and Hurst, 43, got engaged on April 22 in Nashville, Tenn, after more than eight years together. On Sunday, they gathered with friends wearing light-blue T-shirts commemorating their engagement.
Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson deployed hundreds of additional uniformed officers, who constantly patrolled the route. Additionally, parade organizers nearly doubled the number of security officers they hired for the event.
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By Prakriti Neogi
