The parade is scheduled each year for the last Sunday in June.Ĭhicago LGBT Hall of Fame is the first float which is leading the parade. The calendar is featured on their web site, in their annual Pride Guide booklet and in local LGBTQ publications. They include choral concerts, workshops, dances, picnics, religious services, plays, film screenings, 5K & 10 K runs, several festivals, a dyke march and the Annual Pride Parade, just to name a few.Įvery year, these events are compiled by, PRIDEChicago, to create the June Pride Month Calendar. The events take place in different areas of the Chicago metro area. Now, every year in Chicago, June Pride Month features close to one hundred different social, cultural, athletic and political events coordinated by various community organizations, groups and individuals. A theme for this year’s Pride celebrations, suggested by InterPride (an international group of Pride committees), is “Viva la Vida.” An alternate theme is “Stand Up, Stand Proud.” No matter how an individual wants to commemorate and celebrate Pride, there is an event or function that can fit the needs of most people.
Spacing events over an entire month allows potential participants the choice of selecting events that they want to attend at their leisure.Įach year, parade entries, as well as groups sponsoring Pride Month events, have the option of using an international theme, an alternate theme or a theme or slogan of their own choice. However, as the communities grew, there was a realization both locally and nationally that Pride Week needed to be expanded to “Pride Month” in order to accommodate the abundance of events. Historically, in the 1970’s and 1980’s, Pride events were concentrated during a week called “Pride Week” in Chicago, as well as other cities nationwide. The global landscape for LGBTQ+ rights, protections and acceptance varies tremendously by location, with some destinations attracting millions of visitors to their events like Madrid Gay Pride, Sao Paulo Gay Pride or San Francisco Gay Pride, while more than 70 other countries have laws that allow discrimination or persecution of LGBTQ+ people.
Theme: “Viva la Vida/ Stand Up, Stand Proud” The 1998 Gay Pride Parade Photo: Terrence James/Chicago Tribune The 46th annual Chicago Pride Parade will be held this Sunday at noon, and this year's edition could be special for a few reasons.