{"id":899424,"date":"2026-06-28T22:01:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T22:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/899424\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T22:01:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T22:01:19","slug":"crowds-come-out-for-chicago-pride-parade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/899424\/","title":{"rendered":"Crowds come out for Chicago Pride parade"},"content":{"rendered":"

For 13 years, Brad Jankowiak, 58, and Jeremy Roystom, 47, have made it a tradition to go to Chicago\u2019s Pride Parade, preserving each year\u2019s glittering beads in frames at home.<\/p>\n

But this year, they brought a piece of home with them: rainbow tie-dyed shirts belonging to Roystom\u2019s mother, who died last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wore them here so she\u2019s with us,\u201d Jankowiak said. \u201cShe\u2019s always been supportive of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019d never been to Pride, but was a strong supporter of their 20-year relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe brought her with us today so she can have a last, great time,\u201d Roystom said. \u201cI wanted it to be her first Pride.\u201d<\/p>\n

The East Lakeview couple were just two of thousands who came out to Chicago\u2019s annual Pride Parade Sunday, with spectators lining the streets to celebrate LGBTQ+ rights and visibility.<\/p>\n

The Chicago parade hasn\u2019t always felt celebratory to Jankowiak, who comes from a \u201cright-winged family\u201d in Michigan. But he said what used to feel more like a time for protest now feels festive.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was more of a fight,\u201d he said. \u201cNow we get to celebrate the fight is over.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, this year\u2019s parade comes as LGBTQ+ advocates and lawmakers say rights are increasingly under threat from actions taken by the Trump administration. Since returning to office, Trump has signed executive orders recognizing only two sexes<\/a>, sought to bar transgender people from serving in the military and moved to roll back federal protections for transgender students<\/a> in schools and colleges.<\/p>\n

\"HusbandsHusbands Dan and Vicco Guerrero kiss while watching the 55th annual Chicago Pride Parade on Sunday, June 28, 2026, in the Lakeview neighborhood. (Brian Cassella\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

But Ald. Andre Vasquez, 40th, assures LGBTQ+ Chicagoans they should feel secure in their city.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re one of the few places in the country where you can feel safe,\u201d he said. \u201cAll that work being done to constantly make sure we\u2019re protecting folks that are marginalized is important because we\u2019re seeing fascism at our front door.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vasquez wore over 600 beaded necklaces around his neck, handing them out to the crowd along the parade route as they made their way south on Halsted.<\/p>\n

The two-mile parade stepped off from West Sheridan and Broadway in Northalsted at 11 a.m. It featured 155 registered entries, including community organizations, local businesses, sports teams and government officials.<\/p>\n

\"SpectatorsSpectators enjoy the 55th annual Chicago Pride Parade on Sunday, June 28, 2026, in the Lakeview neighborhood. (Brian Cassella\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Along the route, parade marshals held \u201cKeep Forward Motion\u201d signs to both guide the crowd and to reflect the day\u2019s broader message of continuing progress on LGBTQ+ rights.<\/p>\n

At a restaurant moments before the parade departed, Gov. JB Pritzker held a reception to sign three bills strengthening protections for LGBTQ+ people.<\/p>\n

One bill removes testosterone from the state\u2019s Prescription Monitoring Program, a state-run database that tracks the dispensing of controlled substances. It also prevents the tracking of abortion medications like mifepristone and misoprostol. The bill is intended to protect patient privacy.<\/p>\n

Another bill legally codifies Illinois\u2019 existing policy allowing residents to update or select their gender marker on state IDs and driver\u2019s licenses.<\/p>\n

The third requires insurance companies to cover up to six months of prescribed hormone therapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to point out that one of the things that we should have pride about and that all around the country, I think people look in envy about, is the fact that Illinois truly does step up and protect our LGBTQ+ people,\u201d Pritzker said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re not gonna stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pritzker was also joined by state and local government officials and representatives from Planned Parenthood of Illinois and LGBTQ+ advocacy organization Equality Illinois.<\/p>\n

\"Gov.Gov. JB Pritzker borrows a hat from an attendee during the 55th annual Chicago Pride Parade on Sunday, June 28, 2026, in the Lakeview neighborhood. (Brian Cassella\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s parade, now in its 55th year, is one of the nation\u2019s oldest and biggest Pride celebrations. It began in 1970<\/a> to mark the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York.<\/p>\n

Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson joined this year\u2019s parade. Grand marshals were the Alliance of Illinois Judges, Windy City Times founder Tracy Baim<\/a>, civil rights leader Mona Noriega and community advocate Evette Cardona. The marshals were selected through a public nomination process.<\/p>\n

Instead of beads and candy, the Alliance of Illinois Judges opted to distribute pocket-sized copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution from their trolley.<\/p>\n

Cook County Circuit Court Judge Stephanie Miller said the group marching in the parade humanizes the judiciary and showcases its diversity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important for everybody who comes before us when we\u2019re on the bench to see us as people who look like them and represent where they come from, and who they are as well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Robin Mersereau traveled from Grand Haven, Michigan for Chicago Pride. As he watched the parade, he carefully applied streaks of rainbow paint to his friends\u2019 faces.<\/p>\n

Mersereau said he was impressed by the sheer number of floats and marchers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a long time where it felt like this wasn\u2019t something people could talk about and now everybody, not just LGBTQ+ people, is coming out to celebrate, which feels pretty great,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"PartcipantsPartcipants ride the Trikone float celebrating the South Asian community during the 55th annual Chicago Pride Parade on Sunday, June 28, 2026, in the Lakeview neighborhood. (Brian Cassella\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Cheri Halla, 55, came from Bolingbrook to march with PFLAG, an advocacy organization made up of friends and family of LGBTQ+ people. She wore a t-shirt reading \u201cFree Mom Hugs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many people I talk to from the community who are disowned,\u201d she said. \u201cThey need somebody here. I can be that person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Halla\u2019s own child identifies as \u201cnon-gender.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI worry about them,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For 13 years, Brad Jankowiak, 58, and Jeremy Roystom, 47, have made it a tradition to go to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":899425,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,15344,5386,1818,9990,364320,364318,364319],"class_list":["post-899424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-pride-parade","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-pride-parade","tag-pride-parade-toute","tag-when-is-the-chicago-pride-parade","tag-where-is-the-chicago-pride-parade"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=899424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/899425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=899424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=899424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=899424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}