Nearly 100 groups are on the waitlist to be in this year's Chicago Pride Parade after city officials mandated the annual event be cut by almost 40 percent.
The waitlist for the June 30 parade includes 98 organizations—most of them corporations with business and employee resource groups—that might not make the cut to be included in this year's march, said Steve Long, co-coordinator for the 2024 Pride Parade.
City officials implemented a 125-entry cap on the parade this year due to "safety and logistical concerns," the event coordinators previously said. That's about a 37 percent decrease from the 199 groups that marched in 2023. Windy City Times was the first to break the news.
The entry cap is among a few changes the city is imposing on the Pride Parade in an effort to better manage its staffing and resources throughout the day, including shifting the parade's start time up to 11 a.m. instead of noon, the parade's organizers said. Local officials have also said the city is exploring whether a post-parade street festival would be possible to better manage crowds.
But parade organizers weren't informed of the new changes until mid-March, leaving them with three months to adjust plans, Long said.
"We were frustrated," Long told Windy City Times. "The late notice put us in a tough situation."
The parade's coordinators—Tim Frye, Ron Thomas and Long—are prioritizing LGBTQ+ organizations, groups, businesses and employee resource groups when determining who the 125 entries will be, they previously said in a statement.
But that still leaves numerous groups that won't make the cut this year, including five local private schools who marched last year were informed via email they wouldn't be participating this year. Parade organizers said they're exploring ways the schools can still be included.
"As we align with the new guidelines from the City of Chicago, we understand these changes—not exclusive to schools—will disappoint some," the coordinators said in a statement April 16. "However, let's not lose sight of our love for the parade. Instead, let's explore alternative ways to support and celebrate."
'Safety and logistical concerns'
The Chicago Pride Parade draws nearly 1 million people to the North Side every year and is one of the largest LGBTQ+ celebrations in the country. It's also known for lasting hours, with the 2023 parade taking four-and-a-half hours to wrap.
Erica Schroeder, director of public information for the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT), said the entry limit is to ensure the Pride Parade complies with city ordinances restricting all parades to two hours and 15 minutes. She previously said parade permit applications are reviewed by multiple departments to identify potential conflicts, safety issues and the availability of resources.
This year's Pride Parade happens the same week as Fourth of July and the weekend before NASCAR's Chicago Street Race.
"As with all major events in the city, we are constantly evaluating options to improve safety while also delivering the best experience for our visitors, residents and community," Schroeder said in a statement.
Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th Ward), one of the city's nine openly LGBTQ+-identifying city council members, whose ward is one of three that the parade route passes through, said the decision to downsize came down to limited police staffing and other resources.
Hundreds of officers staff the Pride Parade every year, using thousands of hours of overtime, according to an analysis by CBS Chicago. The police department often cancels days off for police so they can staff summer events like Lollapalooza, Market Days and—happening this year—the Democratic National Convention.
The earlier start time will also better align with the police department's shift changes, allowing for an easier transition after the parade and again in the late-night hours, Lawson said.
"There is a need to keep the community safe all day," Lawson said. "The parade has its own atmosphere and footprint, and then there's the time immediately after the parade and different things happening late at night."
Last year saw crowds of teenagers taking over streets in the late-night hours after the Pride Parade—something that carried into the next day and was reported by the Sun-Times. In 2022, three people were stabbed and another three were shot in Lake View during the late-night hours after the Pride Parade, according to a report from Block Club Chicago.
Lawson said his office has been talking with Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling and the Town Hall (19th) police district to create a plan for managing crowds this year.
"We're likely going to use more police later than we do for the event itself," Lawson said. "We've got to manage that throughout the whole day, not just the parade."
City officials are also trying to determine whether a post-parade street festival would be possible to help better manage crowds in the hours after the event, Lawson said.
Kevin Barbeau, executive director of the Northalsted Business Alliance, which organizes the neighborhood's annual Pride Festival the weekend before the parade, said in an emailed statement planning for such a festival has not begun.
"We're still in discussion-mode as to how/if it would occur," Barbeau said.
The city's Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, which is in charge of processing applications for outdoor festivals, did not return a request for comment.
'Everybody is feeling left out'
The Pride Parade lineup is still being finalized and likely won't be announced until June, but every LGBTQ+ organization and LGBTQ+-owned business that was in the parade last year will be included again this year, Long said.
One way organizers are downsizing the parade is by limiting politicians' participation, Long said. He added, "They're all marching as one contingent at the front of the parade. They'll have preferably one guest and no banners or vehicles."
Other cuts have included some corporations' employee and business resource groups, as well as five private schools that have marched in previous year's parades, Long said.
The private schools were informed of their denial in a March 26 email from the parade's organizers that was reviewed by Windy City Times. They include Francis W. Parker School, Catherine Cook School, Near North Montessori School, Rogers Park Montessori School and Lycée Français de Chicago. The Nettelhorst School, part of Chicago Public Schools and the first school to march in the Chicago Pride Parade, was included in this email, but parade organizers told them Tuesday they were to be included.
"Much as we would like, we simply cannot bring everyone back to the parade this year," the coordinators wrote in the email. "We have always enjoyed and appreciated each of your school's participation in the Pride Parade. But we simply don't have the luxury of space in this smaller parade to invite you to return this year."
Karen Liszka, a teacher at Francis W. Parker, said this would have been the school's fifth year participating in the Pride Parade.
"We're disappointed," Liszka said. "This is something our school has looked forward to participating in for years, and it seems a bit ironic for something that's supposed to be so inclusive to then have limits and restrictions on who can participate."
Liszka said the school should be included as an LGBTQ+ organization because its community includes LGBTQ+ students, staffers and families who look forward to participating in the parade every year. The school also has Pride Alliances, which serve a similar role to gay-straight alliance clubs, available for students fourth grade and up.
"Schools are the lifeblood of any community," Liszka said. "We open up doors for learning, and not being able to have this opportunity to share in a community celebration really hurts what we can do curricularly."
After the Sun-Times reported about the schools' not being included, Long said Tuesday the parade planning committee was exploring options to include all schools that participated in 2023.
Looking ahead to next year, the parade's coordinators hope to have more community involvement when it comes to planning, Long said.
"We certainly want everybody to march in the parade," Long said. "But we've got 98 groups on the waitlist and everybody is feeling left out."
See www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/pride-parade-scaled-back-chicago-police-staffing/, chicago.suntimes.com/2023/6/27/23775864/lakeview-street-takeover-belmont-pride-parade-cta, blockclubchicago.org/2022/06/29/woman-stabbed-3-people-during-argument-hours-after-pride-parade-police-say/ and chicago.suntimes.com/lgbtq/2024/04/15/pride-parade-denies-almost-all-previous-years-school-participants.
