Not proud of Pride
Is there anyway to give a positive review of Sunday's Pride Parade? Not from my perspective.
First, the parade was delayed. Whether the delay was preventable or not, it made for a very long day. At position number 116 in the parade, the organization I was with finally received word that a pedestrian had been hit by a float. What I have heard today from two friends who weren't even at the parade was that someone fell off a float and broke a leg. Would that really cause an hour-long delay in the parade? Did it take a long time for an ambulance to get to the injured person? We didn't know, but we all waited for 2 ½ hours to cross the start line.
Second, it rained. Bad weather can ruin any parade, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. But it sure can make for some soggy marching.
Third, and most important, many of the parade watchers and drunken attendees were out of control! The way I figure it, there were no barricades on over 80 percent of the parade route. In some places where there were barricades, bystanders were four and five people deep in front of the barricades, on both sides of the street. Something is wrong with this picture. I asked a parade monitor in a yellow jacket to try to keep people out of our way, and the response I received was 'they're out of control.' Does the City of Chicago, the parade organizers or the Chicago Police Department care about the safety of the pedestrians or marchers? And what were the parade monitors and police doing about this situation throughout the parade route? Nothing that I could see.
As a parade marcher from a religious organization, I did not feel safe. And I took offense to being touched by bystanders and being slapped on the ass. That was a violation of my personal space and a breach of my personal safety. There were parts of the parade route that were barely passable for floats and marchers because the bystanders were closing in on the participants. I find this to be unacceptable and dangerous.
From bystanders touching marchers and going right up to floats and the monitors doing nothing about the situation, to the police standing by 'watching' the whole mess and taking pictures with the 'pretty ladies,' I am ashamed at what this parade has become.
And have I mentioned the thousands of drunken fools? I am certainly not an old fuddy-duddy or a Miss Priss, but isn't there an open-container rule/law in Chicago? Has the city and its police department decided that it is ok for thousands of Pride watchers to drink openly for hours on end; put their lives at risk with moving parade floats; be bothersome and disorderly in front of parade marchers; and yell and scream in our faces as we marched by in the pouring rain ( once again, there were no barriers ) ? Does this behavior occur at other Chicago parades?
I can't blame the powers that be because it rained, and maybe the person fell off the float because there were huge gusts of wind during the parade. I do blame the Pride Parade organizers, the City of Chicago,and the Chicago Police Department for their utter lack of control, willingness and authority to keep the parade safe and fun for all.
I am going to think long and hard before participating or attending the parade again in the future.
Robin Sampliner
Deerfield, IL
PRIDEChicago ( the parade organizers ) responds: We are sorry that you had a negative experience at the parade.
When you have large crowds, there are occasional injuries that do occur. In the past when this has happened at the parade, the injured individual has been moved to the curb for his or her own protection and comfort. However, this time, for some reason, a medical decision was made not to move the individual, thus delaying the parade 45 minutes.
In addition, the second heavy downpour impaired the vision of both drivers and marchers in the parade, thus causing more delay. For that reason, many parade vehicles either stopped or drove at a snail's pace out of fear of possibly hitting a vehicle or marcher in front of them.
In relation to barricades, we ask the City for more every year. However, the demand from Taste of Chicago prevents the City from providing as many as they would like. We are exploring ways to provide more barricades for next year as well as dealing with other issues regarding the parade.
Again, we are sorry that you had a negative experience.
Anita's allies
As members of the GLBT community in Cook County, we are proud to publicly announce our support of Anita Alvarez, Democratic candidate for Cook County State's Attorney. Recently, her opponent ran an ad in this paper with a photo of one of our community's leaders, who is actually an Alvarez supporter.
Mr. Peraica does not have a record of support for our community. In fact, he has repeatedly taken stands against our issues and only now comes to us for support when it's clear he is outmatched in his race. When he had an opportunity to support the domestic-partnership benefits ordinance or the creation of the domestic-partnership registry in Cook County, he was an outspoken opponent.
In truth, we're glad to see Mr. Peraica's first efforts to seek the support of our community. We do truly believe that anyone can have a change of heart and begin to show support in tangible ways. Mr. Peraica is welcome to join us in our efforts to support marriage equality; hate-crimes protections at the state and federal levels; and full inclusion at all levels of government.
Anita Alvarez has taken every opportunity throughout her career to stand with us. As a leader in the Cook County State's Attorney's office, Anita was an active participant in efforts to recruit openly gay assistant state's attorneys policy initiatives to pass civil-rights and domestic-partnership legislation at the state and local levels and has used her role within the office and community to be an outspoken ally for her entire career.
We are proud to be part of Anita's historic campaign. Please join us in supporting Anita Alvarez in November!
Sincerely,
Paula Basta, Michael Bauer, Bill Borah, Michael Brosko, Kelly Cassidy, Robert Castillo, Rocco Claps, Rick Garcia, Vernita Gray, Ernest Hunsperger, Art Johnston, Jackie Kaplan, Dan Kirk, Ray Koenig, Bennett Lawson, Jim Madigan, Joey McDonald, Ellen A. Meyers, Carlos T. Mock, Brandon Neese, Nancy O'Malley, Jose Pena, John Pennycuff, Ina Pinkney, William R. Rattan, Cyndi Richards, Richard Rogers, Roger Simon, John C. Smith, Mary Trew, Alderman Tom Tunney, Brian Wolff and Dr. Elena Yatzeck
