The 2008 Chicago Pride Parade was among the wackiest yet.
The parade is growing so large that perhaps it is time to reflect on past parades and look to how to manage the future growth. I have been to every pride since 1984, and others have been at still more, so we welcome more input on these ideas.
The gay parade is among the city's largest parades, with some 450,000 counted for June 29, 2008. The South Side St. Patrick's and Bud Billiken parades are also huge logistical events where the sun and liquor can contribute to problems.
But let's focus on Pride 2008 and some of what appears to have happened. This is not to diminish the Herculean work of the Pride Chicago volunteers, spearheaded by Rich Pfeiffer for more than three decades; or the work of the Chicago police and emergency teams.
They all work hard every year. But with the growth and change in tone, we need to step back and assess.
Let's first set out a few facts about this year's event:
1. It was the largest ever.
2. It started out very hot again, and then was deluged by the first rain on Pride day in many years.
3. A huge gap was caused when a woman fell off a float and was injured severely enough for a regular ambulance to be called ( as opposed to the smaller vehicles roving the parade route ) .
4. The party-time atmosphere ( as opposed to political protest ) results in a lot of drunk people hanging out for hours on Halsted and Broadway. This, in turn, causes inappropriate behavior of all kinds: uninvited grabbing of the body parts of marchers; insulting comments; and public urination. ( From my post on top of Center on Halsted, I saw incredibly disgusting behavior by men and women, and at one point a parade bicyclist jumped off his bike, threw it down and just walked in front of a building facing Halsted and peed in the doorway. )
5. The anti-gay protesters have every right to be in a public space, but in the past they were cordoned off and protected by police. This year many were allowed to roam the pride route with huge anti-gay signs with words like 'REPENT.' This caused a lot of angry gays to scream and shout and distracted from the parade.
6. The growth of the event means that almost the entire route is now thick with parade watchers, flowing past barricades and coming dangerously close to being run over by the floats and trucks.
While I know a lot of people can debate the merits of sexually suggestive parade entries ( dildos, jock straps, you name it ) , those kinds of images are becoming less impactful when you also see tens of thousands of other types of participants. I'm not going to moralize about 'content' here, but rather focus on logistical issues that need to be worked on.
So what are some ideas for a change? Some folks have suggested moving the parade downtown where some Chicago parades go, but that would be limiting in both number of entrants as well as enjoyment being in the community. Let's focus on what can be done to address the 2008 problems.
1. Nothing can be done about the weather, so we need to get over that part. We have been seriously lucky how rare there has been bad weather for pride.
2. When there are injuries we need to insist that they be moved to the side out of the way and to keep the parade moving. It is surprising more floats did not break down while idling; had it been hotter, that is likely what would have happened. The cars pulling floats, and the large trucks, will overheat. And let's not forget, the 'carbon footprint' of a pride parade is large enough without gaps. Plus the gaps meant more time for people to drink.
3. More bars need to monitor the outside drinking of patrons, and also more businesses need to provide bathroom access. The pride committee already has a lot of port-a-johns out, but more are needed throughout the route.
4. Perhaps a major corporation like Deloitte, Kraft, Walgreens or others could donate its employees for the day to provide thousands of additional monitors along the route. If key monitors were communicating with one another, they could let attendees know where there is more 'open' space to see the parade. As it is, huge bottlenecks happen in certain areas.
5. More barricades, period. Perhaps the entire route needs to be lined with barricades next year, with those volunteer monitors making sure no one is on the street side.
6. Video simulcast of the parade into gay bars on Halsted and across the city might free up some space along the route for those who prefer watching it, or who are unable to stand for those many hours.
7. What can be done about people grabbing others? This is just rudeness education 101. But fewer drunk people would help.
8. The anti-gays need to be kept in secure areas. By allowing them to walk free this year, they provoked some gays and that resulted in arrests by the police. Tell me this: Would a white man carrying a noose be allowed to march along the sidelines of the Bud Billken Parade? For their own protection and out of respect for the parade, the anti-gays with huge and hateful signs should have their area to protest, surrounded by police. This really could have escalated in violence and death, given the heightened atmosphere at this year's Pride Parade.
All in, the organizers and police do a terrific job, especially as the event grows more each year. From my bird's-eye view, I saw how the main accident was handled; when the police made arrests of those protesting the anti-gays; and the public indecency and urination that could and should have resulted in arrest. Some of this is personal behavior that is difficult to control. But some of this can be assisted by a larger logistics and support plan.