Chicago's43rd Annual Pride Parade promises a day full of firsts.
In one of the biggest tweaks to the parade, which has drawn larger and larger crowds over the years, the route got an overhaul. Participants will step off from Uptown instead of starting in Boystown. There also will be fewer entrants, more crossover spots for people trying to pass through the parade route and groups-including gay-straight alliances from local schools-making first-time appearances. And bank on police cracking down on illegal drinking, according to organizers.
Longtime organizer Richard Pfeiffer said the changes to the route came about after last year's parade drew 750,000 people.
"Last year we had some problems with crowd control," he said. So the city asked organizers to lengthen the parade route from 17 to 22 blocks, as well as change it to reduce the crowds. They removed a "v"-shaped bottleneck and straightened the route to encourage people to spread out.
Pfeiffer also said organizers wanted to add crossover locations so that those who in past years would have been trapped on one side of the parade can more easily pass to the other side. The new crossovers will be at Montrose Avenue, Irving Park Road, Addison Street, Grace Street, Roscoe Street and Wellington Avenue.
The parade will take less time this year, down from a high of about 4 hours a decade ago, according to Pfeiffer. The goal is to get it to a more reasonable 2 hours and 15 minutes. As part of that effort, organizers reduced the number of entrants from 250 to 200.
Some of those participating for the first time will be gay-straight alliances from some schools including Lakeview High School, as well as a group of openly gay sailors from Great Lakes Naval Base near North Chicago-a first for the parade. After the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, what is believed to be the armed forces' first LGBT organization formed was at Great Lakes in February.
"The event is political and social both," Pfeiffer said. "The first 20 entries in the parade will reflect that."
Evan Wolfson, president and founder of the Freedom to Marry campaign, will be grand marshal. It's a marker of the issues currently important to the LGBT community, Pfeiffer said.
"He was talking about this issue 10, 15 years ago," Pfeiffer said. "That's why he was chosen" to be grand marshal.
Another change in this year's parade, Pfeiffer said, will be police officers out in force looking to ticket those who are excessively drinking or drunk at the parade. Pfeiffer said fines may be as much as $500, and public drunkenness could even result in arrest. So keep it classy.
Over-indulging in booze "puts the event in jeopardy," Pfeiffer said. "We want this event to go on for many, many years to come ... If you want to party, party afterward."
Pride 101
About 150 people marched in Chicago's first pride parade in Washington Square Park in 1970, a year after the Stonewall riots in New York City, when gay people clashed with police outside a Greenwich Village bar. The event has existed in some form every year since, with increasing crowds and media coverage.
ggarvey@tribune.com | @gcgarvey