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From there we walked to the historic Water Tower at the intersection of Michigan and Chicago Avenues. The day began at noon with a rally in Washington Square Park across the street from the Newberry Library-known as “Bughouse Square” because of its storied history as a free-speech forum. The last thing on our minds was the possibility of any mayor, let alone an openly gay one, leading the way we were happy the city’s then-mayor, “Boss” Richard J. There were no floats, no cars, no politicians, no crowds, no corporate sponsors pitching their brands to onlookers. It was a march, which meant we were allowed to walk on the sidewalks but not in the streets. attorney who had prosecuted the so-called “Chicago Seven” anti-war activists charged with conspiracy and incitement to riot as a result of their protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Most of our group thought of ourselves, proudly if irreverently, as members of the “freaking fag revolution”-to borrow the phrase used by Thomas Aquinas Foran, the U.S. I was a teenaged member of Chicago Gay Liberation, the loose-knit, short-lived group that organized the first pride parade on Saturday, June 27, 1970.
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Thus the theme Stonewall 50: Millions of Moments of Pride. This year’s parade is expected to draw more than a million participants and onlookers to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion of June 28 and 29, 1969.
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When the annual Pride Parade steps off from the intersection of Broadway and Montrose at noon on Sunday, June 30-with Lori Lightfoot, Chicago’s first openly gay mayor, serving as honorary grand marshal-it will represent a very different mind-set from the event that launched the pride parade tradition.
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