The best of the Chicago Pride Parade

MOVING DAY PFLAG marchers, like this group from the late ’80s, always get the tears flowing.

“In 1973 there was a bar called His ’n Hers. [Its owner,] Marge Summit, had a float with a woman who was totally covered in gold and she had just her nether regions and nipples covered. Everybody along the parade route, their jaws dropped. Marge really did the first ta-da float in the parade.” —Richard Pfeiffer, 60, East Lakeview

“I remember the first time people with AIDS marched [in the early ’80s]. As they started coming up the parade route, the whole crowd hushed. Then all of the sudden you heard one clap and then two and then you could hear the hand clapping of people echoing up and down the parade route. People were in tears. It was the most moving thing.” —Pfeiffer

“About ten years ago, I had just hired a [woman] who I saw walking hand in hand with her partner past me at the parade. When I called out her name, she looked at me in horror. I caught up with her and said, ‘Honey, the moment you entered my office walking wobbly and awkwardly in those heels, I knew what you were!’”—Thomas Starcevich, 57, Andersonville

“In 2007, I was spinning rifles with Chicago’s Righteously Outrageous Twirling Corps. That year’s routine included a sultry present-the-booty pose. We timed it so that when we reached the group of shouting [anti-gay] crazies at the end of the parade route, we greeted them with a sea of ROTC cabooses. It couldn’t have been more satisfying!” —Tim Sniffen, 38, Andersonville

“In 2003, I cohosted former pro baseball player and parade grand marshal Billy Bean. After the parade, we were stopped about every five feet by adoring men and women. After about the tenth person, Billy turned to me and said, ‘The guys think I’m hot—and that’s great—but the women know my stats!’”—Bill Greaves, 58, Streeterville

“Our three-year-old nephew Tyler and my partner, Luka, and I rode on the Wells Fargo stagecoach float for Pride [one year]. Tyler had a great time throwing beads to the crowds until he was told to also throw candy to them. Without missing a beat, he said, ‘I’ll give them these dumb beads, but I’m not sharing my candy!’”—Tom Ballentine, 44, Edgewater

“Watching the parade in 2005, I was moved to tears as I watched young people rush out on the street to hug and kiss the members of the PFLAG contingent.” —June LaTrobe, 68, Uptown

NEXT>>