Pride Offers Taste of Defeat
Attendance at the Gay Pride Parade trumps the crowd at the Taste
By KRISTIN NEHLS
Updated 1:19 PM CST, Tue, Jul 28, 2009
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This weekend, Chicagoans were asked to either taste the ribs or taste the rainbow -- and they overwhelmingly chose the more colorful side of life.
Attendance at yesterday’s Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade reportedly trumped the day’s attendance levels at the Taste of Chicago.
The crowds boasted an estimated 450,000 people, including actress Alexandra Billings – previously Scott Billings of Schaumburg – who was the first transgendered person to serve as the parade’s grand marshal.
“This is an important time politically for the parade, with what’s happening (with gay marriage laws) in Iowa, California and New Hampshire,” parade attendee and DePaul University student McKenzie Elliott told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Whether it was the time sensitivity, the parade's famously great time, or a lack of gusto on the Taste’s side of things -- the decrease in this year’s vendors, perhaps? -- the Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade upped the ante for support levels at Chicago festivals.
During a summer full of festivals competing for crowds, Chicago gays and lesbians have one thing to say:
Bring it on.
First Published: Jun 29, 2009 10:31 AM CST
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