Organizers behind Chicago's annual LGBT
Pride Parade have canceled this year's march.
The parade attracts more than one
million people to Chicago's LGBT neighborhood of “Boystown.”
Last year, the ongoing coronavirus
pandemic forced numerous Pride cancellations throughout the nation,
including in Chicago. Organizers in Chicago had hoped that pushing
back the city's second largest parade from June to October would
allow it to take place. But organizers said that they were “naive”
in their hope that it would be much safer to have a parade by
October.
Chicago Pride Fest, a two-day outdoor
festival, will take place on Friday, October 1 and Saturday, October
2. The festival was scheduled to coincide with the parade, which was
scheduled for Sunday, October 3.
Pride Chicago, which organizes the
parade, said in a statement that the parade would return next year in
June.
“We have already scheduled the 2022
Chicago Pride Parade for Sunday, June 26, 2022. We're going to
believe that saying,” they
said, referring to “third times a charm.” “We're going to
believe that in June, 2022 we are living in a far safer world than
now. We intend to have the best, most joyous, fabulous, memorable
Pride Parade ever. Count on it!”