A gay pride march was held Sunday in Chicago that organizers said was meant to focus on political protest, in contrast to the more commercialized and well-known Pride Parade.

       Pride Without Prejudice is an ad hoc group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer activists who had planned to march without a permit on streets through Lakeview to the Town Hall police station, beginning at noon.

       The march was intended to revive the grassroots protest movement of the Stonewall protest in New York City in 1969, which the Pride Parade is meant to commemorate.

       “We want to take Pride back to its roots, which was (to) protest against police brutality, racism and war,” said Andy Thayer, co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network. “It was truly a people’s uprising, as opposed to a parade of bar floats and banks and politicians.”

       This second annual march is the “antithesis” of that and is particularly timely, he said, because of attacks on trans people and people of color. Politicians and companies use the Pride Parade as free advertising, Thayer said, but are often nowhere to be found on issues such as equal marriage rights.

       In a news release, organizers said the march would call to defund police, redistribute wealth, decriminalize sex work and center on Black and trans people, “who are typically marginalized or tokenized at white-led Pride events.”

       After being canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 51st annual Pride Parade was moved this year to Oct. 3. Organizers could not be immediately reached for comment, but they have long spoken out against bigotry and inequality. The parade has grown from small beginnings to draw hundreds of thousands of spectators and is sponsored by banks, liquor companies and the Illinois Lottery.

       The city of Chicago has designated June as Pride Month, and Pride in the Park also was being held with concerts and other events in Grant Park this weekend.

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