Chicago gay pride parade 2008

Originally Published:

The 2008 Chicago Pride Parade was among the wackiest yet.

The parade is growing so big that perhaps it is second to reflect on past parades and look to how to manage the future growth. I have been to every event since 1984, and others hold been at still more, so we welcome more input on these ideas.

The gay parade is among the city’s largest parades, with some 450,000 counted for June 29, 2008. The South Side St. Patrick’s and Bud Billiken parades are also enormous logistical events where the light and liquor can contribute to problems.

But let’s focus on Movement 2008 and some of what appears to have happened. This is not to diminish the Herculean work of the Event Chicago volunteers, spearheaded by Affluent Pfeiffer for more than three decades; or the work of the Chicago police and emergency teams.

They all work firm every year. But with the growth and change in tone, we need to step help and assess.

Let’s first set out a few facts about this year’s event:

1. It was the largest ever.

2. It started out very hot again, and then was deluged by the first rain on Pride day in many years.

3. A huge gap was caused when a lady fell off a float and