Equality Illinois held its annual Pride Kick-Off brunch June 1 at Venue West in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood, with the occasion marked by the announcement that Brave Space Alliance CEO Channyn Lynne Parker would be pulling double duty as Equality Illinois’s interim CEO.
The 2025 Community Pride Honorees at this year’s sold-out event were Slo ‘Mo Party Executive Producer and Host, Reunion Chicago Co-Founder and Programming Director and No Small Plans Productions Principal and Creative Director Kristen Kaza and Replay Beer and Bourbon, Elixir, Halsted’s Bar and Grill and Hydrate Nightclub Owner Mark Liberson.
Equality Illinois Board Chair and Equality Illinois Institute Board member Justin DeJong and Equality Illinois Institute Board Chair and Equality Illinois Board member Kelly Emery welcomed the approximately 500 people in attendance.
Emery invoked the Stonewall Uprising 56 years ago and said since that time the LGBTQ+ community has continually fought back against oppression. She also celebrated and toasted outgoing Equality Illinois CEO Brian Johnson (who ends his tenure June 30), which elicited cheers from the audience.
DeJong announced on behalf of the board that Parker, who is also Equality Illinois Institute Board Vice-Chair and a Equality Illinois Board member, will be taking on the part-time interim CEO role on July 1. Parker will still be Brace Space Alliance’s CEO during this time.
Parker, who received a standing ovation as she took to the stage, spoke about times when an individual must step into a new situation, and said it was an honor to be chosen for the interim position.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said he thinks about history a lot due to his former role as a Social Studies teacher. He added that “at this very critical moment in our world’s history it is good to know that the fight for justice and the fight for our humanity still lives on in the soul of this city.”
Johnson added that even in this moment when there are challenges and difficulties it is important to remember that everyone’s ancestors could only dream of this room.
“In the city of Chicago, we will never flinch or cower or buckle under tyranny,” said the mayor. “That we will come out even stronger on the other side and our democracy will continue to evolve. Pride month will always be here.”
Mayor Johnson said it is great to represent a city that is “unapologetic” about the way its residents celebrate their communities, including the queer and trans community. He spoke about Brian Johnson’s work at Equality Illinois and his former role as an elementary school teacher and “this is why you have to put teachers in charge.”
Mayor Johnson spoke about the work the Chicago LGBTQ+ Advisory Council has done since he took office, of which Kaza is a member. He said his office is currently in the process of hiring a newly created role (a process marked with some controversy), director of LGBTQ+ affairs, to strengthen city services and work “to build a safer and more affordable city through the lens of the LGBTQ+ community” and they will be tasked with the creation of Chicago’s first ever LGBTQ+ housing plan.
Mayor Johnson also reaffirmed that the Chicago Department of Public Health will continue to offer inclusive health services and said the Chicago Teachers Union codified LGBTQ+ protections for teachers, students and staffers in its latest contract with the board. He further noted that Chicago joined other cities in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s coercion of cities to adopt anti-trans measures to get grants from the federal government.
Equality Illinois Public Policy Director Michael Ziri announced that Illinois has just passed the Equality for Every Family Act in the Illinois Senate (36-19 vote) and Illinois House (77-40 vote). He said this new law will provide comprehensive legal protections for all families by modernizing parentage adoption and surrogacy laws in the state. Ziri added that in light of the attacks by the Trump administration, it was vital to get this law passed and keep the state moving forward.
Equality Illinois Communications Director Myles Brady-Davis and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Commissioner Precious Brady-Davis (outside of her official governmental role) presented Kaza with her award.
Precious spoke about Kaza’s creative endeavors under an “institutional and intersectional framework” to “build a more equitable entertainment industry.” She said that Kaza “is the kind of leader who reminds us that joy is resistance, community is power and that dancing together is a part of the revolution.”
Kaza also spoke about the need for resiliency, courage and the importance of spaces filled with joy in this moment. She added that people come to her parties to find hope in the face of changes in their lives and have found their chosen families there. Kaza said she is privileged to have great women and especially Black queer and trans women in her life.
“Whether you are cultivating joy on a dance floor or creating legislation to protect our futures, everybody in here is doing life-saving and legacy-serving work,” said Kaza. “Like Aretha Franklin sings—it’s a deeper love. It’s the power that gives us the strength to survive. Resilience is our legacy. We’ve been here, and we got this and together we carry on. So, keep dancing, keep loving each other, powerful and Happy Pride.”
Equality Illinois Civic Engagement Director Jose Wilson presented Liberson with his award. He spoke about Liberson’s decades long work on behalf of numerous Chicago LGBTQ+ organizations and entities via donations and other endeavors. Wilson reminded everyone that nightclubs are still places of safety for LGBTQ+ people everywhere, and that Liberson has been at the forefront of this effort.
Liberson said he went to Carol’s Speakeasy Lounge in the early ‘80s and was there on a night Chicago police officers raided it. He spoke about being in the closet when he worked in corporate America also during the 1980s prior to becoming a business owner himself. Liberson said that it has been a privilege to welcome LGBTQ+ people into his bars, nightclubs and restaurants for decades, as well as what he has done as Chicago’s Pride Fest, Market Days and Midsommerfest chairperson. Liberson added that as the Pride Fest chair he worked this year to “bring the protest back to Pride” at that event.
“We have come a long way … but let’s be honest,” said Liberson. “Fear and discrimination still exist, and opportunity is not equal for everyone, especially in the workplace. That’s why, no matter what the Trump movement says, real DEI still matters, not as a buzzword, but as a promise that everyone deserves the freedom to live openly, be seen fully and have a fair shot as success in the world in which we live in our city and our country.”
Equality Illinois Leadership Development and Capacity Building Director Norma Seledon andEquality IllinoisDevelopment Director Nathaniel Ekman also spoke.