Evanston Pride held a Candlelight Vigil and Remembrance Ceremony June 8 at Pride Park (known officially as St. Paul Park) in Evanston to honor the legacy of Pride Month.
Speakers included Evanston Pride Board Member and founding member Rada Yovovich, Evanston Mayor (and 9th Congressional District Representative Candidate) Daniel Biss, Evanston Pride Board Member and artist Agito Abbott, Evanston Pride Board Member and Evanston Funeral Director Tyra Poindexter and Life Without My Child Founder Jamie Lynn Cherry.
Yovovich said this is the fifth time they have held this event. She added that it is important to stay close to the roots of Pride being a riot and further spoke about the need to be honest about the negative things that continue to happen to the LGBTQ+ community.
Biss said, “My heart is really heavy” now and that, “We have to be extremely honest and direct about what is going on right now because a politically motivated campaign of bullying is occurring” against all LGBTQ+ people and especially trans children. He reminded the audience that bullying has two goals: “to target people and silence the rest of us and we cannot allow ourselves to be silenced.”
Biss said that cisgender heterosexual people have an extra obligation to speak out and he takes that responsibility seriously, rejecting the notion that to get more votes means sacrificing trans children and the only answer to that is to say no repeatedly.
Abbott spoke about being a trans man and artist who has been the Evanston Pride logo designer since the organization began. He said he chose the Pink Triangle for Evanston Pride’s first symbol and in subsequent years he chose a rose, a butterfly, a dragon and this year a phoenix. He said the symbol designs are “grounded on fighting back against those who would want us gone … We deserve to be here and nothing will change that.”
The Pink Triangle, Abbot said, was to honor its “huge significance in the AIDS crisis, ACT UP and the fight for queer rights in the 80s.” His choice of a rose signified his anger at the injustices and violence trans people endure each day. Abbott’s butterfly design was “made of knots to encompass the message ‘Pride Unites Us.’ A butterfly is a symbol of transformation and rebirth” which spoke to Abbott personally as he has discovered more about his trans identity.
Abbott said the dragon is often othered and painted as the villain and “is pushed out from public spaces, targeted, hunted down and often murdered in their own private caves” just like LGBTQ+ people have experienced over the course of human history.
For the phoenix, Abbott wanted to showcase the fire that exemplifies that mythical bird and the fire that LGBTQ+ people need to possess as they “hold tight to each other … There is so much that is terrifying, that is out of our control. And yet we still have to fight.”
Abbott reminded everyone that the dangers he warned about at last year’s candlelight vigil and remembrance ceremony have only intensified with a rapid increase in anti-LGBTQ+ and especially anti-trans legislation and executive orders being introduced and enacted into law.
“The start of Pride was a riot,” said Abbott. “The only way queer people have won any rights is by fighting. In the courts, in the streets. For each other … I want all of us to live. And we don’t… we aren’t all here. We continue to lose more and more of our community and it’s a heartbreaking thing. It’s an infuriating thing. A dark reminder of how hostile society still is towards us.”
Abbott talked about the immense barriers trans people have to face, and how they are being pushed out of society in multiple ways. He added, “Conformity will not save us, and we are not dangerous. We are resistant … It is still a difficult task to hold onto hope, but we need to. My hope is, like the phoenix, that you’ll keep fighting. That your flames will be your treasure, your shield and your weapon. Keep fighting queerphobic and transphobic legislation, keep fighting for your community. Keep fighting to show that all of us deserve better. We deserve to live full and happy lives. And I wish that for us and more.”
Poindexter read Evanston’s Second Baptist Church Second Baptist Church Senior Pastor Michael C. R. Nabors prepared statement, since Nabors was unable to attend due to a prior engagement out of state.
Nabors’s statement said he wanted to “assure my colleagues and friends of my unwavering support, love, friendship and allyship of the Pride community of Evanston and beyond … As an African American pastor, I must confess that our historic Black churches are not all where we should be is supporting the LGBTQ community. We are lagging behind in acceptances as well as pledging our support. For that I sincerely apologize.”
Additionally, Nabors spoke about the “egregious setbacks” LGBTQ+ people are facing “and you are not alone” since the same thing is happening to Black and Brown communities, seniors, veterans, many women, public school children and higher education due to this current administration. He added that his church will continue to “live and serve by it’s motto, ‘A Beacon of Light’ for everyone.”
Cherry said that her organization was created to help families like hers who have experienced the loss of a child and she also serves as a City of Evanston outreach worker. She spoke about losing her four-year-old son 17 years ago and how coming together has helped her grieve, heal and remember her child.
“Tonight, we gather in love, in sorrow and in memory,” said Cherry. “We gather to honor those we’ve lost—our children, our siblings, our friends, our beloved chosen family members of the LGBTQ+ community who left us way too soon. Each name, each soul, is not forgotten. They mattered. They still matter … Let this space be one of remembrance but also hope. Because from our shared grief, we build community. From our mourning, we build meaning. And from our pain, we still find purpose.”
Cherry added that if anyone needs support she has resources to help them and to reach out to her.
To close out the event, attendees were invited to participate in an interactive remembrance ceremony to honor LGBTQIA+ people and their legacy. They were asked to choose one or more of the Pride flag color ribbons and write the name(s) of the people they wanted to remember and tie them onto the fence in the park.
The event also featured live original folk music from Evanston musician Skip Sams. Evanston Pride also held a Youth Car Parade on June 1.
