Local elected officials continued their annual Pride Month tradition of raising a Progress Pride Flag over Daley Plaza, using this year’s ceremony to warn that decades of progress on LGBTQ+ rights are under threat amid growing political attacks.
Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison, who hosted the ceremony, said the Progress Pride Flag serves as a visible declaration that LGBTQ+ people belong in Cook County and Chicago.
“A flag is not a partisan issue,” Morrison said. “Our LGBTQ+ community is part of so many diverse communities, and [this flag] is a sign of love.”
Several speakers pointed specifically to attacks on transgender rights and other efforts they said are eroding protections for LGBTQ+ people across the country.
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner Precious Brady-Davis, who made history as the first Black trans woman elected in Cook County, said Pride Month should be both a celebration and a call to action.
“At a time when we have a federal administration intent on scapegoating our community and attempting to roll back our rights and dignity, Pride reminds us that visibility alone is not enough,” Brady-Davis said.
Ald. Anthony Quezada (35th Ward), who hosted his own Pride Flag ceremony in Logan Square later that day, similarly warned against efforts to roll back LGBTQ+ rights. He noted that the American Civil Liberties Union tracked more than 600 anti-LGBTQ+ bills nationwide last year and criticized proposed cuts to HIV prevention and other public health programs.
“During Pride Month, let us celebrate, but let us unite,” Quezada said. “Let us push forward the transformational policies that are necessary so that all of us in our communities can have the right to live with dignity, with peace, and justice for all.”
Leaders highlighted the decades of progress made to enshrine LGBTQ+ rights in Cook County and Chicago, including human rights ordinances that ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
But Channyn Lynne Parker, CEO of Equality Illinois, reminded attendees these rights are not guaranteed, and that many LGBTQ+ people across the country still don’t have the freedom to celebrate Pride openly.
“The ability to be out and loud and proud depends on what state you live in,” Parker said. “It depends on what county you live in. It can depend on what block, what zip code you’re living in.”
Parker urged attendees to remember LGBTQ+ people living in communities where they face discrimination, lack legal protections or are fleeing hostile political environments.
Cook County Commissioner Maggie Trevor reflected on the significance of flying the Progress Pride Flag above a government building.
Trevor said displaying the flag over Daley Plaza signals that Cook County and Chicago recognize LGBTQ+ people as full members of the community while reaffirming a commitment to inclusion and equal treatment under the law.
“The symbolism of this annual event is something not to take lightly,” Trevor said.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Mayor Brandon Johnson also addressed attendees, emphasizing Cook County’s and Chicago’s support for LGBTQ+ residents.
The ceremony concluded with elected officials, community leaders and advocates gathering beneath the Daley Plaza flagpole as the Progress Pride Flag was raised above the city’s central civic plaza to mark the start of Pride Month.
“As we raise the Pride flag high above Daley Plaza, let it stand as a promise that we will keep moving forward, and that we will never go backward,” Brady-Davis said.
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