Logan Square neighbors and LGBTQ+ people from across the city raised a Progress Pride Flag over the Northwest Side neighborhood on June 1 in a jovial Pride Month kickoff that included drag, rainbow cupcakes and dance music.
The tradition—now in its third year—served as a reminder that queer communities exist in every Chicago neighborhood and not just famous enclaves like Lakeview and Andersonville.
“This is an oasis for our [LGBTQ+] community,” Ald. Anthony Quezada (35th Ward) said about Logan Square. “We have the great honor of having so many of our community members living in this beautiful neighborhood because people feel safe.”
Robert Castillo, a longtime activist and Logan Square native, said the event reflected decades of LGBTQ+ life, activism and community-building on the Northwest Side.
Castillo, who grew up a couple blocks from Logan Square Park, reflected on his decades of coalition-building within the neighborhood and how its community organizations have always embraced queer inclusion.
“We have always existed here in Logan Square,” Castillo said. “And there are people who have been doing a lot of work within Logan Square who are part of our community.”
The ceremony drew visitors from all parts of the city, including neighborhoods like Austin, Hyde Park and Albany Park. Many of them said they appreciated celebrating Pride outside of the city’s most visibly queer neighborhoods.
Antonio King, who was recently named Chicago’s director of LGBTQ+ Affairs, said the crowd gathered in Logan Square demonstrated how LGBTQ+ communities are woven into neighborhoods across the city.
“There’s pride beyond the North Side of Roosevelt,” King said. “There’s pride beyond the West Side of Halsted.”
Cook County Commissioner Jessica Vásquez said the neighborhood-focused event allowed for its LGBTQ+ residents to celebrate openly in the places where they live and build community.
“It’s fun when we go to bars and have a great time, but it’s also great when we’re in places that we frequent all the time, and we are visible,” Vásquez said.
While the event focused primarily on celebration, speakers also acknowledged growing political attacks on LGBTQ+ people nationwide.
“There is a war of attrition that is being waged against queer people,” said Quezada, who warned of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the country and proposed federal cuts to HIV prevention and other programs serving queer communities.
Other elected officials who attended included Congresswoman Delia Ramirez, Cook County Commissioner Tara Stamps and Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez. They all emphasized the importance of community solidarity amid political attacks on LGBTQ+ people.
“We are going to show up for each other, and today the Pride Flag is a victory flag, because we are going to win,” Rodriguez said.
The Logan Square tradition began in 2024 when former 35th Ward Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa partnered with Castillo to organize the neighborhood’s first Pride flag raising. Quezada continued the tradition after succeeding Ramirez-Rosa in 2025 and later hosted a Bisexual Pride Flag ceremony during Bisexual Awareness Week.
For Castillo, the annual ceremony is a reminder that LGBTQ+ people have long been part of Logan Square’s fabric, even if the neighborhood wasn’t always recognized as a queer destination.
“When I was growing up, everybody said that Lake View was the gay area,” Castillo said. “Welcome to Logan Square, baby.”
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