On the hot and sunny afternoon of June 6, Niles Pride held its fourth annual Pride Rainbow Walk and Picnic event at Kirk Lane Park just south of the Civic Center Plaza in Niles.
Ahead of the event, Niles Mayor George Alpogianis read the village’s Pride Proclamation at the May 26 Village Board Meeting. Alpogianis highlighted the 1969 Stonewall Uprising as a pivotal moment for the LGBTQ+ community.
“The Village of Niles recognizes that one of its greatest strengths is the diversity of its people and has a long-standing tradition of upholding the dignity of the individual, supporting legal equality and fair treatment for all people … and ensuring that acts of discrimination and hatred will not be tolerated … Members of LGBTQ+ [community] contribute to our village’s success and strengths in a great number of immeasurable ways.”
Alpogianis also noted in the proclamation that Pride Month gives Niles residents an opportunity “to honor the legacy of LGBTQ+ pioneers, advocates and allies who have fought—and continue to fight—for freedom and equality.”
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Speakers included Alpogianis; Niles Pride Co-Founders and Pride Rainbow Walk Co-Organizers Pam Wolff and Stephanie McDaniel; Illinois state Sen. Mike Simmons (7th District); Cook County Commissioner Maggie Trevor (9th District); Maine Township Trustee Elizabeth Lynch; Glenview United Methodist Church’s Rev. Gilbert Martinez; IlGwaNoRi leader Inah Jeong; and Society for Creative Anachronism member Siobhán. McDaniel also served as the event emcee.
McDaniel said the event was both a celebration and a protest: “This year we’re really feeling that push. Today isn’t just about finding community. It’s about standing up with like-minded neighbors to say what we believe in. We believe in freedom … and we will not bow down to forces that want to drag us back in time and silence us.”
Wolff said, “We protest because our government is trying to erase us.” She noted the recent removal of mentions of trans people from the Stonewall National Monument, among other erasures of the LGBTQ+ community from federal government monuments, plaques and digital records since January 2025.
Alpogianis spoke about the history of discrimination that has affected most people in the United States. He used his grandfather’s experience working for the railways, where he was paid less than other people due to his Greek origins. Alpogianis said he has always rooted for the underdogs and made sure people are treated fairly. He added, “We cannot live in fear and hatred” of the other.
Simmons said, “We should always be fighting for LGBTQ+ rights … and make sure that we push our progress forward and not be taken back to the Dark Ages.” He also spoke about his legislative victories for the LGBTQ+ community, including his most recent effort to protect trans youth from having their data released to other states and/or the federal government.
“In Donald Trump’s America, I don’t exist,” said Simmons. Aside from his his Black and gay identities, Simmons’s father came to the United States as an asylum seeker from Ethiopia in the early 1980s. He added, “Pride is eternal … and is something that can liberate us and take us to the next chapter of American history.”
Simmons also shared that he will be holding a read-in of books by LGBTQ+ authors June 25 at his legislative office.
In lieu of her prepared remarks, Trevor spoke about the “joyous” Pride event she attended the previous day in Park Ridge, where there was a lone young anti-LGBTQ+ protestor. She said that while Park Ridge Mayor Marty Maloney read the Pride Proclamation at the event, that protestor (who had previously shouted at people and pushed someone into another person in a wheelchair) “was spoiling for a fight and started heckling the Mayor … [so the] crowd started cheering the Mayor which was a wonderful thing to hear.”
Ultimately, the Park Ridge police intervened. Trevor said the episode serves as a reminder that, “Not every celebration has gone off without a hitch … We still have lots of work to do right here in Cook County.”
Lynch, who has been a public librarian for almost 20 years, said that and until recently there had always been an inclusive policy about the bathrooms in the libraries where she worked. She added, “We were just assuming that everyone should use the bathroom that they feel safe in. We always had trans and non-binary patrons and … staff members and … there were no problems whatsoever until right-wing media decided to turn the issue into a moral panic.”
Lynch said that some patrons started to accuse, complain and demand that library staff “confront people using the bathroom.” She said that every single time there was an accusation, the person doing so was wrong and that it “wasn’t a predator, like they had been told by right-wing pundits.”
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