The Puerto Rican Cultural Center (PRCC) will lead the 55th annual Chicago Pride Parade as this year’s “Out Front” community group, marking a moment of heightened visibility for Latino LGBTQ+ communities amid political adversity.
The PRCC will head the June 28 procession as it travels through Lakeview. PRIDEChicago, the nonprofit that organizes the annual parade, started the “Out Front” tradition in 2025 to uplift local community groups as LGBTQ+ organizations nationwide face cuts.
“It is definitely an honor to have been chosen when we look at the history of the PRCC and our involvement with the LGBT community,” PRCC Director of Public Health Initiatives Ricardo Jiménez said.
The Puerto Rican Cultural Center, 2546 W. Division St., was founded in 1972 in the period following the Division Street Riots– three days of unrest after a Chicago police officer shot 20-year-old Aracelis Cruz, a Puerto Rican man who was unarmed.
The PRCC provides social services, cultural programming and political advocacy for Chicago’s Puerto Rican communities amid long-standing disinvestment and discrimination on the city’s West Side.
Organizers from PRIDEChicago said the group was chosen as the “Out Front” group to recognize its more than 50 years of service to Puerto Rican Chicagoans, including through its LGBTQ+-focused programs and efforts to combat homophobia and transphobia.
Among the PRCC’s LGBTQ+ programs is Vida/SIDA, established in 1988, which provides linguistically and culturally competent prevention services to those in Latino and other minority communities living with or at risk for HIV.
“I think that legacy of (Vida/SIDA) being here 37 years and PRCC, 53 years, that our commitment to the LGBT community has been very, very well documented,” Jiménez said.
Another initiative, El Rescate Transitional Living Program, provides culturally safe and identity-affirming housing for LGBTQ+ and HIV-positive youth experiencing houselessness.
Demand for this intersectional work is elevated, Jiménez said, as Latino people in Chicago continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV.
Nearly half of the new HIV cases in Chicago in 2024 were among Hispanics, according to a report from the Chicago Department of Public Health.
The spike in new HIV cases among Latino people is happening during a period of uncertainty for PRCC programming, as the organization navigates federal funding cuts and other challenges that threaten the viability of its initiatives, Jiménez said.
“It has been overwhelming due to having to downsize and staff, but the goal still remains the same, to serve the community,” said Vida/SIDA Director Jessica Sierra.
Amid these challenges, the “Out Front” recognition brings both visibility and financial support. The honor includes a $5,000 donation from PRIDEChicago to support the organization’s long standing work serving Latino LGBTQ+ communities.
Terra Campbell, Director of Community Engagement for PRIDEChicago, said the PRCC’s efforts also embody the theme for this year’s parade, “Free to Be Proud,” which emphasizes the rights of LGBTQ+ people to live openly and safely and honors the progress made towards this ideal.
“Through their life-saving work at El Rescate and Vida/SIDA, they have proven that freedom is only real when it includes a safe place to sleep, culturally relevant healthcare, and a community that affirms your right to exist authentically,” Campbell said in a press release.
The PRCC’s selection as this year’s “Out Front” group was also celebrated by other Latino LGBTQ+ leaders in Chicago, including Association of Latinos/as/xs Motivating Action (ALMA) Executive Director Manuel Hernández-Nuñez.
“To see that there’s a Latino organization that’s at the front of pride is heartwarming,” Hernández-Nuñez said. “It’s kind of that full circle moment.”
Jiménez said the Pride Parade recognition aligns with the theme of this year’s June 13 Chicago Puerto Rican People’s Day Parade, “Celebrando Orgullo Boricua: Puerto Rican Gay Pride, Aquí y Allá.”
He hopes both events will spotlight the PRCC’s work and raise awareness about the ongoing need for HIV education and advocacy.
“We’re going to make a very big message, that fear is not going to work here,” Jiménez said. “We have to evaluate and think [about] the human needs of our LGBT community.”
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