Longtime LGBTQ+ journalist and community leader Tracy Baim visualizes the first Pride Parade she attended in black and white—because that’s what the photos she took of it for Chicago GayLife newspaper looked like.
This year, Baim is among those chosen to be one of the Community Grand Marshals for Chicago’s Pride Parade. She’s being honored for her decades of work documenting LGBTQ+ life, history, and activism in Chicago and beyond. Baim is the executive director of Press Forward Chicago, a pooled fund supporting community journalism, and the co-founder and owner of this publication.
In 1984, the parade felt “more ragtag than corporate,” with more people walking than riding in floats, Baim recalled. Her favorite part was the rally after the parade, when everyone marched together to Lincoln Park and gathered around stages to listen to speeches and performances from the gay choruses.
As HIV/AIDS cases multiplied and devastated greater swaths of the community in the following years, Baim felt the parade’s importance increase.
“It showed me that we were as strong and diverse as I thought we were, and validated those feelings I had,” Baim said. “As a reporter covering it, I immediately saw the value in it. It was necessary to show the size of the community and share the stories of the individuals attending. It became about finding support within a society that was in denial of the war devastating our community.”
This year, Baim is most excited to walk alongside her friends and co-marshals, activists Evette Cardona and Mona Noriega.
“It means a lot to me to be with the two of them,” Baim said. “I’m looking forward to having a bird’s eye view of the parade from the convertible. I’m excited to not be covering it and to be celebrating with my friends.”
The Community Grand Marshals were selected through a community nomination process.
“[They] reflect the spirit of this year’s theme, Free to Be Proud—honoring those who have paved the way while affirming the ongoing pursuit of freedom, visibility, and justice for all,” reads Pride Chicago’s website.
Since Baim first began attending the parade in the 1980s, the event has ballooned in size. Last year, it drew hundreds of thousands of people to Northalsted to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.
“I understand why some people feel jaded and overwhelmed by Pride now, but it’s still a very important part of the journey we’re on,” Baim said. “The LGBTQ+ community is very diverse, and Pride is one of the few things that brings us all together. We’re free to be proud for ourselves, but it’s also for our allies, our parents, are friends who are enormous in number now. It shows the outside world that we’re a force to be reckoned with.”
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