A 14-year-old tweet about the Chicago Pride Parade from Mayor Brandon Johnson’s new press secretary has resurfaced, raising concerns from community members about his support for LGBTQ+ people.
Ronnie Reese, who ran communications for Mayor Brandon Johnson’s election bid and assumed the role of his administration’s director of communications last month, made the tweet on June 27, 2010, in response to that day’s Pride Parade.
Reese wrote, “i brake for gay pride. reluctantly.”
The tweet, which has since been deleted, was shared around social media and among LGBTQ+ groups who felt it could be perceived as harmful to the community. But Reese told Windy City Times he was making a joke about traffic, and not LGBTQ+ people. Reese also made his Twitter account private.
“I lived in Uptown for 10 years and traffic was atrocious,” Reese said. “I meant no slight against LGBTQ+ people at all. I DJ’d the parade back in 2022, and it was an absolute blast.”
Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th Ward) wrote a letter to the mayor May 23 calling the tweet “outrageous, clearly violently homophobic and inconsistent with the values of the city of Chicago.”
Lopez pointed to 2010 hate crime statistics reported by the FBI, showing that more than 19% of the 6,624 hate crimes committed that year were motivated by a person’s sexual orientation.
“[Reese’s] comments are consistent with radical political extremism that often found mentally unstable individuals plowing through parades and marches to placate their deranged political conscience,” Lopez said.
Reese should be fired immediately, Lopez said.
“Anything short of that would be an insult to the tens of thousands of LGBTQIA+ residents of the city of Chicago that no longer feel safe being served by leaders that have no shame in vocalizing these dangerous feelings,” Lopez said.
Wesley Davis, who works for Equality Illinois but spoke to Windy City Times in his personal capacity, said the tweet brought back traumatic memories from 2021, when a 77-year-old man accidentally drove a truck into two people, killing one at a pride parade in Wilton Manors, Florida.
Information on what happened wasn’t immediately available, leaving Davis, who that year oversaw Equality Florida’s group in the parade, in a panic and worried about a potential anti-LGBTQ+ attack during a tumultuous year in Florida politics that saw the introduction of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
“When I read his tweet—though it was some time ago when he posted it—my headspace went straight to reliving that day.”
Davis said he was “in disbelief” by Reese’s response to the tweet, which did not include an apology.
“There was no acknowledgement of how that would land with LGBTQ+ people, including the ones who are fleeing anti-LGBTQ+ states like Florida, Texas and Indiana, to seek refuge in Chicago.”
Mony Ruiz-Velasco, deputy director of Equality Illinois, said the organization is “concerned anytime we see messages that could appear harmful to the LGBTQ+ community,” especially at a time when attacks against the LGBTQ+ community are on the rise.
The tweet’s resurfacing is an opportunity for Reese and Johnson’s administration to show their commitment for LGBTQ+ people, she said.
“Obviously, this tweet is from 14 years ago and a lot of things can happen in time,” Ruiz-Velasco explained. “We hope this is a perfect opportunity for him to express his strong commitment and support of the LGBTQ+ community.”
Reese’s Pride Parade tweet resurfaced after the Johnson administration had already come under fire for its handling of changes to this year’s Chicago Pride Parade, set for June 30.
After the city announced plans to cap this year’s parade at 125 entries—about 37% smaller than last year’s celebration—the mayor’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Council, Equality Illinois and a number of other groups signed onto a letter calling for a full restoration of the parade. The city later announced it was also removing three blocks in Uptown from the start of the parade, but reached a compromise with parade organizers to increase the entry cap by 25 groups.
Until then, neither the LGBTQ+ Advisory Council nor City Council’s 9-member LGBT Caucus had been consulted about these changes, representatives from both groups said.
When asked about his involvement with the Pride Parade changes, Reese said he couldn’t speak on the topic.
“But the last I heard, there have been some productive conversations, and it seems like all parties have been reaching some kind of agreement that is good,” Reese said. “We’re looking for another fantastic parade and summer.”