Throwback Thursday : Pride Parade

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The first Pride Parade in Chicago took place on June 27, 1970, along the sidewalks of Michigan Avenue, with 150 participants.  It ended up with an impromptu dance circle around the Picasso in what was then known as the Civic Center.

On the eve of the 46th Annual Pride Parade, kicking off in Uptown on Sunday at Montrose and Broadway, with such large crowds that there's debate on whether or not the parade has outgrown the communities in which it is held, it's fun to look back at the early celebrations (60,000 attendees in 1986! Whoo-Hoo!) and see how they have grown:

• Chicago Magazine:  A Brief History of Chicago’s Pride Parade
• ChicagoPride.com;  Gay Chicago Rewind: History of the Chicago Pride Parade
• Sun-Times:  From The Archives: Remembering Chicago’s first pride march