{"id":1721,"date":"2025-06-22T00:07:18","date_gmt":"2025-06-22T00:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=1721"},"modified":"2025-06-22T00:07:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T00:07:18","slug":"pride-fest-lets-queer-chicagoans-be-themselves-i-love-the-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=1721","title":{"rendered":"Pride Fest lets queer Chicagoans be themselves: ‘I love the freedom’"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The first place Rene Garza, a 62-year-old Army veteran, felt comfortable coming out was Chicago Pride Fest in 1986.<\/p>\n

He said it was one of the first places where he felt he could let his guard down, between hiding his sexuality while he was enlisted, as well as at home for fear of how his family would react.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I came here, I could be myself,\u201d Garza said. \u201cBut when I went home to Garfield Ridge I had to hide again. \u2026 But that\u2019s what I love here, I love the freedom. I\u2019m gay and I\u2019m proud. Get over it.\u201d <\/p>\n

He was in the crowd as the festival opened Saturday morning at 11, though attendance was expected to surge throughout the day on the block Garza lives \u2014 Halsted Street between West Addison and Grace Streets.<\/p>\n

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Veteran Rene Garza says Chicago Pride Fest allowed him to be his true self, when he had to hide his sexual identity in the military and among family members.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

This year\u2019s two-day festival features three stages lining Halsted Street with music and drag performances, with headliners Jesse McCartney and Chrissy Chlapecka taking the stage Saturday.<\/p>\n

Mark Liberson, vice president of the Northalsted Business Alliance and chair of the festival committee, said that amid the recent attacks on the LGBTQ+ community from federal and state governments, it was necessary for the two sides of pride to come together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where having the combination of both pride as a protest but pride as a celebration is important,\u201d Liberson said. \u201cYou can\u2019t just fight, you have to take time to uplift each other and to be able to feel that sense of community.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Mark Love performs during Pride Fest in Northalsted on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Mark Love performs during Pride Fest in Northalsted on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Mark Love performs during Pride Fest in Northalsted on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Attendees cheer for drag queens during Pride Fest in Northalsted on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Jesse McCartney performs during Pride Fest in Northalsted on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Jesse McCartney performs during Pride Fest in Northalsted on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Wray Saulberry wears neon flower earrings during Pride Fest in Northalsted on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Zamora Love performs during Pride Fest in Northalsted on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Attendees cheer for drag queens during Pride Fest in Northalsted on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Helvetikah Blak performs during Pride Fest in Northalsted on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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An attendee watches a drag show during Pride Fest in Northalsted on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Aurora Burton, who traveled to Chicago from Michigan for Pride Fest and said she is looking forward to buying merchandise to support the LGBTQ community, holds a rainbow umbrella during a heatwave at Pride Fest in Northalsted on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ping Downing receives a hug from a member of \u201cPlay Catch With Dad,\u201d a group that offers hugs and a free game of catch to people during Pride Fest in Northalsted on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Mimi Marks emcees during Pride Fest in Northalsted on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Zamora Love performs during Pride Fest in Northalsted on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Helvetikah Blak performs during Pride Fest in Northalsted on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Friends Aliea Banks, Abron Afalava-Suttles and Jaclyn White also arrived early in the day, Afalava-Suttles has been to pride events in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Calif., and Atlanta \u2014 where they grew up \u2014 but this was their first in Chicago. <\/p>\n

They grabbed an outfit they deemed fit for the club and headed out the door. Banks, though, has attended many times. She had already picked out the spots where she planned to dance in front of one of the stages by the time they walked in. <\/p>\n

Banks and Afalava-Suttles \u2014 friends since childhood \u2014 were excited to be there because \u201cwe couldn\u2019t really enjoy [events] like this\u201d when they were younger, Banks, 29, said. Now, what draws them is the same as what brought out Garza: \u201cthe freedom\u201d to be themselves. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs a kid, I knew exactly what I wanted to do and that it was gonna be fun,\u201d Afalava-Suttles, 32, said. \u201cI should be able to go into the world and feel like this every single day. Even at three in the morning.\u201d <\/p>\n

Banks said it was also an important break from the intensity of everyday life as a queer person. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s for everyone who needs to shut up, sit down and turn up,\u201d Banks said.<\/p>\n

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Childhood friends Aliea Banks and Abron Afalava-Suttles put on their best club attire and attended Pride Fest with a friend.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The fest has secured a cooling bus for those who need to get out of the weekend\u2019s \u201cdangerously hot and humid<\/a>\u201d temperatures, and ample supplies of water bottles are available near stages. Health professionals are also on site to help with anyone struggling with effects from the heat. The Center on Halsted will also be open and air conditioned, and Liberson encourages folks to step in if they need cool air.<\/p>\n

The fest continues Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. with a pet parade at noon, headliner Deborah Cox at 2 p.m. on the North Stage and closer The Vixen \u2014 a South Side native who competed on \u201cRuPaul\u2019s Drag Race\u201d \u2014 with her show \u201cBlackGirlMagic,\u201d co-hosted by drag artist Shea Coulee.<\/p>\n

Liberson said he could rave for hours about this year\u2019s entertainment lineup, but he said he was excited to see as much of the event as he could.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how I\u2019ll be everywhere at the same time,\u201d Liberson said, laughing. \u201cBut I\u2019m looking forward to trying.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n