Gay Pride Parade Shines Through Despite Rain

not even the rain could keep chicago away from the annual gay & lesbian pride parade. you'd like to say that a good time was had by all, but the very least we can say is, a very good time was had! some people are intent on bringing it all down, but they can hardly stop what basically turned into a huge street party.

the rain was not the only thing we had to worry about. a participant feel off a float, got run over and broke his leg, putting a stop to progress for 2/3rds of the parade's entries. an ambulance was dispatched, putting a big hole in the parade (this for a parade that always has huge gaps due to stoppage for cross-traffic). still, most of the politicians involved were never effected.

the biggest contingent by far was those who marched on behalf of barack obama. more than a hundred (maybe more than 200) people marched for barack. as always, vi daley, john fritchey and sara feigenholtz had strong contingents. and alexi giannoulias had a big group, many with very colorful (and new, at least to me) t-shirts. of course, this is the parade to go all out for! plus, alexi's very able chief of staff (and my former state rep) was there, as well.

deb shore was there, representing the metropolitan water reclamation district. roberto maldonado brought his message of bringing the government to the people to the parade. tom tunney also brought out a big crew. they were surrounded by the floats from the local television stations.

there were a number of politicians, though, who were effected by the parade stoppage. anita alvarez was among them and well represented. her t-shirt said it all (elect me!). jan schakowsky (and super-surrogate for barack obama) was another. the cook county democrats -- aka "the machine" -- had a float with joe berrios and todd stroger. stephanie neely brought up the rear.

more photos in the comments.