I Do Declare, It's Pride!

By Tim State in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 6, 2007 2:50AM

Yes, that’s Mayor Daley in this blurry photo. Some microphone guy from WGN bumped into us as we were trying to snap a photograph. The Mayor was speaking in circles before the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community at the annual reception he hosts for said community at the Chicago Cultural Center. It’s official now, through a proclamation signed by the Mayor himself, June is now Pride Month.

Proclamations are sort of trendy nowadays, with the Democratic Party issuing a proclamation of pride today, as well. The Mayor’s proclamation recognizes the contributions of the GLBT community to building a better Chicago, and nods to the some 440,000 people who will come together later this month to celebrate at the Pride Festival.

At the reception, the Mayor spoke of the soul of Chicago stemming from our love of families, our love of our block, and our love of Chicago. To underscore his point, without all that love, a City would not have a soul. And to finally drive it home, he said Chicago is a city with a soul because we have that love, for our families, for our blocks, and for Chicago. That’s what Chicagoist loves about our Mayor -- he never needs a script.

“If we sit down and we discuss,” the Mayor said, “we can overcome anything we face on the streets.”

He denounced actions of hate in our world and city, saying, “Once you attack one, you attack all.”