Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Tens of thousands of people, including the state's top leaders, participated in and attended Chicago's Gay Pride Parade. This is the 40th year for the annual celebration, and many say it has come a long way. CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot caught up with one woman who's been there from the beginning.

Revelers rang bells, sang and danced in celebration in Sunday's event, which featured 250 entrants.

Click here to send us your photos of this year's Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade.

Vernita Gray says the parade has been an incredible gift in her life. She was a founding member of the event 40 years ago when it wasn't even called a parade.

"To think that we could come from a demonstration to a full parade in this wonderful country is fabulous," Gray said.

Gray was one of the 120 hippies who took to the streets 40 years ago in what was then called the Gay Pride March. Gray says back then, when she was 20, the event was a demonstration for gay rights. Now, she says, the gay pride parade celebrates gay life.

"There are an incredible amount of emotional changes," Gray said. "Remember 39, 40 years ago, people are like, 'Gay? What's that? Gay? You must be a freak. Gay? You should hide it.' No. We're never going to hide it. We said we're out of the closets and into the streets."

The theme for this year's June Pride Month celebration was "Stonewall: 40 Years After," referring to a police raid on June 28, 1969 at the Stonewall Inn, a New York City gay bar wherein gays fought back against the police, kicking off the start of the modern day Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) rights movement.

On Sunday, with the issues of same sex marriage and President Barack Obama's pledge to repeal the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on the front burner, the annual Pride Parade was a combination of activism and celebration.

"We don't have to hide anymore. We're not being arrested in bars anymore," Gray said. "I am proud to come in the heel prints of those drag queens who walked and demonstrated in New York at Stonewall."

The first Chicago Pride Parade was held a year after the Stonewall riot, largely a political march from Bughouse Square at Walton and Dearborn streets, and what is now known as Daley Plaza. There were fewer than 150 participants that day, compared to more than 300,000 taking part Sunday.

Gray says that number alone shows just how much times have changed. But she says more still needs to be done.

"I'm looking forward to us having marriage rights because marriage rights are what give our partners our federal rights, which would be our social security and our pensions," Gray said. "So as far as we have come, we have that much further to go."

Forty years ago, Gray also says she never imagined being the first lesbian woman liaison for the first Hispanic and woman state's attorney. Gray heads to Washington on Monday. She's taking part in the GLBT reception at the White House.

Gov. Pat Quinn and U.S. Sen. Roland Burris were among politicians who participated in Sunday's festivities. Also in attendance were U.S. Reps. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), and state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, who seemeed to be promoting a planned run for governor.

Transgender actor and activist Alexandra Billings, a Schaumburg native, was the parade's grand marshal. 

Exact crowd estimates for Sunday were not immediately available.

The Chicago Pride Parade is one of more than a dozen such parades that took place this weekend around the country. Pride Parades also take place in other countries around the world.

CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot and STNG Wire and Associated Press contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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