JOIN OUR COMMUNITY PETITION to request a public community forum about making this year’s Pride celebration safe and inclusive for EVERYONE. bit.ly/lakeview4everyone
Lakeview neighborhood has been a home for Chicago’s Pride celebration for over 50 years. As residents of Lakeview we are honored and proud to be a home of a diverse and vibrant celebration of Pride, and we would like to engage our neighbors in this collaborative effort, starting with open community dialogue about what kind of celebration we want to see in 2026.
With anti-LGBTQIA+ and particularly anti-transgender propaganda being normalized in political and media spaces nationwide, safety concerns are absolutely valid and must be addressed. At the same time, it’s time for us as community to address the over-policing of our Pride celebration that results in disproportionate impact on our Black neighbors who joined the Lakeview celebrations in the past years.
Our hope was to have these questions addressed during the last 19 Police District Council meeting on May 13, 2026. Since our 44th Ward Alderman Bennett Lawson left that meeting early, we were not able to ask these questions of him directly. And, with the next 19 Police District Council meeting being scheduled after Pride celebration, we have to engage stakeholders in this conversation directly, and with a sense of urgency. We also submitted the following comments on the record at the May 13, 2026, 19 Police District Council meeting. We respect and appreciate the work that our district council members are doing to facilitate public safety dialogue in our community.
On June 29, 2025, hours after the Pride parade concluded, we observed hundreds of police officers clustered on every corner of Belmont Avenue, seemingly policing a few dozen Black teenagers, which was disturbing to see, and clearly an inefficient use of public resources. Instead of inclusive, welcoming, and educational activities, young people who have traveled all the way to Lakeview to join the Pride celebration were met with a needless display of force.
After 2025 Pride weekend in Lakeview, Alderman Lawson’s office sent out a form that left an impression that this was a criminal complaint gathering method from the residents, and it made no space for feedback on the level of police presence. As if Pride celebration is something that we should be afraid of. It seemed to imply that instead of welcoming our LGBTQIA+ Black neighbors, we should report them to the police, which directly contradicts his statement as quoted in the Block Club Chicago last year.
“This is a powerful reminder that when we stand together in solidarity, we can create a more inclusive and compassionate city for everyone,” Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th) said at a press conference Thursday. “Our unity is more important now than ever.”
There was nothing inclusive or compassionate about the display of force that afternoon and evening. We believe that we should treat all people of Chicago with care and respect, not intimidation. In this matter, the actions of 44th Ward Alderman Lawson did not reflect our values, nor are they in the best interest of our community.
We call on our Alderman Lawson and the rest of his city council colleagues to work with neighborhood communities, Police District Councils, Pride Chicago, other neighborhood organizers, and CPD to establish the appropriate parameters to prevent incidents of overt intimidation of our community members in the future, starting with this year’s Pride celebration. A first step would be to have an OPEN public community townhall around plans for the Pride celebration to ensure that safety concerns are balanced with the dignified and inclusive celebration of Pride.
We believe that every neighborhood in Chicago deserves leadership that is rooted in values of equality and justice, and governance grounded in responsible stewardship of our public resources. We appreciate your consideration and openness to a dialogue with our communities.