A group with U.S. Bank carries the Pride Flag down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Some might say it rained on the parade. Andrew J. Mertzenich, chairperson of the committee that organized the city’s first official Pride Parade, said the heavens opened up and cried tears of joy.
Hundreds of people participated in and lined the streets for the parade, which marched from Midtown through downtown Saturday morning in the falling rain.
“It is our duty to love each other unconditionally, to accept one another without judgement, and to live authentically without shame or hate,” Mertzenich told the crowd before the parade stepped off. “… We are not just marching in a parade today. We are marching toward a brighter and better future.”
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Mertzenich kicked off the event with a speech with Mayor Tom McNamara and Congressman Eric Sorensen, the first openly gay member of the U.S. House from Illinois.
In honor of the event, Rockford flew the Pride Flag at City Hall for the first time.
“Theses are all small gestures but when we come together, all these small gestures add up to something special,” McNamara said. “That’s that feeling that everyone who calls Rockford home can be their true self and be their best self.”
Rockford’s first Pride Parade comes 55 years after the Stonewall Riots, the uprising after a police raid on a gay club in New York that’s often credited with starting the movement for LGBTQ rights.
There were also 55 units in this year’s parade.
Sticking with that theme, here are 55 photos from the first Pride Parade:
Photos | Rockford Pride Parade
Sabrena Ferguson of the Rockford Rage skates down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, for the city’s first official Pride Parade in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Christina Valdez marches down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, during the city’s first official Pride Parade in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Eva Frysinger reacts to the Pride Parade as it moves down Wyman Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Sandra Welte waves to the parade as it moves down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, during Rockford’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Andrew J. Mertzenich reacts as the parade passes by on Saturday, June 1, 2024, before the start of Rockford’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
The YMCA of Rock River Valley bus moves down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, for Rockford’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
The city’s first official Pride Parade moves down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
The Chicago Spirit Brigade dances on East State Street in downtown Rockford on June 1, 2024, during the city’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
The Rev. Violet Johnicker of Brooke Road United Methodist Church walks in the first official Rockford Pride Parade on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in downtown. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
The city’s first official Pride Parade moves down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Phyllis Gallisath waves to the crowd Saturday, June 1, 2024, during the first official Pride Parade in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
The city’s first official Pride Parade moves down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
York Schoening cheers on Saturday, June 1, 2024, as the first official Rockford Pride Parade in city history moves down East State Street. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
The city’s first official Pride Parade moves down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Mayor Tom McNamara speaks in front of Maze Books on Saturday, June 1, 2024, before the start of the first official Rockford Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
A group with U.S. Bank carries the Pride Flag down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Congressman Eric Sorensen, the first openly gay U.S. House representative from Illinois, speaks on Saturday, June 1, 2024, before Rockford’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Kevin Stites, right, waives a Pride flag on Saturday, June 1, 2024, during Rockford’s first official Pride Parade. Stites is one of four grand marshals of the parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
A city of Rockford public works truck decorate for Pride moves past the Better Together mural on East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, during Rockford’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Robb Sinks of Kegel’s Bicycle Store walks his bike in the Pride Parade on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in downtown Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
A group with U.S. Bank carries the Pride Flag down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Andrew J. Mertzenich speaks in front of Maze Books on Saturday, June 1, 2024, before the start of Rockford’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
York Schoening reacts on Saturday, June 1, 2024, as the first official Rockford Pride Parade in city history moves down East State Street. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Garret Rapp takes a photo Saturday, June 1, 2024, during Rockford’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
The city’s first official Pride Parade moves down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Cai Holt of the Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois waives a Pride flag on Saturday, June 1, 2024, during the city’s first official Pride Parade in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Mrs. American Elegance Kristie Saavedra rides down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, during Rockford’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
The city’s first official Pride Parade moves down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Women’s March Rockford poses for a photo Saturday, June 1, 2024, after Rockford’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
The Chicago Spirit Brigade dances on East State Street in downtown Rockford on June 1, 2024, during the city’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
People line East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, for Rockford’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
A group from Wolf Hollow in Rockford dances during the Pride Parade on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in downtown Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
The Rev. Matthew Johnson, senior minister of Unitarian Universalist Church in Rockford, walks the Pride Parade on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
The city’s first official Pride Parade moves down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Sabrena Ferguson of the Rockford Rage skates down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, for the city’s first official Pride Parade in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Barb Chidley, the city of Rockford’s neighborhood specialist, walks in the Pride Parade on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in downtown Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Rain pours down during the early portion of the Pride Parade on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in downtown Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Elizabeth Tinder wears face paint that says “love is love” on Saturday, June 1, 2024, during the first official Rockford Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Rockton Pride marches down East State Street in Rockford on Saturday, June 1, 2024, for the city’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Andrew J. Mertzenich hugs Darcy Pinasco on Saturday, June 1, 2024, during Rockford’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
The Unitarian Universalist Church in Rockford displays a love banner on Saturday, June 1, 2024, during Rockford’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
People line East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, for Rockford’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
The city’s first official Pride Parade moves down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Tradeswomen United of Northwestern Illinois march Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Rockford’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
The Chicago Spirit Brigade dances on East State Street in downtown Rockford on June 1, 2024, during the city’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
The city’s first official Pride Parade moves down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Mark and Sydney Baldwin walk East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, for Rockford’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Crusader Community Health walks Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Rockford’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
A group with U.S. Bank pauses for a photo with its “Together, we pride” banner under the “Better Together” mural on Saturday, June 1, 2024, during Rockford’s first official Pride Parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
The city’s first official Pride Parade moves down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
The city’s first official Pride Parade moves down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
The city’s first official Pride Parade moves down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Christina Valdez marches down East State Street on Saturday, June 1, 2024, during the city’s first official Pride Parade in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
Kevin Stites, right, waives a Pride flag on Saturday, June 1, 2024, during Rockford’s first official Pride Parade. Stites is one of four grand marshals of the parade. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)