Photos: Pride rains down for Rockford’s first official Pride Parade

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our free e-newsletter

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.”

More news: Four sculptures deliver different styles and shapes to Rockford’s public arts scene

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