Chicago’s Pride Parade Attendance from 1985–2014
In 2013 and 2014, the Chicago Pride Parade reached an estimated amount of one million attendees.
Following the harassment and discrimination from police officers on June 29, 1969 in New York’s Greenwich Village during a raid at the Stonewall Inn, the LGBTQ community and many activists such as Marsha P. Johnson stood up on behalf gay liberation and their rights.
One year after the Stonewall uprising, LGBTQ activists in Chicago and many other cities dedicated the last weekend in June to commemorate those events, and officially dedicating June to becoming Pride month.
As shown in this bar graph, the Chicago Pride Parade has had a dramatic increase in their attendance from 1985 to 2013 and 2014, pulling in an estimate of 1,000,000+ in a two year time frame.
Pride month and the festivities leading up to the Chicago Pride Parade have become one of the most popular annual events over the years, as there are month long celebrations dedicated to equal rights for people who identify as LGBTQ. Based on the exponential increase in attendance over the years, by the looks of it, the attendance will continue to grow over time.
