Three Pride Month events to be held in Aurora this weekend
On Saturday, the Aurora LGBTQ+ Advisory Board will again this year be hosting Pride at the Plaza, which will transform Stolp Avenue in downtown Aurora with live music, a drag show, food trucks and booths from local community organizations, according to a news release from the city of Aurora.
'We're thrilled to kick off Aurora's Pride weekend with this event,' Zachary Bishop, chair of the Aurora LGBTQ+ Advisory Board, said in the city news release. 'We're building on last year's success to make this celebration even better with fantastic performers, delicious food and an inclusive space for everyone to enjoy.'
Pride at the Plaza's entertainment lineup this year is set to include a drag performance by the Divas and live music from artists Cheryl Rodey and Invisible Cartoons, according to the release.
The event will run from 6 to 10 p.m. and will be free, although there will be a suggested $5 donation to the Denee Mallon Scholarship Fund. The fund's namesake, Denee Mallon, fought to end Medicare's ban on transgender procedure coverage, and the scholarship will help members of the LGBTQ+ community in Aurora, the city's news release said.
The Aurora Pride Parade, which is set to feature between 60 and 70 marching groups, including floats, will kick off downtown at noon on Sunday. The event has taken place yearly since 2018, except for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, and is organized by the Aurora Pride organization.
Gwyn Ciesla, president of Aurora Pride, said the parade is a family-friendly event that attracts all ages and yearly draws between 5,000 and 6,000 spectators.
One difference between this year's Aurora Pride Parade and past ones, according to Ciesla, is that it will feature three grand marshals rather than just one. Ciesla said the grand marshals, which will lead the parade, are people honored for their work for or importance to the LGBTQ+ community in the Aurora area.
This year's grand marshals, as announced on the Aurora Pride Facebook page, are: Corvin Ezri, founder of The Prideful Path Project; Aleyna Couture, a local drag queen known for her active role in west suburban nightlife and her mentorship within the local drag community; and Paulene Spika, a 71-year-old transgender woman who serves on the Aurora LGBTQ+ Advisory Board.
The Aurora Pride Parade has a number of sponsors, its website shows, including Rush, NuMark Credit Union and Sonova. But Ciesla said the organization had some fundraising challenges this year because of the current political climate.
'You have some companies that are actively walking back any sort of DEI or equality initiatives and then others that are kind of doubling down and being more supportive,' Ciesla said. 'There's a lot of both.'
Immediately following the parade, Aurora Pride will be hosting a party — aptly named the 2025 Pride Parade After Party — at the Two Brothers Roundhouse in Aurora.
The party, planned to start at 1 p.m., will be family-friendly like the parade and will include food, drinks, live music, a drag show and more, according to a post on the Aurora Pride Facebook page.
Tickets to the event cost $10 and will go towards funding next year's Pride Parade. Tickets can be purchased at the door on the day of the event or ahead of time at: www.aurorapride.org/pride-afterparty
Ciesla said that, although Chicago has long held Pride events, it is fantastic to see so many like the ones in Aurora pop up all over the state in recent years, because that means no one has to go that far to attend one.
'Now there's so many you can't even do them all even if you had a private jet,' Ciesla said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
5 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Ranger fired for hanging transgender flag in Yosemite and park visitors may face prosecution
Advertisement Joslin said their firing sends the opposite message: 'If you're a federal worker and you have any kind of identity that doesn't agree with this current administration, then you must be silent, or you will be eliminated.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Park officials on Tuesday said they were working with the U.S. Justice Department to pursue visitors and workers who violated restrictions on demonstrations at the park that had more than 4 million visitors last year. The agencies 'are pursuing administrative action against several Yosemite National Park employees and possible criminal charges against several park visitors who are alleged to have violated federal laws and regulations related to demonstrations,' Advertisement Joslin said a group of seven climbers including two other park rangers hung the flag. The other rangers are on administrative leave pending an investigation, Joslin said. Flags have long been flown from El Capitan without consequences, said Joanna Citron Day, a former federal attorney who is now with the advocacy group Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility. She said the group is representing Joslin, but there is no pending legal case. On May 21, a day after the flag display, Acting Superintendent Ray McPadden signed a rule prohibiting people from hanging banners, flags or signs larger than 15 square feet in park areas designated as 'wilderness' or 'potential wilderness.' That covers 94% of the park, according to Yosemite's website. Park officials said the new restriction was needed to preserve Yosemite's wilderness and protect climbers. 'We take the protection of the park's resources and the experience of our visitors very seriously, and will not tolerate violations of laws and regulations that impact those resources and experiences,' Pawlitz said. It followed a widely publicized instance in February of demonstrators hanging an upside down American flag on El Capitan to protest the firing of National Park Service employees by the Trump administration. Among the climbers who helped hang the transgender flag was Pattie Gonia, an environmentalist and drag queen who uses the performance art to raise awareness of conservation issues. For the past five years, Gonia has helped throw a Pride event in Yosemite for park employees. She said they hung the transgender flag on the iconic granite monolith to express that being transgender is natural. This year, Trump signed an executive order changing the federal definition of sex to exclude the concept of gender identity. He also banned trans women from competing in women's sports, removed trans people from the military and limited access to gender-affirming care. Advertisement Gonia called the firing unjust. Joslin said they hung the flag in their free time, as a private citizen. 'SJ is a respected pillar within the Yosemite community, a tireless volunteer who consistently goes above and beyond,' Gonia said. Jayson O'Neill with the advocacy group Save Our Parks said Joslin's firing appears aimed at deterring park employees from expressing their views as the Trump administration pursues broad cuts to the federal workforce. Since Trump took office, the National Park Service has lost approximately 2,500 employees from a workforce that had about 10,000 people, Wade said. The Republican president is proposing a $900 million cut to the agency's budget next year. Pawlitz said numerous visitors complained about unauthorized demonstrations on El Capitan earlier in the year. Many parks have designated 'First Amendment areas' where groups 25 or fewer people can protest without permits. Yosemite has several of those areas, including one in Yosemite Valley, where El Capitan is located. Park service rules on demonstrations have existed for decades and withstood several court challenges, said Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers. He was not aware of any changes in how those rules are enforced under Trump. Associated Press journalist Brittany Peterson contributed reporting from Denver.
Axios
2 days ago
- Axios
After cities buck rainbow crosswalk ban, Florida cracks down
The Florida Department of Transportation is demanding the removal of LGBTQ+ Pride crosswalks in Key West and Delray Beach after city leaders there pushed back against a new mandate banning street art. Why it matters: The state's response came days after Key West and Delray Beach appeared to become the first Florida cities to openly resist new state and federal guidelines targeting pavement art that transportation officials say could distract drivers. The latest: In memos to both cities, FDOT officials demanded they paint over their rainbow-colored crosswalks by Sept. 3. If that doesn't happen, the state "will remove them by any appropriate method necessary without further notice," FDOT District Six secretary Daniel Iglesias wrote in the memo to Key West, which Axios obtained. Delray Beach received an identical memo from a separate FDOT official, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. The officials said that the state would charge the cities for any removal costs incurred and threatened to withhold state funds for "any additional violations." What they're saying: Key West Mayor Danise "Dee Dee" Henriquez tells Axios that the city will challenge the state order and hopes to show the way for other Florida cities with LGBTQ street art. "I feel like we could be the example, and that's why we're fighting so hard." Threat level: The state's response could have ripple effects across Florida, potentially influencing how cities like Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale — neither of which have removed its rainbow-colored crosswalks — respond to the new policy. A Miami Beach spokesperson tells Axios the city hadn't received any memos from FDOT as of Monday afternoon. Catch up quick: Key West commissioners voted Aug. 6 to explore any legal recourses to maintain the Pride crosswalks on Duval and Petronia streets, which the city has declared cultural landmarks. The Delray Beach City Commission followed suit last week, deciding to keep its Pride intersection until it receives direct orders from the state. What's next: The state memo to Key West says the city may request an administrative proceeding and that FDOT has reserved time on Sept. 3 at the Florida Turnpike Enterprise's offices in Orlando for a hearing. Delray Beach's hearing would be Sept. 2, per the Sentinel. The city didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about potential responses. Yes, but: Although Key West plans to send an attorney to the FDOT meeting, the memos to both cities say FDOT won't consider any requests for exceptions or waivers allowing the intersections to remain. "The Department has already reviewed the pavement markings… and determined that the pavement markings will not be allowed." The bottom line: Henriquez says the city will "fight all the way to Sept. 3," but "if FDOT comes down here and removes them without us knowing, I don't have control."
Axios
2 days ago
- Axios
Florida orders Key West to remove rainbow crosswalks after city pushback
The Florida Department of Transportation is demanding the removal of Key West's rainbow-colored Pride crosswalks after city leaders pushed back against a new mandate banning street art. Why it matters: The state's response comes two weeks after Key West appeared to become the first Florida city to resist new state and federal guidelines targeting pavement art that transportation officials say could distract drivers. The latest: In a memo to Key West on Friday, an FDOT official demanded that the city's rainbow-colored pavement markings be removed by Sept. 3 If that doesn't happen, the state "will remove them by any appropriate method necessary without further notice," wrote FDOT District Six secretary Daniel Iglesias. Iglesias added that the state would charge the city for any removal costs unless the city removed the crosswalk itself and threatened to withhold state funds if the city commits "any additional violations." What they're saying: "We are going to fight this," Mayor Danise "Dee Dee" Henriquez told The Keys Citizen. Threat level: The state's response could have ripple effects across Florida, potentially influencing how cities like Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale — neither of which have removed its LGBTQ street markings — respond to the new policy. Catch up quick: Key West commissioners voted Aug. 6 to explore any legal recourses to maintain the Pride crosswalks on Duval and Petronia streets, which the city have declared cultural landmarks. The Delray Beach City Commission followed suit last week, deciding to keep its Pride intersection until it receives direct orders from the state relating to its June 30 mandate. What's next: The state memo to Key West says the city may request an administrative proceeding and that FDOT has reserved time on Sept. 3 at the Florida Turnpike Enterprise's offices in Orlando for a hearing.
