Pride Month – June 2025

Pride Month is observed annually in June to celebrate the lives and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual people. Chicago was one of the first cities to recognize Pride in 1970 and has long been at the forefront of LGBTQ+ rights. This month, we are highlighting some of the historical events and figures that changed history for the LGBTQ+ community, as well as local Pride events across Illinois. 

Spotlight: Gloria Allen (1945-2022)  

Gloria Allen, known affectionately as “Mama Gloria”, was a Black transgender woman with deep ties to the Chicago LGBTQ+ community. Raised in Chicago by an affirming family, Allen worked to provide the city’s LGBTQ+ youth with the same support she had enjoyed growing up. Donating her own time and resources, she ran “Mama Gloria’s Charm School” out of the Center on Halsted, an LGBTQ+ community center, for several years. Charm School taught style, etiquette, self-advocacy and life skills to struggling transgender youth. Gloria Allen is the subject of the 2020 documentary Mama Gloria, and a play by Philip Dawkins called Charm, both about her life and work. 

Spotlight: Pearl M. Hart (1890-1975) 

Attorney and activist Pearl M. Hart spent her 61-year legal career defending civil rights, especially for feminist and LGBTQ+ causes. Hart was a founder of the National Lawyers Guild; a graduate of UIC Law School (formerly known as John Marshall Law School), where she later taught for many years; and the first female public attorney appointed to the Morals Court. An out lesbian, Hart headed the Chicago chapter of the Mattachine organization (an early gay rights group) and lobbied for anti-entrapment laws and the right to privacy. Chicago’s Gerber/Hart Library and Archives is named in her honor. 

Spotlight: Henry Gerber (1892-1972) 

Henry Gerber moved to Chicago with his family from Germany around the turn of the twentieth century. He was openly gay from a young age, in a time when homosexuality was heavily criminalized. As a young man, Gerber survived involuntary commitment to a mental hospital because of his sexuality. Serving in the U.S. Army during World War I, he was inspired by Berlin’s thriving gay subculture and German activism against homophobia. Returning to the United States, he founded the Society for Human Rights, the first chartered gay rights organization, and produced the first American LGBTQ+ publication, Friendship and Freedom. Despite facing rampant persecution – including a highly publicized arrest on “obscenity” charges, job discrimination, and being forced to disband the Society for Human Rights, Gerber left his mark on LGBTQ+ advocacy and the concept of public pride. Chicago’s Gerber/Hart Library and Archives bears his name. 

Spotlight: Jane Addams (1860-1935) 

Jane Addams spent her life as a social reformer and was active in many progressive causes. Addams spearheaded the settlement house movement, a social and economic reform movement aimed at providing housing and community resources to encourage upward mobility in poor neighborhoods. She founded Hull House in 1889, the first settlement house in the United States. Addams also advocated for labor rights, juvenile justice reforms, public health and sanitation, and immigrant rights. She was a co-founder of the NAACP and an officer in the National Women’s Suffrage Association. Later in life, she became a staunch pacifist and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. While terms like “lesbian” were not broadly used during her lifetime, Addams never married and lived openly with women. Poems and love letters she exchanged with her partner of 35 years, Mary Rozet Smith, are preserved at the Hull House Museum in Chicago. 

Fun Facts 

• Northalsted, also known as “Boystown”, is the first formally recognized gay district in the United States. It was given a historical designation in 1997. 
• The Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization, formed in Chicago in 1924 – 45 years before the Stonewall uprisings kicked off the gay liberation movement nationwide. 
• Chicago hosts the annual Miss Continental competition – the first drag beauty pageant – every Labor Day weekend. Miss Continental has welcomed transgender competitors since its founding in 1980. 
• New York City ball culture may have a bigger claim to fame, but Chicago had ballrooms, too! In fact, South Side balls had drag performances even before the NYC scene. 

2025 Pride Events 

June 7 

• Elgin Pride Parade 

• Ellsworth Park Pride Fest 

• Downers Grove PrideFest 

• Rockford Pride Parade and Alley Party 

June 8 – Aurora Pride Parade 

June 11 – PlayLab PlayDate: Pride Month at the Field Museum 

June 12 – Pride Celebration at Wrigley Field (Cubs vs. Pirates) 

June 13-15 

• Andersonville Midsommarfest 

• Albert Cashier Exhibition at Rockford Veterans’ Memorial Hall 

June 18 – Pride at the Park at Rate Field (White Sox vs. Cardinals) 

June 21-22 

• Chicago Pride Fest 

• Champaign-Urbana Toast to Taylor Street Block Party 

June 27 – Family Pride Night at Morton Arboretum 

June 28-29 

• Andersonville Back Lot Bash 

• Chicago Pride Parade 

• Spurlock Sundays: Art With a Queen 

Sources 

The Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame. (1992). Pearl M. Hart. https://chicagolgbthalloffame.org/hart-pearl/.  The Continental Pageantry System. (2025). Miss Continental. https://www.continentalpageantry.com/miss-continental-pageant.  Enjoy Illinois. (2025, February 25). Pride Festivals in Illinois. https://www.enjoyillinois.com/plan-your-trip/travel-inspiration/pride-festivals/.  GoPride. (2025). 2025 Chicago Pride Month Calendar. https://chicagopride.gopride.com/events.cfm.  Jane Addams Hull-House Museum. (2022, June 29). Jane Addams & Mary Rozet Smith: More Than “Gal Pals”. https://www.hullhousemuseum.org/hullhouse-blog/2022/6/27/jane-addams-amp-mary-rozet-smith-more-than-gal-pals.  Michals, D. (2017). Jane Addams. National Women’s History Museum. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/jane-addams.  The Morton Arboretum. (2025). Events: Family Pride Night. https://mortonarb.org/explore/activities/events/family-pride-night/.  Out at CHM. (n.d.) LGBTQIA+ History in Chicago. Chicago History Museum. https://www.chicagohistory.org/lgbtqia-history-in-chicago/.  Salvo, V., Keehnen, O. and Maxwell, C. (2024). Henry Gerber – Nominee. The Legacy Project. https://legacyprojectchicago.org/person/henry-gerber.  Storms, G. (2024, March 22). Mama Gloria: Daughter, Sister, Cousin, Friend, LGTQIA+ Activist. Chicago History Museum. https://www.chicagohistory.org/mama-gloria-daughter-sister-cousin-friend-lgbtqia-activist/.  Wittich, J. (2022, June 15). Mama Gloria, Trans Icon Who Mentored Queer Chicago Youth With Her Charm School, Dies at 76. Block Club Chicago. https://blockclubchicago.org/2022/06/15/mama-gloria-trans-icon-who-mentored-queer-chicago-youth-with-her-charm-school-dies-at-76/.