Though temperatures were so high that phones buzzed with heat alerts, keeping many away from attending Skokie’s Pride event Saturday, organizers said they were still satisfied with this year’s Pride event and holding space for LGBTQIA+ people.
This year’s Pride, hosted at Oakton Park, took place amid the season’s first heat wave that saw temperatures hit the mid-90s with bright sunshine and humidity. The Village of Skokie, the Skokie Park District, local businesses and faith communities nevertheless staffed booths sharing information and messages of inclusion.
“We really think it’s important,” to have a Pride event in Skokie, said Skokie Park District Executive Director Michelle Tuft. “Skokie is a very diverse community, and we want everyone here to feel welcome. So it’s very important every year, and maybe even more so this year.”
Tuft said the celebration, organized by the Skokie Park District and Skokie Pride, has been ongoing since 2019, and was created because residents wanted a family-friendly Pride event in Skokie.
Tuft said the heat was likely the reason why attendance at this year’s Pride event was not as high as previous years, but that otherwise, the celebrations were going well.
“It seems like there’s been a little bit of a lower turnout, but still, people are really engaging, and we’re happy to be able to be here,” said Amanda Sabri, the village’s of Skokie’s staff liaison to the village’s Human Relations Commission.
Sabri said even with the weather, Pride is “a wonderful event. We love getting to know everybody who’s coming to the table, and even with the heat, everyone is in a positive mood.”
Over at the Temple Beth Israel booth, Tracey Kite, the Chair of the Temple’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion told Pioneer Press why the synagogue attends Pride in Skokie.
“One of the things we’ve been working really hard on in the last eight years is making sure that we are really appropriately welcoming to all people,” Kite said of the reform synagogue. “You want people to know that LGBTQ individuals are welcome in the Jewish community,” she said.
A good number of families attended the event, taking precautions to stay cool and hydrated. From Arlington Heights, Ryan Christie brought his two kids, including his 9-year-old daughter Olive Christie, to the Skokie festival.
“We were here last year just looking for something to do. I have some members of the family who identify as LGBTQ and we wanted something that was family oriented,” Christie said. “[Skokie Pride] is community based and everybody’s so nice and accepting. It was a really nice way to get to know the LGBTQ community.”
