Community Corner
Former NFL Player Announced as Pride Parade Grand Marshall
Organizers with Chicago's Gay Pride Parade say they've chosen the former NFL football player Wade Davis to be grand marshall, a title also held by George Takei and even former Mayor Richard Daley.
Former Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks player Wade Davis will be grand marshall at Chicago’s 44th Annual Pride Parade, organizers announced Thursday.
The former NFL play is now a LGBT activist and works at the Hetrick Martin Institute, an organization that provides counseling and legal services, among other things, to at-risk LGBT youth.
The parade is scheduled for June 30 at noon, a week after the annual Pride Fest celebration. The parade route, which was changed in 2012, is as follows:
- Starts at Montrose Avenue and North Broadway in Uptown
- Moves down Broadway to Halsted Street
- Goes south on Halsted to Belmont Avenue
- Moves east on Belmont to Broadway
- Heads south on Broadway to Diversey Parkway
- Goes east on Diversey and ends at Sheridan Road
Davis was most recently in the news when he attended the Safe Space Day event at the Center on Halsted where he previewed his new YOU Belong Initiative. It’s a series of 4-day comprehensive sports instruction and leadership development clinics for LGBT youth and straight allies.
"We want these camps to leave a footprint and get youth around the country excited about being involved, and to make youth feel safe in sports," Davis told Windy City Times. "I think a lot of LGBT youth feel they are not welcome in sports, but we want to change that."
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