Suburban gay couples say marriage equality makes Pride sweeter
Throngs of people of all colors of the rainbow, their faces beaming, voices cheering and chests puffed out, walked and danced through the streets of Chicago's Boystown neighborhood Sunday for the 46th annual Pride Parade.
The festivities this year were more poignant for the hundreds of thousands who attended the parade coming on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Friday that grants same-sex couples the right to marry in all 50 states.
“It's great and a blessing,” said Courtney Christophe, 19, of Arlington Heights. “It feels so great that I can move to any state that I want to and I can get married. It also gives people more room for acceptance of us.”
Christophe and Noemy Olmos, 20, of Mundelein have been together for nearly a year and a half. Though wedding bells aren't in the offing just yet, the duo said they are excited to be part of history in the making and to be living in such a time of acceptance.
The couple walked the parade Sunday along with members of the Angles Pride Youth Program, which serves 40 LGBTQ — lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and those questioning their sexual or gender orientation — youth in the north and northwest suburbs.
“I have friends who accept me,” said Christophe, who is studying theater and digital media at Marquette University in Milwaukee. “I wasn't bullied at all because of this awesome generation.”
While things have gotten better for the gay community overall, suburban gay youth still need a lot of support, said Amy Skalinder, executive director of Angles. The program offers support group meetings at the Warren Township Youth and Family Services facility in Gurnee and at Countryside Unitarian Church in Palatine.
“The farther away we get from the city, the more support I find is needed,” she said. “They are more isolated. I think that the young people we serve, they don't even know yet how big this is for them. Pride is always fun. It really means so much more this year. It's a validation of our community.”
Illinois has sanctioned civil unions since 2011 and has recognized same-sex marriage since 2014.
Palatine residents Joe Serio and Paul Dombrowski have been together 18 years. They had their civil union four years ago and were married last year. The Supreme Court ruling means their marriage no longer becomes invalid once they cross the state line, they said.
“We got married again because we're married in every state in the United States now, not just Illinois,” said Dombrowski, who started attending the Pride Parade in the early 1980s. “We were kind of surrounded by states that didn't recognize our marriage.”
The couple volunteer with Angles and were eager to see the reaction of teens who never before had experienced the Pride Parade.
“The energy today is incredible,” Dombrowski said. “This will be the new normal for them.”
“This year, the parade is our victory lap,” Serio added. “The community gets to come together and we can celebrate this monumental achievement.”
West Chicago couple Miriam Granados, 23, and Maria Lopez, 21, said the timing of the Supreme Court ruling couldn't be more perfect.
“We love each other and we want to be a family,” Granados said. “It makes it an even better day to celebrate.”
Though they haven't set a wedding date yet, it's coming “soon,” said Lopez smiling.
“I think everybody is more cheery and happier. We're very excited to be here,” she added.
Whether gay or straight, family and friends marched side by side showing support for their loved ones.
Bob and Marcia Cammarata of Downers Grove have been members of the PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) Hinsdale chapter since their son came out in 1999. They hope someday soon to attend their 39-year-old son's wedding, “when he's ready.”
“These are just very good times,” Bob Cammarata said. “He is in a long-term relationship. They have not taken the step to be married, but now they have the opportunity to do that, if they want to.”
“We're very proud of America today,” Marcia Cammarata added. “This is all about justice and liberty and giving people their constitutional rights. We're just beside ourselves with the enormity of it that our country is moving forward embracing all people, as we should.”
Josie Dabrowski of Berwyn, another PFLAG member, said she was proud to mark this momentous occasion.
“Everyone's equal now,” Dabrowski said. “There is no gay marriage anymore. It's just marriage.”