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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
PROCLAIMING PRIDE MONTH 2026 IN COOK COUNTY
WHEREAS, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) Pride Month is celebrated every June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan and works to achieve equal justice and opportunity for LGBTQIA+ Americans, as well as recognize the impact that LGBTQIA+ individuals have had on society at local, national, and international levels; and
WHEREAS, the Stonewall Riots were a series of demonstrations in which members of the LGBTQIA+ community protested police raids and harassment and marked the beginning of the modern LGBTQIA+ rights movement; and
WHEREAS, the first Pride March was held in New York City on June 28, 1970, on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising; and
WHEREAS, the LGBTQIA+ movement and its allies have fought hard to win the right to one's gender, to marry, and to start families while also continuing to fight against hate speech, hate crimes, and ongoing discrimination targeted at both the personal and legal levels; and
WHEREAS, the current national political environment has created very real legal and physical dangers for the LGBTQIA+ community; and
WHEREAS, according to GLAAD’s Anti-LGBTQ Extremism Reporting Tracker, 2025 saw 1,042 instances of anti-LGBTQ+ incidents across 47 states and Washington, DC, a five percent increase over 984 incidents in 2024; and
WHEREAS, those instances included 128 acts of vandalism, 76 assaults, 22 threats of mass violence, and 15 arson attempts; and
WHEREAS, over half of these incidents targeted transgender and other gender non-conforming individuals, a 10% increase from 2024; and
WHEREAS, GLAAD also found that Pride events, times to celebrate and display individuals’ LGBTQ+ identity, were also the sites of dramatic increases in threats and violence with over 265 anti-LGBTQ+ incidents in June 2025; and
WHEREAS, this marks a nearly 400 percent increase from just 54 incidents in June 2022, when GLAAD first began collecting data; and
WHEREAS, according to GLAAD, there have also been over 3,300 attacks on LGBTQ+ individuals since June 2022; and
WHEREAS, according to the February 2025 brief from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law ‘Anti-LGBT Victimization in the United States’, researchers found that recent developments and years of attacks on the LGBTQ+ community can lead to increased violence against LGBTQ+ people; and
WHEREAS, the brief goes on to note that “researchers found that following Trump campaign rallies in 2016, which the authors described as containing hate rhetoric, there was an increase in hate-motivated incidents in the counties where the rallies happened as compared to other counties and the same counties prior to the rally”; and
WHEREAS, the brief also mentions that “Following online attacks on transgender care, hospitals and doctors faced increased harassment, including death threats. This rhetoric and the anti-LGBT sentiments it promotes can lead to adverse mental health outcomes for LGBT people”; and
WHEREAS, Pride Month is observed each year to center the ongoing issues of the community while also celebrating its rich history, successes, stories; and
WHEREAS, a new study from Northeastern University in Boston reveals companies with LGBTQ+ board members outperform their rivals that don’t have the same representation, finding that Fortune 500 companies with LGBTQ+ board members outperform their peers in both financial and non-financial metrics; and
WHEREAS, on April 15, 2025, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) reaffirmed its current policy that trans athletes can continue to participate in high school sports competitions, despite the demands to exclude trans athletes by the Trump administration and Illinois Republican lawmakers; and
WHEREAS, in August of 2025 Illinois launched Illinois Pride Connect, a first of its kind legal hotline for LGBTQIA + individuals can call for advice on accessing health care, identifying documents, housing, safety concerns, and government benefits; and
WHEREAS, the annual iconic Chicago Pride Parade is one of the largest Pride events in the country during which residents throughout Cook County, Illinois, and the nation have the opportunity to come together, celebrate, and stand as one with the LGBTQIA+ community, their families, and friends; and
WHEREAS, the Chicago Pride Parade will return on June 28, 2026, for its 55th year with the theme of “Free to Be Proud” honoring the legacy of those who paved the way while affirming the ongoing commitment to ensuring every person can live openly, authentically, and with dignity; and
WHEREAS, the LGBTQIA+ community is an important contributor to the diverse and vibrant communities across Cook County and as such Cook County must continue to loudly and proudly fight to affirm, welcome, and protect this community; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Cook County Board of Commissioners does hereby proclaim June 2026 to be Pride Month in Cook County; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the President and the Cook County Board of Commissioners does hereby recommit to strengthening the advancement of equity for the LGBTQIA+ community across Cook County.
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