Chicago Pride Parade Floats' Tires Slashed

Today’s a great day for gay people, parade-loving people, friends of gays and parade lovers, and those of us with extensive sequined thong and feather boa collections that just don’t get enough play. In spite of the wide net cast by an event designed to celebrate diversity, acceptance, and love, it isn’t all joy and beads for everyone; for example, if you hate fun, you’d probably hate Pride Weekend.

It seems some of those fun-haters descended upon Chicago’s Pride Parade overnight, as dozens of floats set to drive in the event were slashed as they sat in overnight storage, leaving parade organizers scrambling to make sure the vehicles were ready for the parade’s noon step-off.

The Chicago Tribune reports,

Messages were left at the South Side business, but there was no immediate word on how many floats were damaged. According to the Windy City Times, the business owner, Chuck Huser, said that the floats were undamaged when he left at 8 p.m. Saturday, but that when he returned at 5 a.m. today, more than 30 floats had two tires each punctured.

Huser described the situation as “catastrophic,” and also said, “They didn’t want these folks to go out.”

This Pride Parade was to have added significance for some in the community, as civil unions became available to same-sex Illinois couples earlier this year.

Here’s hoping whoever is responsible for slashing Pride Parade float tires returned to their respective vehicles to find that their own cars had been booted.

UPDATE: Nearly all of the damaged floats were repaired in time for the parade. Love and elbow grease defeats homophobia once again.