Buffalo Grove, Illinois, holds LGBTQ+ Pride parade

An LGBTQ+ Pride parade was held in the northwest Chicago suburb of Buffalo Grove on Sunday.

Around 2,000 people were expected to take part in the parade, which stepped off at 11 a.m. at Buffalo Grove Road and Thompson Boulevard.

The parade headed south on Buffalo Grove Road and west on Deerfield Parkway before ending in Mike Rylko Community Park (that's Rylko, not Royko), for a Pride Picnic.

This year's was "Shine with Pride: Illuminating Resilience." It featured 100 entries and 2,000 participants.

The Buffalo Grove Pride Parade is organized in collaboration with the Buffalo Grove Park District and the Pinta Pride Project.

The Chicago Pride Parade, along with most other major pride parades, is held the last Sunday in June — this year, that's Saturday, June 28.

The theme for the Chicago parade this year is "Free to Be Proud," which organizers said reclaims the founding purpose of the event — that the freedom to live openly and safely is not guaranteed and must be protected and defended.