ATLANTA - Chase Oliver, the first openly gay Senate candidate in Georgia, finishes his tour of Pride events on Sunday, June 25 by joining the parade in Chicago - the site of the first Pride march.
Chicago Pride is one of the largest Pride celebrations in the U.S., and I am honored to be marching alongside the Libertarian Party of Illinois,” says Oliver, 37, Rolling Stone’s “Most Influential Libertarian” and Libertarian presidential hopeful. “Libertarians support freedom, self-expression, and we will speak that message loud and clear in Chicago.”
Pride Month commemorates the June 28, 1969 police raid on Stonewall Inn in New York City. Demonstrations over the next six days swelled to thousands of protesters, launching the gay rights movement.
About 150 people joined the first Pride march in Chicago on June 27, 1970 - the day before the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Thousands demonstrated the next day in New York; in Los Angeles, protesters sued and won to march.
The Libertarian Party endorsed gay rights with its first platform in 1972, and in 1976, issued a pamphlet calling for an end to antigay laws and endorsing full marriage rights.
Oliver marched and met people at Pride events in Kansas City and Atlanta earlier this month.
“It was a Pride festival in Atlanta that brought me to libertarianism. The Libertarian Party of Georgia was doing outreach in Atlanta Pride,” he said. “And that’s when I really learned that there was more than a two-party system, there’s really a party that supports everybody’s free expression and liberty - and it wasn’t Republicans and certainly wasn’t Democrats.”
This weekend’s Pride events in Illinois:
52nd Annual Pride Parade
North Side neighborhood, Chicago, IL
June 25, 10 a.m.
For more about the history of the Stonewall Inn protests that led to pride, as well as the Libertarian Party’s support for equality since its founding in 1972, see the news release about Stonewall at https://votechaseoliver.com/press-releases/pride-month-honors-fight-for-liberty-at-stonewall/
Oliver’s national attention grew following his debate with incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock and an empty podium set aside for opponent Herschel Walker. Oliver garnered over 80,000 votes and forced a runoff between the Republican and Democratic candidates.
Broadcast coverage includes PBS, CNN, Fox Business, and CSPAN. Print coverage includes The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, and Rolling Stone, which labels him the “Most Influential Libertarian.”
Oliver is available for media interviews, university journalism, and communications students.
To learn more about Chase Oliver, visit votechaseoliver.com.
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