Chicago's Pride Parade Looks to Boot Politicians

Campaigners enraged by Illinois lawmakers' failure to make the state the 13th to legalize gay marriage want the politicians banned from this year's Pride Parade in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune reports. A same-sex marriage bill passed the state Senate in February, but the House's spring session adjourned without bringing the issue to a vote after the bill's sponsor said he didn't have enough votes.

"People were asking, why are politicians in our Pride Parade when we don't have anything to celebrate this year?" says the creator of a petition that would give lawmakers the boot from the event. He says that while parade organizers probably won't agree to yank the politicians' reserved spots in the parade, a good compromise would be to have them march at the back of the parade instead of their usual spots in the front. (More Chicago stories.)