Bittersweet Celebration For LGBT Community At Pride Parade

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Hundreds of thousands of spectators lined streets on the North Side on a hot and sticky Sunday, for an emotional celebration of Chicago's 47th annual Pride Parade.

It was a bittersweet year for the parade, coming one year after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages nationwide, but two weeks after the deadliest mass shooting in American history at a gay nightclub in Orlando.

The parade kicked off with a somber note, with a moment of silence for the 49 people slain at Pulse nightclub. There was also an impressive dedication to the victims, with a person holding a picture of each person killed in Orlando, and carrying it along the length of the parade route.

It was a symbolic gesture by a community still suffering a sense of pain and loss, while at the same time showing the resiliency and courage that has always been part of the Pride Parade in Chicago.

At the start of the parade, Mayor Rahm Emanuel touched on what he said was a shadow cast on Pride events across the country.

"It is a reminder that, while we have made progress on marriage equality, we've made progress on repealing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' there is hate in the world," he said.

Darnell Motley said he wasn't letting the Orlando massacre ruin his parade.

"Really close to Orlando; it's crazy that we can really love ourselves, and feel close, feel safe. That's important," he said. "I choose to feel safe today. While there are sort of worries, but I choose to sort of feel comfortable, and believe it's going to be a good day, and we can really enjoy ourselves."

Among the many colorful parade entries, the Ghostbusters decked out in all their gear, superheroes and villains on motorcycles, and as always plenty of people decked out in the rainbow colors of the LGBT community.

Heightened security was obvious throughout the parade, with extra police officers and private security guards keeping watch over the festivities. Police even limited how the media could cover the parade, telling reporters and photographers to stay behind the barricades.

As of 4 p.m., Chicago police said there had been one arrest on drug-related charges during the parade.