On Pride Sunday, Activists Hold Black Trans Lives Matter March In Chicago

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago Pride Parade that traditionally happens the last Sunday in June was canceled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But there were events to adapt to COVID-19, with a Black Trans Lives Matter march on Sunday that started at the Belmont Red, Brown, and Purple Line station.

Organizers described the march Sunday as a "protest, not a party." They said instead of a parade filled with corporate floats, the event highlighted a community coming together.

"Today, we are protesting. We've lost too many Black and Brown trans women to violence," one speaker said. "We lost one this week named Brayla Stone, 17 years old."

Stone was found dead in a homicide Thursday in Sherwood, Arkansas near Little Rock on Thursday, CBS affiliate KHTV-TV, Little Rock reported.

Speakers at the march on Sunday listed demands including reclaiming Pride from corporations and returning it to the people, defunding police, and decriminalizing sex work.