Our June 2025 mission is Pinta Pride Project. Molly Pinta, a 17-year-old student at Stevenson High School started the whole project. At age twelve, she attended Aurora’s inaugural Pride Parade and she wanted to create one for her home town. She and her family have long been advocates for social justice issues in their own town, but having many gay family members and friends, pride is the closest to home.

Molly was a Youth Ambassador for the Human Rights Campaign, the winner of Illinois NOW Young Feminist Award, and a very serious honor student hoping to receive a stellar college education. Molly’s moxie and confidence combined with her determination to crowd fund Buffalo Groes’s inaugural pride parade caught the attention of the 2019 Chicago Pride Parade officials, who named the 13-year-old, this year’s Youth Grand Marshall, calling her “a shining example of hard work and sacrifice” of LGBTQ activists throughout history. If you want more information on the Pinta Pride Project, please visit their website at Pinta Pride Project.