The Extra Life Chicago Guild Celebrated Pride with Their Annual Pride Twitch Stream Parade
Last weekend, the Extra Life Chicago Guild hosted their Annual Pride Twitch Stream Parade to celebrate Pride Month and highlight LGBTQIA+ streamers! This year marks the third year for the online event that was started in 2021.
Extra Life Chicago Guild Events Co-Chair Mel aka Hyzenthleia came up with the idea for the Pride Twitch Stream Parade when the Chicago Pride Parade and other Pride events were canceled for the second year in a row due to COVID-19 restrictions. Mel and the Extra Life Chicago Guild ran with the concept that each streamer was like a float in the parade. Now, they’ve had three successful streams with new and returning streamers!
Early in the planning for the first year of the Pride Stream, the Chicago Guild decided to also highlight Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and the hospital’s efforts for LGBTQIA+ youth including the hospital’s own Pride parade! Also, Grant Stirling, the hospital’s president, records a video to thank the Extra Life Chicago Guild every year!

This year the Pride Twitch Stream Parade featured the following streamers on the Extra Life Chicago Twitch channel:
Speaking to JudgeJLo and Mel, both got involved with Extra Life by watching streamers or content creators participate in Extra Life. Once being introduced to Extra Life, JudgeJLo said, “it’s just one of those things that when you see it, it calls to you and you’re like ‘yea I want to do that.’”
Mel said Extra Life became a good way for her to celebrate her birthday during the pandemic. “Game Day usually falls around my birthday, and I couldn’t think of anything more fun to me to celebrate than to get together with my friends, do a bunch of silly challenges, play video games, and raise money for charity. Nobody has to worry about what to get me as a gift just get me a donation to Extra Life cause that’s what I really care about.”

JudgeJLo and Mel feel that the gaming community has been very accepting of them as LGBTQIA+ streamers. Even when they have trolls appear in chat, they, thankfully, have mods that can take care of them. They said their communities are extremely supportive of the Chicago Pride Twitch Stream Parade and their Extra Life efforts!
“Being able to use gaming as a vehicle to help others find community, entertainment, and sometimes comfort because the world can be a really tough place to live in sometimes, right? So, being able to use the thing that I love so much to bring a smile to someone else, it’s just the coolest thing the world to me.” – JudgeJLo on why he continues to participate in Extra Life.
“As far as charities go, Extra Life is truly one of the most grounded in the vision and inspiration of its members that I’ve ever seen. Of course, we all play video games, tabletop games, and board games. But there is so much else that I’ve seen this community do. We do this Pride stream, and if what you want to do is express the part of yourself that is about your gender and sexuality, you can do that and turn into Extra Life streaming.” “Whatever your interest is, wherever you are or want to be, whether it’s something that you are passionate about now or something you want to learn how to do and get more passionate about, you can make that Extra Life and that’s what I like.” – Mel on why she continues to participate in Extra Life.