For 10 years running, the Springfield-based LGBT group Coalition of Rainbow Alliances (CORAL) has won an award in the Illinois State Fair Twilight Parade for their impressive floats. They’ve become local icons for their dedication and imagination, and they’re changing things up in hopes of winning once again. Usually, the group’s flag corps leads the float, but they’re ditching the flags this year in favor of a comedy routine that involves performers wearing hats that look like tomatoes, corn, peppers and other produce. CORAL spokesman Bert Morton of Springfield says a self-deprecating joke used often during their planning session was, “We’re not just fruits anymore; now we’re vegetables, too.” In addition to the silly routine, CORAL’s float will feature a farm scene and a menagerie of animals for their theme, “Growing Illinois.” Morton says transporting the float from the build site to the fairgrounds will be a challenge because of its size, and he jokes that the giant rainbow on the float will probably scrape the bottom of the underpass along the way. Why go to all the trouble? Morton says it’s a labor of love, and it brings Springfield’s gay community together. He adds that building the float each year has also allowed the public to become accustomed to gay people: “As gay people, we were in the street and we didn’t scare anybody.” For more information on CORAL, visit www.coralfloattandflag.org.
This article appears in Aug 13-19, 2015.
