Marching along side several thousand others protestors involved in the protest against the ongoing NATO Summit in Chicago.

A group of nearly 100 LGBT activists marched and demonstrated as a “queer contingent” in solidarity with such groups as Occupy Chicago, Students for a Democratic Society and the National Conference of Black Lawyers.

“We need to take our movement to the streets rather than be diverted by the ballot box like we were in 2008,” said longtime LGBT rights activist and Founder of Gay Liberation Network Andy Thayer. “This is the way we’re are going to be able to claw back some of our lost civil liberties will be held in the streets.”

Thayer also criticized “so-called professional gay activists” for not participating in anti-war and direct action demonstrations such as ones against the Chicago NATO Summit.

“This is a golden opportunity to bring our movement back into the streets where civil rights are always won,” Thayer said.

While the LGBT protestors followed the anti-war, anti-NATO narrative, they also focused much of their message on the controversy surrounding Bradley Manning, recent cuts to LGBT health clinics and services and demands for full LGBT equality.