CHICAGO — A legal battle is underway after the City of Chicago denied activists a permit for a protest during the Democratic National Convention taking place in August. 

The group said the Chicago Transportation Department denied them a permit to protest in the Loop the Sunday before the start of the convention.

“The city should not stand in our way they should be empowering us to march,” Kristi Keorkunian-Rivers, from Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws and the co-founder of the Chicago Chapter of Stop Trans Genocide, said. 

Several organizers stood in solidarity outside the steps of the Chicago Administrative Law Hearings Courthouse following an appeals hearing on Tuesday.

“We need to be in a place where you can see us. They can see us, and we can see them,” Linda Lowe, from Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws and the co-founder of Chicago for Abortion Rights, said. 

Activists with Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws said they are denouncing the city’s decision and regardless of the court’s decision, they plan to march on August 8th. 

“Whether or not we get rejected by this court we will be marching. Our march assembly will be at 5 p.m. at Water Tower Park on Sunday, August 18th. That much we know. What happens beyond that we will see,” Andy Thayer, from Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws and the co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network, said. 

The attorney representing the group said the city is trying to push organizers to protest in Grant Park, a location they say will diminish their visibility. 

Group leaders said they are not the only ones being denied a permit.

“Chicago is home to an inspiring dynamic community of longtime organizers and newly mobilized youth activists and for the city and the Democratic Party to shut out those voices suggesting instead they march in a straight line in Grant Park where no one will hear them offends the first amendment and sets a regressive tone for the DNC,” Attorney Joe Dicola, from the Chicago chapter of the Lawyers Guild and First Defense Legal Aid, said. 

The activists say they are frustrated because the issues they plan to protest align with the Democratic Party.

“We honestly expect most of the convention attendees and the public to agree with us, but they must do more than agree with our demand for reproductive justice and LGBTQ liberation. They must do a lot more than that,” Lowe said.

In response to the decision, a spokesperson for the City of Chicago issued a statement on Tuesday afternoon: 

“The City does not comment on ongoing litigation. Per municipal code, parade permit applications are reviewed by multiple City departments to identify any potential conflicts, safety issues, and to assess the availability of resources necessary to support the gathering. When a permit is denied, the applicant is given an alternative route per the requirements of city ordinance that allows the parade to proceed while accounting for police resources, security, safety, and other additional factors. Each application that is submitted is evaluated based on the specific details of the proposed routes and concurrent events happening in the city.”

Spokesperson for the City of Chicago

A law officer is expected to make a decision on the group’s appeal within 48 hours.

WGN-TV reached out to the Chicago Department of Transportation for comment on statements made by the group and is still awaiting a response.

WGN-TV also reached out to the DNC we have not heard back.