Dear Friends in Pride,

The germ of an idea that would become Swish began on the corner of Greenwich and Christopher streets during the 2002 NYC Pride March. I was enjoying the March—shockingly, my first—with eight of my gay boyfriends. And it selfishly occurred to me: “How can I be in this?”

I thought, “These men are such a big part of my life, socially and politically. I go shoe shopping with my gay friends, sing with them, stand for them. I talk about love and sex with them, spend date nights with them." I was looking for a larger expression of my love and support.

That was it, and it was suddenly bigger than me. I’d establish the first-ever "fag hag" float for the NYC Pride March 2003. It had never been done before—or since. And with the help of these wonderful men, and my sister hags and lesbians, Swish was born. After our debut, people from all over the world told us we were on to something: Hundreds signed on as Swish supporters to celebrate a new community—one that had never been available before.

Today, eight years later, Swish has evolved into a powerful gay-straight alliance. Among our many accomplishments, our proudest is supporting dozens of LGBT-serving organizations with volunteer hours, advocacy, and financial resources.

We have the pink, feminine, kitschy aesthetic ... bringing fun back to activism the way that JT brought sexy back to sex. We will never resign fabulousness! Our pride for our friends, both women and men, gay and straight, runs deep.

Many of us have lost family and loved ones before their time to HIV/AIDS, suicide, and hate-motivated violence. Swish was founded in remembrance and honor of these wonderful people.  We stand, without exception, for a world in which inequality is an anachronism.

Oh, and we have VIP tickets to the ultimate Pride March ... in the sky.

Isn't it time you Swished?

With love, peace, and pride,

Sue Sena