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Swish in action: Serious LGBT advocacy and community service with a healthy dose of fun
March 27, 2013
Toolkit: Give A Swish and Volunteer in Your Community
April 21 - 27 is National Volunteer Week! This is a great opportunity to Give A Swish and organize a service project to benefit LGBT organizations in your own community.
Click here for a toolkit we put together that will give you everything you need to put an event together seamlessly!
December 18, 2012
Swish Members Look So Good in Santa Hats: Granting Holiday Wishes to LGBT Youth
As part of our Give a Swish volunteer initiative, Swish teamed up with the Hetrick-Martin Institute, the nation’s largest provider of support services to at-risk LGBT youth, to grant holiday wishes to their community. HMI’s facilities were severely compromised by Superstorm Sandy, and we needed to make sure these LGBT young people knew that they were thought and cared about this holiday season. Wishes ranged from job interview survival kits, to dance classes at Alvin Ailey, to one member who wanted nothing for himself, only gifts for his children. We were able to fulfill the wishes of 20 HMI youth members, and Thomas Krever, HMI’s executive director, joined us at our holiday party to say thank you and meet some of the donors in person.
This thank-you letter to one of our donors says it all: “Dear Michael and the Duane Reade Family: I asked for tickets to go see the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular and I got my wish. I've never gone to see it living in New York City all these years and this year, guess I got lucky. The date chosen to watch the show happens to be my best friend of 12 years' birthday and it'll be perfect for the both of us. No better way to say thank you than saying Merci, thank you in French. “
Special thanks to:
Seton Davey, Director of Volunteer Services, HMI
Eric Einstein and the gang at Pieces Bar, NYC
Mount Gay Rum
The amazing Holiday Swishes donors: Leslie Barbaro, Karin Barrett, Jason Bowman and Chris Adasiewicz, Hal Garstein, Allison and Matt Hooban, Lana Lauriano, Jamie Lloyd, Mike Lubell and Duane Reade, David Marshall, Jason Osher, Amy Ricigliano, Michael Rider, Robert Riggs, Sue Sena and Miranda Southwell
Our wonderful volunteers: Jenny Davenport, Hal Garstein, Saki Mori and Michael Rider
Photos from Holiday Swishes on Facebook
October 17, 2012
Looking Forward, Looking Back: 40 Years of LGBT Activism Celebrated at Firehouse Flicks 2.0
In honor of Straight Ally Week, Swish was honored to screen the HBO documentary Vito, on the life and times of influential gay activist Vito Russo, as the inaugural film of our Firehouse Flicks 2.0 series at St. John’s Lutheran Church in NYC. Firehouse Flicks, created by Russo during his time as a member of the 1970s organization Gay Activists Alliance, provided one of the first forums for discussion of gay and lesbian imagery in film, and was the basis for Russo’s groundbreaking biography, The Celluloid Closet.
Professor Michael Schiavi, author of Celluloid Activist: The Life and Times of Vito Russo, gave a passionate introduction to the film, and afterwards the audience was treated to a rousing Q & A with Professor Arnie Kantrowitz, Russo’s best friend, co-founder of Gay Activists Alliance and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and author of Under the Rainbow: Growing Up Gay. It was a truly inspirational and poignant evening, and a welcome opportunity to consider how far the LGBT movement has come, where it is going, and what the veterans and young lions of the movement need to accomplish together to maintain its momentum.
Special thanks to:
St. John’s Lutheran Church and Pastor Mark Erson
Grey Dog’s Catering
Michael Rider
Today New York finally gave up the ghost of winter and yielded to perfectly clear skies and sun-kissed breezes. The dedicated members of Swish were determined to take full advantage – we set up outside the Duane Reade drugstore on 42nd and 8th Avenue for our 3rd annual Give a Swish Spring Collection Drive to benefit SAGE (Service and Advocacy for GLBT Elders) and the Door, which provides essential social services to LGBT youth. These vulnerable members of NYC’s gay community were in need of basic incidentals like soap, shampoo, razors and deodorant, and Swish asked NYC to step up and deliver.
When the last item hit the box, we had collected $900 in donations for SAGE and the Door, an almost 10% increase in donations from the previous year! We piled into our rented cargo van and drove the donations down to the offices of our beneficiaries. At SAGE’s Chelsea offices, we were enthusiastically greeted by the volunteer manager, Bertis Shankle, who reminded us in one sentence why we were doing what we did: “Your donors showed our members more kindness today than some of their own families have.” Enough said.
Check out pics from the day here!
Special thanks to all of our partners and volunteers: Mike Lubell, Farhaad Jacooby, Christiana Kreepali, Sheri Crain, Audrey Iriberri, Ceara Johnson, Saki Mori, Ryan Ramdehol, Michael Rider, Matthew Tully
June 13, 2013
This summer, as LGBT people and straight allies all over the country waited with bated breath for the historic Supreme Court rulings on DOMA and Proposition 8, Swish brought four NYC leaders in the movement to St. John’s Lutheran Church - part of our Swish Nights Out networking and educational programs - for a spirited, inspiring panel discussion on what decision to expect, where the marriage equality movement is headed, and how to stay in action, no matter what the ultimate outcome might be.
The event, “DOMA and Prop 8: The Rights, the Rhetoric and Why Marriage Equality Matters,” was moderated by Brian Silva, Executive Director at Marriage Equality USA, and featured panelists Michael Crawford, Director of Online Programs at Freedom to Marry; Mariko Hirose, an ACLU attorney on Edith Windsor’s legal team, and David Turley, senior field organizer at the Human Rights Campaign. These four funny, honest, insightful and impassioned panelists gave a truly incredible program, sharing stories that moved them, bringing hard facts and figures to the table, and both telling the rapt audience that there is a way forward, and providing the light to show the way.
Special thanks to:
Pastor Mark Erson and St. John’s Lutheran Church
Michael Crawford
Mariko Hirose
Brian Silva
David Turley
Grey Dog Catering
Now that we’ve been able to recover and shake the glitter out of our hair, we wanted to say thank you once again for your generosity of spirit, financial support and love that made Swish’s 10th Anniversary Pride season its loudest and proudest.
Your support helped us mobilize over 200 straight allies and their LGBT loved ones to march for pride on both coasts, recruit dozens of new members, and diversify our member base - our youngest marcher was 2 and our oldest was over 70!
You can see the growing mountain of photos from Sunday’s NYC march here. Be sure to ‘Like’ us on Facebook, tag yourself and your friends, and tag Swish when you post your own!
Thought we’d share these experiences from two of our members who marched with us on Sunday. They say it all …
“I just wanted to congratulate you on 10 years of sharing the love through Swish! I'm proud to be involved with your organization and look forward to many more years of collaborations. I've had several people asked me why I marched in the gay pride parade this year when I'm straight. … I don't believe we would have pulled through segregation if white people didn't stand in allegiance with blacks. As a straight ally, I think it’s urgently important to stand in support of those in the GLBT community and I thank Swish for creating a platform for me to do so. Keep up the good work! Love always, Andromeda”
and …
“Thanks so much for having me today! I'm on my 6th month of a divorce and trying to find life and your group made me feel alive! I'm so glad I came and next year I'll bring a group.” – Bobby A.
“I have been married for the past eight months to the man I love – and they have been the happiest eight months of my life. I Swish because everyone deserves to be this happy.”
Through unexpected tears, cast member Sarah K. Marchetti-Gleim proclaimed why she is committed to creating a world where love is equal to an audience hushed with bated breath. This palpable connection was the end-point of a journey created by the Songs in the Key of Equality 2012 cast and crew. Under the direction of stage director Stephen Brotebeck, musical director Matt Vinson, and co-producers/cast members Matthew Kovach and Allison Hooban, Swish’s mission of equality was transformed into a musical call-to-action – to which the attendees answered loud and clear.
The annual benefit concert, now truly a trademark occasion for the NYC LGBT community, has grow considerably since its inception in 2007. Countless sponsors and volunteers have donated their time and efforts over the years to build the show into the landmark event it was for Swish this year. The event’s lead sponsor, Mount Gay Rum, led the way for so many other generous sponsors such as Second Stage Theatre, Mercy Health Supplement, Baconery, Nolita House, and Grey Dog Café to lend a hand in creating a successful evening which raised over $8,000 for Swish.
The event’s executive producer, Mathew T. Hotta, was both proud and honored to be at the helm of what he feels was greater than a simple concert, but a true moment of change. In acknowledging the many seen and unseen hands that were responsible for the event’s success, he stated “The creation of an opportunity, of a chance for anyone to lend their voice and energy to push forward this movement, is what Swish aims to do. Tonight, it did just that.”
2012’s Give A Swish Collection Drive to benefit the Ali Forney Center was a smashing success! Created in partnership with Duane Reade and with an assist from The Gap’s Be What’s Possible volunteer initiative, Swish board members Kylie Edmond, Jamie Lloyd and Sue Sena staked out the front of Duane Reade’s 34th Street and 8th Avenue location armed with collection boxes, sign-up sheets, and enough positive energy to rival the glorious spring sunshine.
When the last item hit the box, we had collected $830 in toiletries, clothing, towels and sheets for AFC’s youth membership!
Special thanks to:
The staff at Duane Reade
The Gap
Our volunteers: Alex Armagost, Deanne Armagost, Sheri Crain, Savy Hendrix, Charles Herold, Sarah Kendall, Gionna Pitrone, Michael Rider and Kacey Tapper
Swish was privileged to host Trans Reality: Why Transgender Equality is Important, a panel discussion on issues affecting the transgender community, at St. John’s Lutheran Church.
Moderated by Swish board member Jamie Lloyd, panelists Oscar Robles, Miranda Southwell and Kate McDonough of the Empire State Pride Agenda discussed transgender visibility in the media, the importance of passing the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) and how the LGB community, as well as straight allies, can better support their T brothers and sisters. A major takeaway fact of the night: 16 states have passed trans rights laws. NY is behind in its leadership.
Special thanks to:
Event Co-Sponsors: Empire State Pride Agenda, OffSprung!, Presbyterian Welcome and Grey Dog Catering
Mathew Hotta
St. John’s Lutheran Church and pastor Mark Erson
The Anti-Violence Project
Pete Adrian and Grey Dog Catering
