But they love a Sexual Freedom Parade even more!

We have marched in Pride parades in New Orleans, San Francisco (the original Pride parade), and Mexico City (one of the largest in the world), and we have always felt a true sense of “pride” when supporting equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community, a community we are proudly a part of.

When we came up with the idea of a Sexual Freedom Parade, we thought it would be a good idea to create a parade that was less about one’s sexual orientation and more about sexual freedom and expression. We wanted a parade that would raise awareness for more than just how you identify and celebrate people’s choices to participate in polyamory, open relationships, swinging, BDSM, and other relationship models that deviate from the heterosexual monogamous model.

Relationship models are changing

There are countless studies that show that the monogamous model doesn’t work. Only 17% of monogamous relationships last more than two years. Fewer and fewer couples are getting married, yet the heterosexual monogamous marriage model is what is still being pushed as the acceptable “norm” while other relationship models are openly discriminated against.

Nowadays, less and less people are getting married. More people are choosing an open lifestyle, and it is common among college students to openly “date” more than one person, often more than one gender. These young people will change how relationships work as they grow older and bring more alternative options into the mainstream.

While statistics show that relationship models are changing, especially among younger people, older people are blind to what is going on. They do not realize that the 1950s nuclear family model is being replaced on a large scale because they do not see it in their circles. They only see breakups and divorces; they are not exposed to a sea change of acceptance for poly and open relationships.

Movies like 50 Shades of Grey, while not a great movie, it was an important step forward for advocates for BDSM. It allowed many people, especially women, to start talking about the possibility of trying bondage, role play domination, and submissiveness. The first step is talking about these once-taboo ideas and relationships.

So, let’s march

So, after a lot of thought about this, we launched our first Sexual Freedom Parade in New Orleans in order to proudly and publicly proclaim our own individual sexuality in an effort to normalize our lifestyles and show that there are alternatives to “straight sex.”

We make a variety of signs, which are amazing and include "Proud Swinger", "Monogamy isn't natural", "We don't cheat", "Our Marriage Works", "We Support Sexual Freedom", “Proud to be Poly” and much more.

As we marched through town, behind a police escort and a second-line band with signs and banners, we were surprised to see how positive the people on the streets were as we rolled by. We are always delighted to see so many people cheering us on and supporting the idea that we all should have sexual freedom without discrimination.

The Sexual Freedom Parade creates conversations between couples who watch the parade. People will talk to their friends, family, and their partners about what they saw at the parade. They will mention some of the signs, how some of the people were dressed, and the positive energy from our marchers, and those discussions can often lead people (especially partners) into conversations about their own sexuality and fantasies.

This year’s parade will take place on Friday, June 28th. It will start in front of the Astor Crowne Plaza Hotel. Check the schedule for the starting time.

Pineapple Pride

This year, we are encouraging people to wear pineapple-themed outfits for the parade. The upside-down pineapple has finally become the universal symbol we have all been looking for. While the origins of people turning a pineapple upside down in their grocery cart in order to let others know that they were swingers is suspect, the symbol has caught on and given us a real way to identify ourselves and our sexuality in a fun, playful and subtle way without having to be too graphic.

So this year, we created a complete line of our own “Naughty Pineapple” clothing that is very discreet but lets those who know about the pineapples know (it’s the old If You Know, You Know IYKYK) what you are into.

You can check out the store here

Here are just a few samples of some of our Naughty Pineapple dresses and men’s clothing: