September 23
Celebrate bisexuality on Bi Visibility Day on September 23 rd each year. Bi Visibility Day began in 1999 as a form of activism and celebration in response to prejudice and marginalization of bisexual persons by the straight and LGBTQ community.
Gender is Not a Barrier
Gender does not create a barrier to whom a bisexual person will fall in love with. A bisexual’s attraction to others expands the binary. Statistically, most bisexual people are not in open or polyamorous relationships, although it’s not a problem for those who are.
The word “bisexual” can be confusing to some, and maybe even a little misleading. Many bisexual people face unfair judgment from within the LGBT community. The LGBT community includes bisexuals, yet progressive lesbian and gay communities have largely mocked bisexuals in the past, assuming there are unresolved and/or internalized homophobia issues at play.
Erasure
Bisexual erasure or bisexual invisibility is the tendency to ignore, remove, falsify, or reexplain evidence of bisexuality in history, academia, news media and other primary sources. In its most extreme form, bisexual erasure can include denying that bisexuality exists.
Bisexual erasure – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisexual_erasure
Bisexual erasure or bisexual invisibility is a pervasive problem in which the existence or legitimacy of bisexuality is questioned or even denied. For example, two married women might spend time at events or community happening dominated by lesbians. Let’s say one of the women is bisexual and objects to the assumption that she is a lesbian. There is a high probability that most would see this relationship as a lesbian relationship but if the bisexual woman tells others she is bi then there is also a high probability she will be dismissed, and may even be told she is a lesbian and not bisexual. This woman’s self identification has just been subjected to erasure.
This may be even more pervasive in the gay men community. Tell men in a gay bar you’re bi and good chance you may hear things like “he is going through a phase” or “your really gay”. Some gay men may tell others they are gay but in fact may be bisexual. It is just easier to accept erasure rather than be excluded and not considered part of the community.
Researchers say that recognizing that bisexuality actually exists is the first step, and that bisexuals are capable of being in monogamous heterosexual or monogamous homosexual relations.
Bi Visibility Day was first observed in 1999 by three US bisexual rights activists in Maine, Florida, and Texas.
