The bisexual community, also known as the bi+, m-spec, bisexual/pansexual, or bi/pan/fluid community, includes members of the LGBT community who identify as bisexual,

pansexual Pansexuality is sexual, romantic, or emotional attraction towards people regardless of their sex or gender identity. Pansexual people may refer to themselves as gender-blind, asserting that gender and sex are not determining factors in their ...

omnisexual , meaning "all" , definition = Sexual or romantic attraction to people regardless of gender , classification = Sexual identity , parent = Bisexuality , synonyms = , associated_terms = Polysexual, queer, heterofle ...

, polysexual and sexually fluid. As opposed to hetero- or homosexual people, people in the bisexual community experience attraction to more than one gender.

Defining the community

The bisexual community includes those who identify as bisexual,

biromantic A person's romantic orientation, also called affectional orientation, is the classification of the sex or gender with which a person experiences romantic attraction towards or is likely to have a Interpersonal relationship#Romance, romantic rela ...

, polysexual, or sexually fluid. Bisexual people are less likely than their lesbian and gay counterparts to be out of the closet. As a result, there is a lot of variation among the bisexual community in how important bisexual people find bisexuality or LGBT identity to their sense of self. Bisexual people may have

social network A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for ...

s that are heavily concentrated inside the wider LGBT community; whether or not they participate in broader

LGBT culture LGBT culture is a culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. It is sometimes referred to as queer culture (indicating people who are queer), while the term gay culture may be used to mean "LGBT culture" o ...

, bisexual people may also participate in bisexual-specific communities. The bisexual community has bi-specific events and

conferences A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main ...

; publications, such as '' Bi Women Quarterly''; websites and organizations, like

BiNet USA BiNet USA (officially Bi/Net USA, The Bisexual Network of the USA Inc.) was an American national nonprofit bisexual community whose mission was to "facilitate the development of a cohesive network of bisexual communities, promote bisexual visibil ...

and the

Bisexual Resource Center The Bisexual Resource Center (BRC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, that has served the bisexual community since 1985. Originally known as The East Coast Bisexual Network, it incorporated ...

; magazines, such as '' Bi Community News''; writer's groups; media, including the books '' Bi Any Other Name'' and ''

Getting Bi ''Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World'' is an English anthology edited by Robyn Ochs and Sarah E. Rowley. It is an important book in the history of the modern bisexual rights movement and appears on numerous bisexual and general LG ...

''; leaders and politicians, such as

Robyn Ochs Robyn Ochs (born 1958) is an American bisexual activist, professional speaker, and workshop leader. Her primary fields of interest are gender, sexuality, identity, and coalition building. She is the editor of the ''Bisexual Resource Guide'' (publ ...

and Katie Hill; and mental health associations. Bisexual groups began forming in the 1980s in several cities. These communities come together with the lesbian, gay, and transgender communities for bigger LGBT events such as LGBT pride parades, civil rights marches and advocacy, conferences, and other nationwide causes where the interests of the communities intersect, such as the

National Equality March The National Equality March was a national political rally that occurred October 11, 2009 in Washington, D.C. It called for equal protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in all matters governed by civil law in all 5 ...

. Often, conferences have separate seminars on bisexual and transgender topics, and several LGBT pride parades now include special bisexual sections as well. September 23 is

Celebrate Bisexuality Day Celebrate Bisexuality Day (also called Bisexual Pride Day, Bi Visibility Day, CBD, Bisexual Pride and Bi Visibility Day, and Bisexuality+ Day) is observed annually on September 23 to recognize and celebrate bisexual people, the bisexual communit ...

. The week beginning on the Sunday before Celebrate Bisexuality Day is

Bisexual Awareness Week The Bisexual Awareness Week, also known as #BiWeek, is an annual celebration held from September 16–23. It is an extension of Celebrate Bisexuality Day, held annually on September 23. The celebration promotes cultural acceptance of the bise ...

Discrimination

People who identify as bisexual can receive specifically directed hatred and distrust (

biphobia Biphobia is aversion toward bisexuality and bisexual people as individuals. It is a form of homophobia against those in the bisexual community. It can take the form of denial that bisexuality is a genuine sexual orientation, or of negative ste ...

), stereotyping, and denial (

bisexual erasure Bisexual erasure or bisexual invisibility is the tendency to ignore, remove, falsify, or re-explain evidence of bisexuality in history, academia, the news media, and other primary sources. In its most extreme form, bisexual erasure can inclu ...

) from people of all sexual orientations. People may say bisexuals are just unsure of their feelings or going through a "phase" and will or should "decide" or "discover" which

sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...

they are attracted to. On the other hand, there is also increasing support, inclusion, and visibility of bisexuals in the LGBT community.Maria, September 24, 2009
"How Far Have We Come?"
''Bi Social Network'' A series of groups have been working together and focusing on issues important to the bisexual community such as biphobia, dating, coming out, bisexual's visibility in the news and entertainment, and bisexual erasure. These groups are queer-identified and closely allied with the gay, lesbian, and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

communities, but their main focus is the bisexual community. There has also been a movement to combat biphobia and myths about bisexuals. Bis at NEM

Equality campaigns and pride celebrations

The

was a national political

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sport ...

that occurred on October 11, 2009, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

It called for equal protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in all matters governed by civil law in all states and districts. The march was called for by LGBT activist

Cleve Jones Cleve Jones (born October 11, 1954) is an American AIDS and LGBT rights activist. He conceived the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, which has become, at 54 tons, the world's largest piece of community folk art as of 2020. In 1983, at the onset ...

and organized by Equality Across America and the Courage Campaign. Kip Williams and Robin McGehee served as co-directors. This was the first national march in Washington, D.C., for

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, ...

since the 2000 Millennium March. There was a specific bisexual, pansexual and queer-identified contingent that was organized to be a part of the march. Several bisexual, pansexual and queer-identified groups including

New York Area Bisexual Network New York Area Bisexual Network (NYABN) is a central communications network for bisexual and bi-friendly groups and resources in the five boroughs (Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island) of New York City and the surrounding Tri ...

, DC Bi Women and BiMA DC, came together and marched, showing bisexual, pansexual and queer solidarity. There were four out bisexual speakers at the National Equality March rally:

Michael Huffington Michael Huffington (born September 3, 1947), is an American politician, LGBT activist, and film producer. He was a member of the Republican Party, and a congressman for one term, 1993–1995, from California. Huffington was married to Arianna H ...

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

, Chloe Noble, and Penelope Williams. In October 2009, LGBT activist Amy Andre was appointed as executive director of the San Francisco Pride Celebration Committee, making her San Francisco Pride's first bisexual woman of color executive director.Adrienne Williams, October 19, 2009
Interview with Amy Andre: New Bisexual Executive Director of SF Pride
''BiSocial Network''.

Conferences and conventions

There are several conferences and conventions for bi+ people. These include the

International Conference on Bisexuality The International Conference on Bisexuality (ICB), also known as the International BiCon, was a periodic gathering of bisexual activists and academics from around the world. Started by Fritz Klein and a group of fellow activists, the first ICB ...

BiCon (UK) The UK BiCon (more formally known as the UK National Bisexual Convention or UK National Bisexual Conference), is the largest and most consistent annual gathering of the United Kingdom's bisexual community. While the format does vary, the typi ...

, and BECAUSE (Conference) in the United States. Several of these have produced offshoot research conferences on bisexuality, among them BiReCon in the UK, EuroBiReCon, and BiReConUSA in the United States.

References

External links

BiNet USA

Bisexual Resource CenterAmerican Institute of BisexualityAmbiBi Writers AssociationNew York Area Bisexual Network
*

Journal Of Bisexuality The ''Journal of Bisexuality'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published quarterly by the Taylor & Francis Group under the Routledge imprint. It is the official journal of the American Institute of Bisexuality. It covers a wide range of topics ...

Mental Health In the Bi+ Community
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bisexual Community

Community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

Types of communities Pansexuality

Defining the community

Discrimination

Equality campaigns and pride celebrations

Conferences and conventions

See also

References

Further reading

General

Magazines

External links