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 community, and the history of bisexuality.

History

A precursor to the first official observance came when the oldest national bisexuality organization in the United States,

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 ...

, was founded in 1990. It was originally called the North American Multicultural Bisexual Network (NAMBN) and had its first meeting at the first National Bisexual Conference in America. This first conference was held in San Francisco in 1990 and sponsored by BiPOL. More than 450 people attended from 20 states and 5 countries, and the mayor of San Francisco sent a proclamation "commending the bisexual rights community for its leadership in the cause of social justice", and declaring June 23, 1990, to be Bisexual Pride Day. First officially observed in 1999 at the

International Lesbian and Gay Association The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) is an organization who is committed to advancing human rights to all people, disregarding gender identity, sex characteristics and expression. ILGA participates in a ...

Conference in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

, South Africa, Celebrate Bisexuality Day is the brainchild of three bisexual

rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory ...

activists: Wendy Curry of Maine, Michael Page of Florida, and Gigi Raven Wilbur of Texas. Wilbur said: This celebration of bisexuality in particular, as opposed to general

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

events, was conceived as a response to the

prejudice Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that person's per ...

and

marginalization Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. It is used across discipline ...

of bisexual people by some in both the straight and greater LGBT communities. Wendy Curry said: On September 18, 2012,

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

, became what is thought to be the first city in the U.S. to officially proclaim a day recognizing bisexuals. The Berkeley City Council unanimously and without discussion declared September 23 as Bisexual Pride and Bi Visibility Day. TLV city hall on the bisexual visibility day 2019

TLV city hall on the bisexual visibility day 2019

In 2013, on Celebrate Bisexuality Day, the White House held a closed-door meeting with almost 30 bisexual advocates so they could meet with government officials and discuss issues of specific importance to the bisexual community; this was the first bi-specific event ever hosted by any White House. On September 23, 2013, in the UK, government minister for Women and Equalities

Jo Swinson Joanne Kate Swinson (born 5 February 1980) is a former British Liberal Democrat politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 22 July to 13 December 2019. She was the first woman and the youngest person to hold the position, as well ...

MP issued a statement saying in part, "I welcome Bi Visibility Day which helps to

raise awareness Consciousness raising (also called awareness raising) is a form of activism popularized by United States feminists in the late 1960s. It often takes the form of a group of people attempting to focus the attention of a wider group on some cause or ...

of the issues that bisexual people can face and provides an opportunity to celebrate

diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...

and focus on the B in LGB&T." TomWolfBisexualPrideDayStatement

In 2021, Pennsylvania governor

Tom Wolf Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett in the 2014 gu ...

became the first governor in the United States to issue a statement recognizing Bisexual Pride Day. Many individuals and organizations, including GLAAD, currently refer to this holiday as Bisexuality+ Day, with the inclusion of the "+" sign intended to include the broader bi+ community of people who prefer to use terms to describe their sexual orientation such as

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 ...

, polysexual,

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

, fluid, or queer.

Bisexual+ Awareness Week

In 2014,

declared the days surrounding Celebrate Bisexuality Day to be Bi Awareness Week, also called Bisexual+ Awareness Week. The week begins on September 16, culminating on Celebrate Bisexuality Day. According to co-founding organization GLAAD, the goals of Bisexual+ Awareness Week include accelerating acceptance of the bisexual+ community, drawing attention to the experiences of this community, and celebrating the resiliency of the community. Both allies and bisexual+ individuals are encouraged to spend the week learning about the "history, culture, community, and current policy priorities of bi+ communities". Bisexual+ Awareness Week can also potentially be an important opportunity for bisexual+ individuals to help fight feelings of isolation, create more visibility for others who may be exploring their sexuality, meet other bisexual+ people, and become an integral member of the bisexual+ community by coming out or sharing their personal experiences.

References

External links

Events to mark Bi Visibility Day

by Wendy Curry in ''BiWomen'' Vol. 17 No. 6, December 1999/January 2000 at the Bisexual Resource Center website, archived May 25, 2007 by the Internet Archive's

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

"What's in a Name?"
by Wendy Curry in Curried Spam, September 2007 {{Bisexuality topics Bisexual events Civil awareness days International observances LGBT events in the United States Public holidays in the United States Recurring events established in 1999 September observances LGBT-related observances

History

Bisexual+ Awareness Week

See also

References

External links