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

LGBTQ community The LGBTQ community (also known as the LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, or queer community) comprises LGBTQ individuals united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individu ...

who identify as

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

, pansexual, omnisexual, 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, sometimes called bi+ or m-spec, standing for multisexual spectrum, includes those who identify as bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, biromantic, 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 LGBTQ identity to their sense of self. Bisexual people may have

social network A social network is a social structure consisting of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), networks of Dyad (sociology), dyadic ties, and other Social relation, social interactions between actors. The social network per ...

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

LGBTQ culture LGBTQ culture is a culture shared by lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals (LGBTQ people). It is sometimes referred to as queer culture (indicating people who are queer), LGBT culture, and LGBTQIA cult ...

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

conferences A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

; 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; magazines, such as '' Bi Community News''; writer's groups; media, including the books '' Bi Any Other Name'' and '' Getting Bi''; leaders and politicians, such as Robyn Ochs 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 LGBTQ events such as LGBTQ

pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride event, pride festival, pride march, or pride protest) is an event celebrating lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...

s, civil rights marches and advocacy, conferences, and other nationwide causes where the interests of the communities intersect, such as the National Equality March. Often, conferences have separate seminars on bisexual and transgender topics, and several LGBTQ 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 commun ...

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

Discrimination

People who identify as bisexual can receive specifically directed hatred and distrust ( biphobia), stereotyping, and denial ( bisexual erasure) 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 they are attracted to. On the other hand, there is also increasing support, inclusion, and visibility of bisexuals in the

.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 Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

, bisexual's visibility in the news and entertainment, and bisexual erasure. These groups are queer-identified and closely allied with the gay,

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

, and

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

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 National Equality March was a national political

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Political demonstration, a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a North American school or college sporting event Sport ...

that occurred on October 11, 2009, in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

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 LGBTQ activist Cleve Jones 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 LGBTQ rights 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, 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,

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

, Chloe Noble, and Penelope Williams. In October 2009, LGBTQ

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

Amy Andre was appointed as executive director of the

San Francisco Pride The San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Celebration (formerly "International Lesbian and Gay Freedom Day", "Gay Freedom Day", and "Christopher Street West"), usually known as San Francisco Pride, is a pride parade and fe ...

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

BECAUSE Conference Minnesota 1994-in-between sessions

There are several conferences and conventions for bi+ people. These include the International Conference on Bisexuality, BiCon (UK), 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
Mental Health In the Bi+ Community
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bisexual Community

Community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Types of communities Pansexuality Plurisexuality

Defining the community

Discrimination

Equality campaigns and pride celebrations

Conferences and conventions

See also

References

Further reading

General

Magazines

External links