As I think is inevitable when one has anything to do with “LGBT” groups and events in the UK, the subject of The Cuts is bound to come up. Particularly if it’s a politicized thing — Manchester University’s LGBTQ Society did a “Question Time” recently with representatives from the three main political parties, and for the entire first half, whatever the question, the Labour guys (there was an NUS guy too, so that’s like two Labour guys) and the Tory guy would just snipe and try to blame each other about The Cuts (or, “spending reductions” as the Tory called them, adorably having been taught that was going to help).
People kept saying today that Manchester City Council has to reduce its budget by 25% next year, which has got to be deeply concerning no matter what a person’s interests are. But of course today the focus was on “LGBT” (after my last post, I can’t help but use that in scare quotes).
One speaker in particular, who’s been part of LG activism in Manchester for decades, said stuff like (this is according to my notes, scribbled hastily and with no little emotion!) “Remember the volunteering before there was funding? You young ones are having a good time on our backs!”
I drew a big arrow pointing at this and scrawled we’re still doing it! “We” being all the UK bi community that I am aware of. Everything, from the UK’s only bi magazine Bi Community News, the online news at BiMedia, and the extensive resource The Bisexual Index to the annual BiCon and one-day BiFests held across the country and the local bi social and/or support groups that meet regularly all over the country… it’s all done entirely by volunteers. And a hell of a lot of it is done with our own money too, which means a lot of things are free and everything is done on a shoestring. The “leaders” of the community of bi activists are just the people who can get stuff done, and they do a damn fine job of not making it look like it’s all done on a shoestring budget. (And that’s on a good day! Whenever two or three who’ve been active in this bi community for a while get together they’ll tell you a shoe string is luxury.)
We don’t have to work very hard to remember the volunteering, the days without funding! (After this “discussion day,” a bi friend and I were commiserating about this: one of us started “the last time we did something without funding was…” and then both said at almost exactly the same time “…when we bought our train tickets to come to the town hall this morning!”)
As I read in an issue of BCN, about how The Cuts are going to affect us as bisexuals, “a group that meets in a pub and arranges things with an e-mail list isn’t going to notice any difference.” This kind of setup is not uncommon; it sounds a lot like my local bi group (though since we’re lucky enough to have a group leader who’s willing to fill out funding applications, we can pay to rent a room at the Lesbian & Gay Foundation in which to hold our meetings and pay for an exhibition stall at Pride).
We do what we do by ourselves, for ourselves, with little or no recognition.
Perhaps now that “LGBT” groups face a near-future without the staff and money they are used to, they might look to the bi community to help them remember what we have never had the chance to forget.
