Tuesday 23 September is the 27th Bi Visibility Day.
It’s special to us at BiPhoria as we were one of the few groups around the world to mark the date when it started back in 1999 – when we had a stall on Canal Street with bi information and a get-together in a bar that has sadly since closed.
The date highlights bisexuality and the challenges posed by biphobia and bisexual erasure, as well as celebrating the work of a growing number of local, national and international organisations around the world which champion bisexual visibility and equality. It was first marked in 1999 and recognition has grown greatly in recent years. It is a celebration in particular of bi identity but also of other identities under the “bi+ umbrella” like pansexual, polysexual and omnisexual.
It is anticipated there will be more than 250 events marking the date. Around the world these range from exhibitions, talks and film screenings to picnics and socials in bi-friendly bars. A host of public buildings around the world fly the pink, purple and blue bisexual flag, and many business LGBT staff networks host specially themed meetings.
Jen Yockney MBE, who has run the international listings site BiVisibilityDay.com since 2001, says, “After over a quarter of a century Bi Visibility Day, much like bisexual visibility in wider culture, keeps growing and growing.
She adds, “I’ve been organising events celebrating Bi Visibility Day since 1999 and the transformation in that time is huge. We are more talked about and more heard as bi people than ever before; yet also the challenges and particular needs of bisexuals have been thrown into sharper relief over that time.
“In the 1990s bi was often seen as a kind of ‘gay lite’ with the assumption bi people were less impacted by legal and social discrimination than gay and lesbian people. But research increasingly shows bi people have greater mental and physical health challenges than gay or straight people. We’re more likely to experience domestic violence from our partners, too. And bi people have lower earnings than their straight and gay co-workers.
“Far from the old ‘best of both worlds’ cliche, the challenge of either persistently reasserting your bisexuality or having part of your life erased proves wearing for many bi people.
“Where lesbians and gay men have one closet to escape, many bi people find that leaving one closet just leads to being put in another.
“Greater bisexual visibility is the best solution to that problem, along with creating groups and events to help more bis find a space where they are neither in the ‘straight closet’ nor the gay one.
“Across 27 years we have seen how greater visibility and the ability to connect with other bi people the internet has provided has brought so many more bisexual and biromantic people out of the closet.
“And Bi Visibility Day itself has moved from something a handful of local support organisations in places like the USA and UK celebrated among themselves to something that trends across social media and inspires so many events around the world.”
Around the world local LGBT organisations and Bi organisations will organise talks, displays and more.
