New Zealand
Bisexual Network
 

A Brief History of the Bisexual Movement
by Liz A Highleyman 

Information Provider: Victoria Edwards ae606@freenet.carleton.ca

The Birth of the Bi Movement

The contemporary bisexual movement began in the early 1970s, although

earlier communities of bisexuals did exist, such as the Bloomsbury

community of artists and writers at the turn of the century. Early

bisexual groups tended to focus broadly on sexual liberation (for

example, the Sexual Freedom League); members of these groups were

often more closely connected to heterosexual ``swinger'' communities

than to gay or lesbian communities. Many bisexuals were also

associated with the early gay liberation movement, which at the time

advocated sexual freedom and the potential for people to be sexual

with both genders. As gay activists began to adopt an either/or

``ethnic'' identity-based model of sexuality, however, bisexuals were

faced with exclusion from parts of the gay movement, and some sought

to create specifically bisexual communities and organizations.

The ``Ithaca Statement on Bisexuality'' (by the Quaker Committee of

Friends on Bisexuality) appeared in _The Advocate_ in 1972,

announcing the new bi consciousness to gay readers. This consciousness

was influenced by the shift of activism toward personal concerns

following the end of the Vietnam war, by increasing gay visibility, by

the feminist and civil rights movements, and by the cultural focus on

paradigm-smashing and self-discovery (often aided by mind-altering

drugs). This was the era of ``bisexual chic,'' with a rash of

articles in the popular press about bisexuality, and high visibility

of bisexual rock stars and artists. The media focus was on the club

scene and celebrities rather than on bisexual liberation politics.

The first bisexual groups developed in the 1970s in large U.S.

cities. The National Bisexual Liberation Group was founded in New

York in 1972 and claimed a large membership in the U.S. and abroad by

1975; it published ``The Bisexual Expression,'' probably the earliest

bi newsletter. New York City's Bi Forum began in 1975, and Chicago's

BiWays formed in 1978. The San Francisco Bisexual Center was founded

in 1976, and from the start engaged in political activism.

Throughout this period, bisexuals also continued to be active in gay

and lesbian groups and events.

The early 1980s also saw the development of a bisexual movement in the

U.K. and Europe. Though this movement paralleled the US movement in

some ways, the U.K. and European groups often arose from different

roots and followed different courses. The London Bisexual Group was

founded in 1981 by men active in the anti-sexist men's movement. The

Edinburgh Bisexual Group formed in 1984 as an outgrowth of a

lesbian/gay/bisexual socialists conference. The discussion later in

this pamphlet regarding trends in the bi movement refers specifically

to the movement in the U.S.

Changes in the 1980s

While the groups of the 1970s were often predominantly male, many of

the 1980s organizations were founded and led by women. Bisexual women

had begun to experience alienation from lesbian communities as

separatism and polarization around sexual orientation increased in the

late 1970s. For many bi women, bisexuality was an integral part of

their feminist politics and they wanted their groups to reflect this

emphasis. The Boston Bisexual Women's Network (formed in 1983) and

the Seattle Bisexual Women's Network (founded in 1986) are based on

these principles.

The formation of bisexual groups proceeded steadily throughout the

1980s. Washington DC's bisexual group began in the early 1980s.

Philadelphia's Bi Unity, the Wellington Bi Women's Group in New

Zealand, and groups in Germany and Australia formed in the

mid-1980s. Umbrella groups were formed to facilitate regional

organizing, including the East Coast Bisexual Network in 1985 and the

Bay Area Bisexual Network in 1987. The first groups devoted

specifically to bisexual political activism were formed, including San

Francisco's BiPol (1983), Boston's BiCEP (1988), and New York City's

BiPAC.

AIDS had a profound effect on the bisexual movement. Bi men were

stigmatized as spreaders of HIV from homosexuals to the ``general

population.'' In the late 1980s, as awareness of AIDS in women

increased, bisexual women began be to stigmatized as spreaders of HIV

to lesbians. These developments spurred discussions about the

distinction between sexual behavior and sexual identity (for example,

many self-identified bisexual women did not have sex with men, while

many self-identified lesbians did). Activists and public health

officials alike began to emphasize behavior, not identity, as a risk

factor for HIV infection. Many men who had been leaders in the

bisexual movement became ill or died, and many other bi men and women

turned their attention to AIDS-related activism and service work.

National and International Consolidation

In 1987, a call was put out for a bisexual contingent to the 1987 March on

Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights.

Seventy-five people participated in what proved to be the first U.S.

nationwide bisexual gathering. Discussion began about creating a

national or continental organization of bisexuals. Networking

continued following the march, and the North American Bisexual Network

in formation (NABN) was born. In June 1990, BiPOL organized the first

U.S. National Bisexual Conference in San Francisco, with over 400

attendees. The conference was comprised of over eighty workshops on a

broad range of subjects, including organizational meetings; as a

result of these meetings, NABN was formalized as the North American

Multicultural Bisexual Network (NAMBN). After a year of discussion

and re-organization, NAMBN was renamed in the summer of 1991 to BiNet:

the Bisexual Network of the USA. In October 1991 the First

International Conference on Bisexuality was held in Amsterdam in the

Netherlands, and in October 1992 the Second International Bisexual

Conference took place in London, bringing together bisexuals from

Europe, the U.K., and the U.S. The second U.S. National Conference

on Bisexuality is being held in April 1993 in conjunction with the

March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and

Liberation, and the third international bisexual conference is planned

for June 1994 in New York City in conjunction with the celebration of

the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots (widely considered to be

the birth of the modern gay rights movement).

New Directions in the 1990s

In the late 1980s and early 1990s students and youth became more

active in the bisexual movement. College students began to include

bisexuals by name in campus gay and lesbian organizations, with over

100 such groups in existence by the end of the decade. At the same

time, a new ``queer movement'' had begun to take shape. Young

activists, many of whom were involved with the AIDS activist group ACT

UP, formed Queer Nation in the summer of 1990. With its emphasis on

diversity, radical politics and direct action, this movement brought

out people who had become disillusioned by the assimilationism and

apoliticism of existing gay and bi organizations. Parts of the new

movement emphasize the inclusion of bisexuals, transgenderists and

other sexual minorities under the queer umbrella; other parts are less

welcoming to those who are not exclusively homosexual.

At the turn of the decade there was a marked increase in the

appearance of new books on bisexuality, which until then had been

scarce and rather clinical. Groundbreaking anthologies included

_Bisexual Lives_ (Off Pink Publishing, 1988), _Bi Any

Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out_ (Alyson Publications, 1990) and

_Closer to Home: Bisexuality and Feminism_ (Seal Press, 1992).

In 1991 the bi movement gained its first glossy national magazine

_Anything That Moves: Beyond the Myths of Bisexuality_, which

joined the many long-lived local newsletters such as Boston's

_BiWomen_, Seattle's _North Bi Northwest_, and

Philadelphia's _Bi Focus_.

The early 1990s saw a proliferation of appearances by bisexual people

in the U.S. and U.K. media, including such popular national talk shows

as ``Donahue'' and ``Geraldo.'' Universities have begun to include

bisexuality in their gay and lesbian studies courses, and a few have

even introduced courses specifically devoted to bisexuality. National

and international bisexual networking has been aided by the creation

of electronic computer mailing lists such as the BISEXU-L and BIFEM-L

lists, the soc.bi newsgroup on Usenet, and numerous private bulletin

boards. There are ongoing projects to record the history of bisexual

movement and promote networking, such as the International Bisexual

Archives in Boston and the International Directory of Bisexual Groups.

Looking Ahead

Moving toward the mid-1990s, several issues are on agenda for the

bisexual movement. There is a growing emphasis on multicultural

organizing and activism, and many are working actively to increase the

participation of people of color in bisexual communities.

Transgendered and differently-gendered people have long been active

within bisexual communities, but have often remained hidden and been

excluded where only single-sex groups exist. Today, their concerns

are receiving more explicit attention, and many transgendered and

non-transgendered bisexuals are focusing on breaking down polarized

gender categories. There is persistent tension within the movement

between the desire to proudly claim a bisexual identity and build

strong bisexual communities, and the desire to lessen society's

divisive emphasis on labels and categories. Some bisexual activists

focus on the category-smashing aspect, insisting that sexuality and

gender should be viewed as a spectrum, that there is no ``us'' and

``them.'' Other bi activists emphasize the need to fight societal

homophobia, as well as fighting biphobia among gay men and lesbians.

As the bisexual movement has grown, so too has the number of

strategies and perspectives on bisexual organizing. Many bisexuals

have focused on increasing bisexual inclusion within the lesbian and gay

movement and communities; this is especially true of bisexuals who

formerly identified as lesbian or gay themselves. The 1993 March on

Washington will be the first U.S. national action to explicitly include

bisexuals, and is being seen as a big step forward for the bisexual

movement. Other bis are interested in creating a broader movement for

sexual liberation (including all sexual and gender minorities) in

which bisexuals will be equal participants, rather than seeking

integration into existing gay and lesbian organizations. Some wish to

create a movement that will focus on bisexuals and their unique

issues, while at the same working in alliance with gay men, lesbians,

and other oppressed groups when our struggles coincide. Still others

are interested in organizing and mobilizing bisexuals who do not

identify with or have ties to gay and lesbian communities. All these

strategies can make a contribution as the bisexual movement and its

many communities grows and diversifies.

A version of this text will appear in the

_Concise Encyclopedia of Homosexuality_, edited by S. Donaldson,

forthcoming. Thanks to M. Beer, S. Berger, D. Berry, W. Bryant, A.

Hamilton and R. Ochs for editorial assistance. Please send

corrections and additions to Liz c/o ECBN.