Building the Bi Community

Two years ago, Ian organised a get-together of a group of people active in the UK bi community, who were engaged in running groups and events. The most famous outcome of that gathering was the free coffee and muffins each breakfast time at BiCon 2002, but it was clear such an away weekend could be productive for the organised bi community as well as provide a chance to rekindle the flame of activism that tends to die down in the long months from one BiCon to the next.

So, at BiCon 2003, Jen Yockney put forward a date and venue for another bi activist gathering, which was duly advertised in places like BCN, the internet and the Consortium newsletter.

Not Setting The Agenda
The remit of the weekend was kept deliberately vague: “for bi activists and those who would like to be”. People interested in attending were asked for topics they would like to have discussed in case the discussion ran dry, but there was never a formal timetable or agenda beyond when the away weekend would start and finish.

This made for a very different space to the structured timetable of BiCon, but was only practical because of the restraints the size of the youth hostel venue put on attendance.

Of course, there were still plenty of things that could have been discussed had time permitted – but two solid days of planning and discussion is probably pretty much the limit for a productive activism conference.

The 25 participants ranged from those who had been involved in bi community activism for many years, through those who had found out about the weekend at BiCon and wanted to become active, to people who had found out about the event without having had any prior contact with the bi ‘scene’.

Starting and Keeping Bi Groups Going
The different experiences of various groups around the country was a good place for many participants to begin.

With Shrewsbury, London (Bi Group and Underground), Manchester, Brighton and Birmingham represented, each group had a different approach to what a bi group constitutes and local situation, but many of the issues of finding people and being found were the same.
This is clearly an area where more advice and peer support could be of great benefit and a boost to morale - local groups come and go and often do not make it past the first few months as organisers lose the post-BiCon buzz. Some groups thrive and run for many years, with or without sources of funding or support from outside organisations.

W[h]ither bisexuality
The next topic, led by Laurence, was a repeat of his “W(h)ither Bisexuality?” session from London BiCon 2003. This gave participants a chance to reflect on what we mean by the bi movement or community, where it comes from socially and historically.

That led into a discussion about working with other sections of society – such as whether the bi community can work together with lesbian and gay groups, with the BDSM communities, and so forth. Extensive notes were taken of that session and these should form the basis of a separate BCN article.

Phoneline[s]
The lack of a national bisexual phone line was another issue tackled. For many years there were several lines in operation, but the closure of the Edinburgh line in 1999 was recently followed by the London phone line ceasing operation. Discussion ranged around ways forward, whether through starting a new phone line, or lobbying existing LGBT telephone help lines to be more bi-inclusive and more aware of bisexual groups, national networks, events and issues that may particularly affect bisexual callers.

Following the discussion on the away weekend, this will be carried forward through an email discussion list for those interested in developing telephone support.

What’s Going On?
Another project to arise was the idea of collating all the bisexual events around the UK during the course of the year into an online bisexual calendar, with group meetings, local events and related items such as Pride festivals brought together in one place.

Bisexuals and the Media
Bisexual representation in the media has transformed in the years BCN has been running – we do have a few options aside from being an ice-pick-wielding murderess now! However, it is still a subject that generates much concern from the bi community and many media requests of varying degrees of prurience from journalists and talk shows. A new network for those interested in bi representation in the press and on TV has arisen from this discussion, with the renewed BiWatch on page two of this issue of BCN the first result.

Revitalising BCN
The advance of the internet – especially LiveJournal – has cut in to a lot of the role BCN once had as the forum for discussion and debate in the bi community. The impact this has had is one of the reasons why BCN is no longer a monthly publication – there were also more functioning local groups in the mid 1990’s, for instance. This led to a serious discussion about the newsletter’s role and future content, as well as how to promote it and where might be appropriate to so do.

The impact of a printed newsletter was very welcome – to a new person coming to a local bi group, the physical existence of BCN makes the wider community seem that much more real. There was a common agreement on pushing BCN in wider community spaces such as libraries, and some new ideas for BCN columns and themes such as the renewed BiWatch column mentioned above and the “I’m bisexual and…” section starting this issue on page five.

A potential new BCN project was also discussed - making a BCN “annual” with the best of the material published in the regular newsletter, as a chunkier publication, less topical but with a longer shelf life, for general sale.

Bringing Bi Academics Back Together
In the 1990’s a network of people working in academia interested in promoting bi issues – Bi Academic Intervention – was established and held conferences. Like many groups that lived through a cycle of establishing itself, developing an agenda, delivering work, and then dissipating over time. Several people present were interested in making something broadly similar happen today, and so a new bi academic network seems set to take shape.

They aim to discuss issues around research as activism and become involved in education and training as well as increasing awareness through research and writing. There is the potential for seminars and conferences, the proeedings of which could be published through journals suchas “Sexualities” and the “Journal of Bisexuality” - perhaps even leading to a new book following on from “Bi Horizons”.

So... What happens next?
Other topics failed to get discussed on the weekend itself, but had clear demand – such as funding to help new groups get going, networking across England and Wales (Scotland’s bi groups already talk to one another very effectively), and developing community events outside the BiCon / Bi Day axis.

From here, there will be a further one-day activist gathering in April in Birmingham, and another full away weekend in the Autumn.