Bi History/Activism

Bisexual visibility has always been political. Because of this, the lines between activism and history are blurred. The history of the bisexual community has historically been a fight for inclusion within what had been the gay and lesbian rights movement. Before the early 1990s, bisexual people had been deemed vectors for AIDS to spread from the gay community to the straight one, as well as confused gay/lesbian/straight people. 1993 marked a pivotal year in bisexual history, as the gay rights marches in Washington, D.C., on October 14, 1979, and October 11, 1987, had only nominally included gay and lesbian people in the gay rights movement. Fights for inclusion by activists for bisexual rights led to the April 25 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation. Although bisexual people have been nominally part of the LGBT community for 30 years, bisexual activists continue to see ways in which the bisexual community struggles compared to the gay and lesbian communities and seek ways to transform our society into one that creates social equality for all queer people. These sources look at bisexual history and activism, past and present, which inform the future for bisexual people.

• Barr, G. (1985). Chicago bi-ways: An informal history. Journal of Homosexuality, 11(1-2), 231–234. https://doi.org/10.1300/J082v11n01_18
• Beemyn, B. G. (2004). Bisexual movements. glbtq.com. http://www.glbtqarchive.com/ssh/bisex_movements_S.pdf
• Beemyn, B. G. (2004). Marches on Washington. glbtq.com. http://www.glbtqarchive.com/ssh/marches_washington_S.pdf
• Berg, A. (2020, September 23). The evolution of the word ‘bisexual’ — and why it’s still misunderstood. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/evolution-word-bisexual-why-it-s-still-misunde rstood-n1240832
• Farrow, H. (2016, April 8). The long fight for bi inclusion. Bi.org. https://bi.org/en/articles/the-long-fight-for-bisexual-inclusion
• Farrow, H. (2016, September 15). The bisexual warriors of the “gay” movement. Bi.org. https://bi.org/en/articles/the-bisexual-warriors-of-the-gay-movement
• GLBT Historical Society. (n.d.). Primary source set: Bisexual activism. https://www.glbthistory.org/primary-source-set-bisexual-activism
• Goodman, E. (2019, June 6). Meet “the mother of pride,” the pioneering bisexual activist Brenda Howard. Them. https://www.them.us/story/brenda-howard
• Marshall, K. (2020, July 6). The bisexual history they don’t want you to know. An Injustice! https://aninjusticemag.com/the-bisexual-history-they-dont-want-you-to-know-467ab6fb43ee
• Monroe, D. (2016, November 18). A one woman show: Talking with Sheela Lambert about the 5th annual Bi Book Awards. Brooklyn Magazine. https://www.bkmag.com/2016/11/18/one-woman-show-talking-sheela-lambert-5th-annual-bi-book-awards/
• Mulroy, C. (2023, June 9). Amid ‘unicorn hunters’ and stereotypes, here’s how bisexual people are finding support. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/wellness/2023/06/09/bisexual-community-helps-break-stereotypes-stigma-lgbtq/70294704007/
• Ochs, R., & Highleyman, L. (1999). Bisexual movement. In B. Zimmerman (Ed.), Lesbian Histories and Cultures: An Encyclopedia (pp. 112-114). Routledge.
• The Off Pink Collective. (1996). Bisexual horizons: Politics, histories, lives (S. Rose, C. Stevens et al., Eds.). Lawrence & Wishart Limited.
• Paul, J. P. (1998). San Francisco’s Bisexual Center and the emergence of a bisexualmMovement. In E. J. Haeberle & R. Gindorf (Eds.), Bisexualities: The Ideology and Practice of Sexual Contact With Both Men and Women (pp. 130-139). Continuum International Publishing Group.
• Peterson, S. (n.d.). The history of bi+ activism in Wisconsin. PBS Wisconsin. https://pbswisconsin.org/wisconsin-pride/more-stories/bi-shy-why/
• Ritchie, V. [verilybitchie]. (2020, March 30). The “rampant transphobia” of bisexual history [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/7-e8C80VEfY
• Ritchie, V. [verilybitchie]. (2020, November 27). A history of the word “bisexual” [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/h1LNoAWgImA
• Ritchie, V. [verilybitchie]. (2021, December 30). Bisexual activism in the 70s: The San Francisco Bisexual Center [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNvtgl5urQk
• Roberson, J. (2020, March 24). Robyn Ochs — Being out is activism. Bi.org. https://bi.org/en/articles/robyn-ochs-being-out-is-activism
• Sarrubba, S. (2018, September 21). Bi activist Loraine Hutchins: ‘AIDS catapulted bisexuals into public visibility’. Medium. https://medium.com/@stephsarrubba/bi-activist-loraine-hutchins-aids-catapulted-bisexuals-into-public-visibility-f8b0bfe67c9a
• Shaw, J. (2022, June 23). What people get wrong about the history of bisexuality. TIME. https://time.com/6189773/bisexuality-history-researchers/
• Soth, A. (Producer). (2023). Wisconsin pride [Film]. PBS Wisconsin; Wisconsin Historical Society.
• Springate, M. E. (Ed.). (2016). LGBTQ America: A theme study of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer history. National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/lgbtqheritage/upload/lgbtqtheme-bisexual.pdf
• Tucker, N., Highleyman, L., & Kaplan, R. (Eds.). (1995). Bisexual politics: theories, queries, and visions. Routledge.
• Wofford, C. (1991, February 6). The bisexual movement: deluded closet cases or vanguard of the movement? OutWeek, 84, 32-39, 70, 80. http://www.outweek.net/pdfs/ow_84.pdf