The Biscuit Purple List 2017
Your nominations have been counted, your thoughts have been collected and your faithful Biscuit team has cogitated, confabulated and contemplated every single line you’ve written. It hasn’t been easy, but we are at last ready to present the Biscuit Purple List 2017.
We asked you who inspired you, who made you proud and who you though deserved more recognition than they got, and you answered in your hundreds. You told us you value visibility as much as outreach and community building efforts, with household names like Sara Ramirez, Joe Lycett and Nicola Adams appearing alongside prominent activists like Jen Yockney and Meg-John Barker and community organisers like Sali Owen.
From the worker bees of grassroots organising to the Queer elite, the full gamut of the bi community is represented here. YouTube starlets who educate while they entertain; local group leaders who do so much more than just give us a space to… Continue reading
“I feel tolerated, but very rarely more than that” – Being Bi on the Scene
Bisexual people were very nearly edged out of the Pride parade all together; a Guardian columnist (who can tell Divine Gender Identity without asking, even in dimly-lit London clubs) told a group of self-identified bisexual and queer people to stop dancing and kissing so aggressively in a gay space, before writing about it in the national media.
Exclusion is an experience that is ubiquitous among the bisexual community. As well as the obvious exclusion same-gender attracted people face from heterosexual society, bisexuals often can’t find refuge within LGBTQ created partly by and for them.
Although this phenomena is widely written about in the bisexual community, as is the imbalance of the effects being excluded from society has over being excluded from the feeble resources allotted to the LGBTQ community, it’s important that when these kind of incidents happen we take the time reflect on the prejudices we still… Continue reading
Activist Self-Care (Without the Bubble Bath and Puppies)
Every day, at least one person in my life asks me how I’m doing. My reply is usually some version of “I’m tired,” and they’ll laugh before moving on to other things.
It’s funny to some because I’m a young, active person and I’m supposed to have enough energy to be able to live my life, do my job, and keep up with school/my internship, while still having enough energy to do miscellaneous tasks throughout my day.
When I tell people all the things I do they get more understanding, but I’m still met with the occasional chuckle as I say, “I’m going to work in an hour, I’m going to take a nap”. The truth is,… Continue reading
“If You Wanted Support, You Sent Off For Leaflets” – Finding a Bi Community Before the Internet
We at Biscuit are constantly surprised how many people simply don’t know that a vibrant and active bisexual community exists in the UK. In the digital age it’s much easier than ever before to connect with people just like you, but what did people do before Google? We asked Marcus Morgan of the Bisexual Index to tell us how he found a community he could call home.
The story of how I came to find the UK bisexual community is one I tell often – if you’ve heard it before I apologise – but it’s a useful example of the subtle, or perhaps not so subtle, biphobia we encounter. Of the way we are delegitimised with the kindest intentions.
I was 21 years old. I worked in a high street insurance brokers on the outskirts of London. I had keys to lock up the shop so I waited… Continue reading
Five Ways You Can Look After Bi Mental Health
Bisexual Mental Health Month (BMHM) may feel long over, but that doesn’t mean you need to wait another year to discuss the sweeping mental health issues facing the bi+ community, or to feel guilt-free about focusing on your own mental health troubles. Here are a few things bi+ people and our allies can do to help safeguard the mental health of the bi+ community.
BMHM is an American campaign that runs throughout March to raise awareness of the mental health issues facing the bisexual community. Due to its online presence, it’s beginning to become internationally observed. But mental health doesn’t isn’t just an issue once a year. Here’s how you can look after yours, and others, all year round.
Find bi+ friendly support
Unfortunately, many bisexual people have difficulty getting support for their mental health issues, despite having some of the worse mental health stats in the LGBT+ community.… Continue reading
Manchester LGBT Foundation Launches Bi Series
Manchester’s LGBT Foundation today launched a series of events aimed at the bisexual community.
The launch event, which was live-streamed on Facebook, included a talk on the forgotten history of bisexuals in the LGBT movement given by Bisexual Community News editor and recent MBE recipient Jen Yockney.
Speaking to a packed hall, Yockney spoke of the rich and varied history of the bisexual moment, from the erasure faced by the community in the early 1990s – some of which continues today – through protests against Section 28 and right up to the present day.
Great talk by @jenyockney at the #peopleshistorymuseum #Manchester @LGBTfdn busting myths about #bisexuality #biseries #lgbthistorymonth pic.twitter.com/4GXdXl6SIo
— Ellen Graham (@GrahamEllen) February 25, 2017
The event is the first in a series promising a varied programme of events. Check out the full programme here.
WATCH: Evan Rachel Wood Talks About Bisexual Visibility at HRC Gala
Evan Rachel Wood delivered a powerful speech at a Human Rights Campaign Gala event in North Carolina on Saturday, where she was presented with a Visibility Award for her unwavering frankness when it comes to her sexuality.
In the heartrending speech, Wood spoke of feeling isolated and even suicidal when faced with homophobia and biphobia. She also spoke of the power of visibility in a biphobic world.
“Growing up”, she says, “I thought I was like every other girl who had a slight obsession with Jessica Rabbit, KD Laing and Melissa Etheridge … I didn’t realise there was anything different about me”.
“I had no way to put what I felt into words”. “Then one day I heard an actress say the word bisexual”.
Going on to address the health outcomes, intimate partner violence and sexual assault statistics of bisexual people, Wood implored her audience to choose… Continue reading
Raising Our Standards: How to Get Your Local Council to Fly the Bi Flag
It may only be February, but bi activists up and down the country are already planning their activities for Bi Visibility Day 2017, and getting our flag raised is on most of their agendas. But how do they do it?
After successfully hoisting the bisexual flag over Oxford in 2016, Stephanie talks us through the steps.
This is a photo of the Bi flag flying proudly over Oxford Town Hall for the first time on Bisexual Visibility Day 2016. Since I began lobbying councillors and senior staff to make this happen I have acquired a detailed and unprecedented knowledge of flag flying protocol at Oxford City Council, (OCC). Not every council is the same, but most are at least similar. Here’s my handy ‘how to’ guide should any other bi activists feel inspired to give it a go.
Realise it will take time
I first had the idea to do… Continue reading
Apologising 101
We’re all wrong sometimes. The key to our character lies in how we cope with that. An apology can go a long way to righting our wrongs, but, says El, only if we mean it.
I had some, shall we say, ‘interesting’ interactions with another writer a few days ago. Now, I can’t say I take criticism perfectly myself, I’m a human being, I get defensive. I think almost everyone does. However, there are ways to deal with criticism, and this writer chose one of the worst. They felt it necessary to engage in a very public, rather unbecoming, debacle that took the form of a facebook thread.
I usually try to stay out of such things unless there’s a potential story in it, or some genuine discussion to be had, as changing the minds of strangers on the internet is generally only worthwhile if one is being paid… Continue reading
“My Sexuality is Relevant to All Parts of My Life”: Parenting while Bisexual