“Although Bisexuals Have Always Been Part Of Lesbian And Gay Movements And Communities, They Have Often

“We were told we [could] only talk about the effects on our lives of being attracted to other women or femmes because “no one is oppressed for being in a heterosexual relationship.” We were accused of internalized homophobia… or being the reasons lesbians are fetishized and making lesbians look bad - that bisexual women were the reason why straight men thought that lesbians were sexually available… I never understood it, but it came up a lot… If you didn’t seem like you were a lesbian, or could be confused for one, then your position was a lot weaker. Your opinion didn’t quite matter as much. You were less likely to be one of authority in the group. Your loyalty to the community was more likely to get questioned. You were more likely to get accused of your ideas being part of the problem. Any time something came up, and you talked about it from the perspective of not being a lesbian, you were more likely to be told that your need to bring that up was part of the problem of why progress wasn’t being made.”

- Rylee, quoted by Jayna Tavarez, The Bi-ble: New Testimonials, Further original narratives and essays about bisexuality

Bobby Briggs…

Twin Peaks: Coma (1990) dir. David Lynch

“Characters rarely identified themselves as bisexual out loud - instead they behaved their bisexuality, usually through an illicit queer hookup (followed by a breakdown because they’re so “confused”). This taught me that bisexuality was something you do, rather than something you are. And since I hadn’t “done it” yet, I figured I was straight.”

- Jen Winston, Greedy: Notes from a Bisexual Who Wants Too Much

“I don’t like gay and lesbian people’s ignorance about bisexuals. It’s rare to find a politically savvy bisexual person who isn’t involved in the gay and lesbian community, but many gays and lesbians have no knowledge of bisexual people. We’re still laughed at, trivialized, seen as purveyors of disease, seen as riding on the coattails of the gay rights movement, as if we weren’t there all along.

To me, these attitudes toward us come from ignorance and self-hatred. If somebody feels really good about who they are, they don’t feel threatened by what other people are…

Heading and saying “gay, lesbian, and bisexual” is music to my ears. Because the more unity we achieve, the more we put aside petty differences, the more strength we have.”

- Dr Maggi Rubenstein, Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out

“Politicised bisexuals want to connect with lesbian/gay groups, not to overthrow them, and to strengthen, not dilute, lesbian/gay anger and power.”

- Amanda Udis-Kessler, Bisexual Horizons: Politics, Histories, Lives