17 April 2008 - 10:47The History of Bisexual Movement

From various bumper stickers:

My sexual orientation?

• Horizontal, usually
• I can’t even think straight
• Let’s get one thing straight, I’m not straight, but Not Narrow
• Closets are for clothes
• I’m not a lesbian but my girlfriend is
• I’m not gay but my boyfriend is
• Equal rights are not special rights
• Bisexual phobia is a social disease

(1 in 17 people are bisexual in UK.)

1970s. The history of bisexual movement began in the early 1970s. From the beginning, early bisexual groups focused on different sexual orientation (the most famous one was the Sexual Freedom League); members of these groups were often more closely connected to heterosexual, easier to say swinger communities than to gay or lesbian communities. Many bisexual females and males in the early 1970s were also associated with the early gay movement, which at the time tried to fight for sexual freedom and the possibility for people to be sexual with both genders. Although there were a lot of gay movements, people began to create specifically bisexual communities and organizations.

1980s. In early 1980s we can also see the development of a bisexual movement in the UK and all over the globe. The most popular of them were:

The London Bisexual Group. It was founded in 1981 by men active in the anti-sexist men’s movement.

The Edinburgh Bisexual Group. It formed in 1984 as group of all people with not straight orientation. The main representatives of this movement were lesbians, gays and bisexual people.

The main difference between the groups of the 1970s and 1980s was as follow: if in 1970s most of these groups were male’s organization, many of the 1980s movement were founded and led by women. The reason was simple: for many bi escorts, bisexuality was an integral part of their feminist politics and they wanted their groups to reflect this idea. These female’s organizations were rather popular all around the world, but the most famous were in US, for example:

The Boston Bisexual Women’s Network. (founded in 1983)

The Seattle Bisexual Women’s Network (formed in 1986).

1990s. In the early 1990s bisexual movements became more famous in UK, thanks to mess media (there were a great variety of national and international bisexual web sites about bi people, many TV programs, including such popular national talk shows as ”Donahue” and ”Geraldo”). London Universities have begun to include bisexuality in their gay and lesbian studies courses, and a few have even provided courses specifically devoted to bisexuality.

Nowadays, it may be difficult to believe, but bisexual people are all around you! How can you meet them? There are some ways:

• check to see if there is a gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender youth group in your community;
• you can call a local gay, lesbian, bisexual organization for assistance in finding a youth group;
• check the phone book for a local hotline and call for support and information about local groups;
• look for local bisexual’s newspapers, magazines;
• check local bookstores, health food stores, lesbian and gay bars, private discos.

P.S.: Determining your sexuality can be highly confusing. Teenagers often feel a lot of pressure to choose to define themselves as being straight, homosexual, heterosexual. You can feel that you are not in either of these categories, and you may notice that you have some sexual feelings about both male and female genders. In this way you can be identify as bisexual. However, do not take it very seriously; keep in mind, that you do not have to prove you are bisexual (there is no test for bisexuality). Don’t worry about not knowing for sure. Sexuality develops over time, and you should feel no pressure to identify in any particular type.