What is Bisexuality Awareness Week?

Bisexual Awareness Week, also known as #BiWeek, is celebrated in September (during the week of September 23rd, which is Bi Visibility Day). This week seeks to accelerate acceptance of the bi+ (bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, polysexual, fluid, no label, queer, etc.) community. #BiWeek draws attention to the experiences, while also celebrating the resiliency of, the bisexual+ community.

What is Bi Invisibility/Erasure?

With over half of the LGBTQ+ community identifying as bisexual, how is this group "invisible?" The Movement Advancement Project's 2016 report entitled, "Invisible Majority: The Disparities Facing Bisexual People and How to Remedy Them" outlines some of the reasons for bi erasure.

When in monogamous relationships, bisexual people are often assumed to be gay, lesbian, or heterosexual based on the gender of their partner.

When bisexual people are open about their sexuality, they face:

• increased levels of violence from intimate partners
• rejection by community, family, and peers
• skepticism from the people and organizations whom they turn to for help, resources, and services.

Bisexual people experience biphobia from both inside the LGBTQ+ community and from their communities as a whole, which means they are less likely to come out than their gay or lesbian counterparts. This leads to greater negative impacts on the mental health of bisexual individuals overall than those in the gay or lesbian community.

Time to step up and be an ally to your bisexual friends and neighbors!

UN Human Rights. (2018, September 27).UN Free & Equal: Bisexuality: Busting the Myths [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4s4ddERN9s