Bi Visibility Digest from Living the Bi Life blog

Bi Visibility Digest from Living the Bi Life blog
for you commie, homolesboswitchhittertranny-lovin' sons-of-guns
by BWA member Max the Communist

Bringing Out Bi/Pan/Queer Pride 
I have yet to receive photos from Chicago Bi/Queer Meetup's participation in Chicago's Pride Parade last Sunday.  All of Noel's efforts generated a sterling and enthusiastic group of bi, pansexual, queer, and polyamorous activists to march with our bi/poly truck.  As promised, I showed up as Anita Bisexual, love-child of Anita Bryant and Camille Paglia.   Although the wicked wind tossed my wig into a hot mess, the crowd really responded positively to us and to Anita, especially her sign, "A Day Without Queers Is Like a Day Without Sunshine."  

I did go searching for other evidence of bi-ness within LGBTQ Pride celebrations.  Here are a few results:

 

Polys and bisexuals in San Francisco Pride Parade. 

 

Los Angeles says "Biphobia Is So Last Year." 

 

Birmingham Bisexuals making love count. 

Here's a quick clip of the Toronto BiNet Float. 

Send me your links to other Bi/Pan/Queer and Poly Pride images for your city or town.  You know I will do my best to post them here. 

However, I don't think anyone here in the States was prepared for . . .

 India's Queer Explosion!

Here are some great pics of New Delhi's Pride Celebrations, a very daring thing to take part in, given the social conservatism of the country.   I, for one, was very moved by the blatant bisexuality . . .

and the lovely hijras . . .

But parades in New Delhi, Kolkata, and Bangalore were just the beginning of India's LGBTQ explosion.   A day after I found these images, I got the news alert that, in a landmark decision, India's High Court ruled against Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalized same-sex behavior.  The ruling is India's equivalent of our Lawrence v. Texas, which declared sodomy laws unconstitutional in the US. 

Since then, more news has leaked out regarding bisexual, pansexual, and queer involvement in the fight against 377.   An activist from the BIACT-L listserv reported that she heard an Indian bi activist being interviewed on NPR.  Then Robyn Ochs, Boston bisexual activist, speaker, and editor of Getting Bi:  Voices of Bisexuals from Around the World, informed me that two contributors to her book took part in the campaign against 377--Apphia K. and Rajiv Dua.

Here is another story:  Indian bi activist Manohar Elavarthi is running for office, building on a coalition across social and economic strata, as well as sexual orientation and gender identity.   The article first identifies him as a gay man, but further down it acknowledges him as bisexual.  He is currently with a male partner.

Finally, bisexual Indian author Vikram Seth, a member of Voices Against 377, spoke out that more needs to be done for India's LGBTQ community:  

Vikram Seth has long addressed gay and bisexual issues in his novels and poetry.  Gay and bisexual characters are centrally featured in novels like The Golden Gate  and  A Suitable Boy.  (Supposedly, Seth is working on a sequel to the latter, called A Suitable Girl.)   In an early poem, "Dubious," he states, "Some men like Jack and some like Jill/I'm glad I like them both but still/I wonder if this freewheeling/Really is an enlightened thing,/Or is its greater scope a sign/Of deviance from some party line?/In the strict ranks of Gay and Straight/What is my status:  Stray? Or Great?"

I focus on the switchhitters, but all Indian LGBTQ and allies should absolutely take pride in their hard work and courage.  I worry about a backlash.  Still, they made it this far.  Go India!

Bisexuals Sneak Into the White House

Okay, they really didn't really sneak in, but BiNet didn't receive an official invitation to the White House's LGBT Pride soiree.  So Robyn  Ochs and her partner Peg Preble got in under the wire with their Task Force connections.   Other official bisexuals in attendance were Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown. 

It was a big deal of sorts.  Obama included bisexuals and transgendered people in his address commemorating June as LGBT Pride Month, which is somewhat more than Bill Clinton did.  But come on--after hundreds of LGBT military personnel thrown out under Obama's watch; after that horrendous DOJ brief on DOMA, comparing same-sex relationships to incest--WTF, Obama?  

Yeah.  Thanks for the wine and cheese.  Now, where are my rights?

A few bi politicians issued some Happy 4th of July statements.   Interesting to read these and news from across the pond where Labour competes with the Tories over who is more gay-friendly.  It's like a blurry vision from an alternate universe.  Their conservatives try to prove how much better they are for queers; our conservatives wear homophobia like a badge of honor.   Helping us through the looking-glass is Peter Tatchell, longtime gay activist who got arrested with Chicago GLN's Andy Thayer at Russia's Pride events earlier this year.  Again--Gordon, David--where are our rights? 

Alan Cumming is Bi-Safer-Sexy!