Here is what I know: back in the 1990s, back at the height of bisexual activism, when Anything That Moves was still being published and the B and the T had yet to be fused with the L and the G, there was a bisexual political activism group known as BiPOL. That’s about the extent of what I know, however, because while I have seen offhand mentions of the group made in 1990s era articles, I haven’t really been able to find much explicitly about them: who was involved, what they did, what their strategies and goals were. When I try to google them, I’m either directed to an Israeli electro-optics company or pages about bipolar disorder, neither of which is helpful.
But I am hopeful that with actual research — you know, the kind that involves more than a cursory google search and a shrug — I’ll be able to turn up more about BiPOL. Because one of the things that I’ve been trying to do lately is go beyond merely theorizing about the Bisexual Condition™️ and put thoughts into action; to do more than simply toss my theories out into the ether.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled that I have literally been able to change lives with this newsletter, that I have given solace to folks and helped people understand themselves and their partners better, but I am also someone who is always given to thinking bigger, if you will. (It helps that I am utterly delusional when it comes to my sense of the limits of my own abilities.) And I would like to know more about what has come before: what has been tried, what has been attempted, what worked and what didn’t, as I do my best to build something along the lines of a bisexual political coalition.
My going theory is this: as I have said many times before, there is a dearth of openly bisexual politicians. Now, that does not mean that there aren’t bisexuals in office — indeed, two of the four known bisexual members of Congress were Republican men who did not come out publicly until after their time in office — but it does mean that if we are anywhere close to parity between the number of bisexuals in elected office and the number of bisexuals in the country, then the majority of bisexual office holders are in the closet. (The point I always like to use to to illustrate this gap is that if 4% of Congress was openly bisexual — as roughly 4% of Americans are — then we would expect to see 4 bisexual senators and 17 bisexual representatives. Right now, we have 1 openly bisexual senator, period, and it’s the woman whose name we dare not speak.)
We can spend all day debating why there are so few out bisexuals in elected office — Are they not running? Is stigma keeping them in the closet? Is being bi actually more objectionable to voters than being lesbian or gay, or do people just think that? — but honestly, who cares. I would rather just fix the problem. I would rather focus my energies on getting openly bi people to run for office, and getting closeted elected officials to come out, and in the process, talk about what it means to view biphobia as a political issue, and specifically one that can be fixed through legislative means.
So, you know, I’m trying to do that.
It’s still early, and it’s not like I have an official org set up or anything, but every time I talk to people about this idea they get very excited, which makes me think that I am on to something. I think there is only so much that can be accomplished by writing essays about how much it sucks to be bi, or having Bi Awareness Weeks that push pubs to finally acknowledge our existence (just a note here again to say that I am still pissed that no media orgs really did anything for Bi Awareness Week last year, that after a year or two of it being the hot new thing, suddenly no one gave a shit again). I think we have to get ourselves into the halls of power — visibly, openly — and I think we have to take up space. I think we have to argue that the abuse, the assault, the poor mental health, the increased rates of poverty, are all political issues. And while some of them will be solved with general solutions — if you eliminate poverty for everyone, you eliminate it for the bisexuals as well — some will require the nuance of understanding the bisexual experience.
I’m still figuring it all out. But, you know, I’m excited. And if you want to know more, if you want to be a part of this, you should definitely let me know. I’m currently focusing my energy on New York State, since that’s where I live and all, so if you’re also a New Yorker and eager to get involved in some bi political activism, then please let me know! And even if you’re not a New Yorker, well: I’m happy to give you my pitch. Maybe you’ll be able to create something on your own.
PS On an unrelated but still political note: I’ve started a part-time gig at VoteAmerica, my good friend’s voter engagement non-profit. Long story short, I’m basically developing partnerships with orgs that might want to make use of VoteAmerica’s white label voter engagement tools. If you have an app, a website, a newsletter, whatever it might be, and you want to harness your audience and get them engaged and voting, then hit me up! We’re generally working with corporations and other sizeable organizations, but if you’re an influencer with a big platform we should still chat.