Here’s the thing about me: I’m delusional enough to believe that I can do whatever I want to if I just put effort into it. That’s how I co-launched a bicoastal professional development conference for gender marginalized writers that ran for three years and attracted speakers like Lisa Kudrow, Gina Prince Bythewood, and Jill Abrasion. It’s how I conned my way into hosting a monthly comedy show at Brooklyn’s Union Hall*, despite having absolutely no background in comedy. It’s how I launched a semi-successful porn site that attracted some prominent and well-placed fans when I was just 19.
And it’s why this newsletter exists. I simply believed that I had a unique perspective on bisexuality, and that people needed to hear it, and I created this newsletter and now there are nearly 1400** of you who get it in your inbox. Delusions of grandeur: they work!
It’s that same mindset that has me convinced that, if I really put my mind to it, I can somehow single-handedly spur a bisexual revolution and bring attention to bi issues and biphobia in a way that no one else ever has been able to before. Is that an insane thing to believe? Absolutely! But sane beliefs rarely lead to major social change.
But: although I might be delusional enough to believe I can spur a bisexual revolution, I’m not delusional enough to believe I can carry it out all by my lonesome. Collective change requires collective action, you know? And for all my self-importance, I’m still very much aware of my limitations. I’m a theorist, a writer, a person who can analyze complex frameworks and break them down in legible ways***. I am not, alas, a political organizer or mega star with a massive platform or… I don’t know, what are the other kinds of people who are crucial to turning some ideas into a mass movement? The fact that I don’t even fully know is kind of my point here.
I am not those things. But maybe you are.
I think there needs to be a Bisexual Revolution™️ — something that draws attention to our plight, something that pushes past the incorrect ideas that frame us as a lesser form of gay rather than an entirely separate kind of person. I think there needs to be a sustained effort to get bisexual welfare — the higher rates of poverty and abuse, the poor mental and physical health — onto the docket as an urgent issue. I think there needs to be pressure to get bisexual people into positions of power — and to get closeted bisexuals who are already in power to come out. I think bisexuality needs to be normalized, and in achieving that, hopefully we can normalize not giving a shit about the gender of someone’s partner, or whether they’re partnered at all. Hopefully bi visibility can lead to a true breakthrough of the It’s None Of Your Business If I Do platform, which is of course the real end goal.
I would love to pull that off, I admit it. But for all my delusions, I know that I am simply one cog in the great wheel of change; I know that I am, at best, someone who hopes her ideas and writing can spur other people to do the organizing that I am just not cut out for. It has to be possible, right? It has to be something one of you knows how to do, right?
And I mean, if it is… feel free to shoot me an email? There is a revolution coming, I can feel it. Let’s make sure it happens the right way.
* Trust me, this is a coveted thing
** I feel like it could be more people but here’s the thing, one thing I am very bad at is the kind of hustling you need to do to build your newsletter audience in rapid fashion.
*** My other major skill is providing emotional support.
PS Repeating this from yesterday because repetition is apparently the key to successful marketing: I always feel weird about plugging ye olde Patreon because let’s be real, writing this newsletter is a grand task unto itself and it’s hard for me to do extra bonus stuff for patrons, particularly since pay gating my writing always feels… bad… for some reason, but if you like this newsletter and want to financially support it in a recurring capacity, my Patreon exists and I like money. If one time support is more your speed, PayPal is also an option. I am terrible at this particular type of hustle and marketing, but pretty good (I think! Maybe you do too!) at writing things that people seem to value. If you happen to be one of those people who values my writing… money is always appreciated. 😁