Bisexual Awareness Week, also known as #BiWeek, is an annual celebration held from 16th-22nd September ending on 23rd September 23 with Bi Visibility Day.
The term 'bisexual' is used to describe a person who experiences emotional, romantic and/or sexual attractions to, or engages in romantic or sexual relationships with, more than one sex or gender.
It is commonly misconceived as attraction to both male and female, but is more encompassing and fluid in nature, can also include non-binary and gender diverse identities, and is uniquely experienced and practiced by individuals.
Bi is an umbrella term and bi people may describe themselves using one or more of a wide variety of terms, including, but not limited to, bisexual, pan, queer, and some other non-monosexual and non-monoromantic identities.
Bi individuals encounter biphobia bisexual erasure or bisexual invisibility in many ways, and myths about bisexuality are persistent.
Bi women are more likely to be viewed as ‘actually straight’, their sexual orientation merely a performance to attract straight men, whereas bi men are frequently seen as going through a ‘phase’ on the way to coming out as gay.
Bi people in a straight passing relationship are often told that they are straight. This can sometimes come from the LGBTQ+ community itself, and many bi individuals don’t feel accepted in queer communities, often feeling 'not queer enough'. Bi people can be told that they are greedy, confused or attention seeking.
Stonewall research has exposed that almost half of bi men (46 per cent) and a quarter of bi women (26 per cent) aren’t open about their sexual orientation to anyone in their family, compared to 10 per cent of gay men and just five per cent of lesbians.
Bi people also experience disproportionately high levels of hate crime, intimate partner violence, discrimination in healthcare, and mental health issues. And 18 per cent of bi men, 27 per cent of bi women and 29 per cent of non-binary bi people reported discrimination from others in the LGBT community, a place where bi people should find refuge.
How to be an ally to bi people:
- Acknowledge and believe that their sexuality and experience is valid.
- Call out biphobia and harmful stereotypes.
- Don’t assume sexual orientation based on someone’s current or previous partner.
- Use inclusive language
or more information about GC’s commitment to LGBTQ+ communities, visit our LGBTQ+ EDI Network's landing page on our Working Way.