Replace bisexual with Bi+ to ‘include’ people who aren’t sexually attracted to men and women

The debate of sorts on effectively ditching Bi from the LGBT call letters to Bi+ or so on is on in earnest and now has reached the UK.

LGBT students have voted to replace the word bisexual with ‘Bi+’ and redefined bisexuality to be inclusive of people who aren’t sexually attracted to both men and women.

The news comes from the National Union of Students’ LGBT Conference, which took place earlier this month.

The conference passed a motion to rename its Bi caucus and Bi students’ rep and rewrite all documentation about bisexual people to instead refer to ‘Bi+’.

The motion explains that “if a person experiences any form of attraction to more than one gender identity, they fall under the Bi+ umbrella”.

Controversially, the new definition of ‘Bi+’ includes people who are not sexually attracted to both men and women – for instance, people who are attracted to women as well as non-binary people.

It specifies: “If a person experiences any form of attraction to more than one gender identity, they fall under the Bi+ umbrella.

“A person does not have to experience all forms of attraction (sexual Romantic, sensual, aesthetic or platonic) towards multiple gender identities to still fall under the Bi+ umbrella.”

On its Twitter account, the NUS LGBT+ Campaign – which doesn’t seem in a hurry to rename itself the NUS LGB+T+ campaign – confirmed: “Motion 406: Bye Bi, Welcome Bi+ has passed.”

As Heat Street notes, students at the LGBT conference also tabled a motion to rename the black students’ caucus to the QTIPOC caucus, because “the current definition of Black [is not] inclusive”. The new acronym apparently stands for “Queer Trans Intersex People of Colour”.

Students claimed that “the use of the term ‘black’ as an umbrella can present itself as a barrier and a silencing mechanism, to the voices of ethnically black individuals within the student movement.”

The motion was “sent to Black caucus following a procedural motion”, but the national students’ body has already started using the new acronym.

Elsewhere, students accepted a motion to ban the word ‘Poly’ as an abbreviation for Polyamory, because it apparently “erases the identities and struggles of Polynesians”. Students will use ‘Ply’ instead.

Changes are a coming folks so we better get ready for identities as we know it. The upcoming Bisexual US conference I am sure will also be looking at this more inclusion matter as some activists and allies are tired of just being relegated to being just allies and want more visibility. 

The bisexual umbrella may have to be changed I guess, let us see.

Peace & tolerance

H

Lesbians do not factor in HIV prevention that much, bisexuals still seen as only a ‘bridge’............

The more things change the more they stay the same and then expectations are out there to gain positive results when the nonsense continues as the farce thrives; in the face of new information, data driven work and so on, old entrenched thinking trumps (no pun intended) sensibility.

One would have thought with the expansion of the understandings of sexuality, the now more than ever urgent need to filter out subgroups alongside their sex seeking behaviours and psychologies associated with same we would have gotten passed this nonsense of omitting what some see as lower risk groups for HIV infections hence they need not be included. The lumping of transgender persons into MSM studies for example in times past seems not to be recognized as yet and accepted by the establishment as the 32% rate being bandied about from then is often referred to despite the error has been quietly seen. The figures are obviously flawed to begin with, one does not have to be a genius to see it; in the days when words such as “pre-operative” was not a dirty word in transgender realms and represented ‘transitioning’ suggestions were made to separate such persons out of the study as some trans did not pursue such but who identified as gay and found some comfort in the gay community

I find it most odd that it has to take a gay man like myself to be writing on this. It also stems from two greater conclusions I have drawn several years now, first being much more could have been achieved if not for forward thinking and action and secondly some of the very folks at the helms are the actual obstacle to said achievements to materialise. Frankly I am getting tired of the itty-bitty achievements it is time for monumental if not better positives and outcomes on a much larger scale after all these years, when the potential exists for forward movement.

As World AIDS Day came to a close and the cogs of HIV settled back to business as usual an old discussion came up via social media about risk for women on the strength of a post and article on transgender persons in Jamaica who were said to be HIV positive. In making the rounds on various platforms and literally examining the content over a host of presentations, a myriad of radio interviews, television appearances, hash-tagging and so on literally not a word came out on certain types lesbian sex as risky for HIV and or sexually transmitted diseases. A rather young bright young lady asked a potent question on Facebook as to why women seem missing or very low on the radar for prevention messaging saved and except for commercial sex workers and the emphasis that the rates had fallen in that category. The group she was in froze for a minute suggesting pause for thinking I assume and then the flood of answers/comments came mostly espousing words to the effect that she may be right in a sense. The omission if not invisibility of same gender loving women in HIV prevention especially in today’s world is telling yet again that the more things change the more they stay the same.

Trouble is the bureaucrats and board of governors of many of these HIV outfits are still mostly male or if women are there they are heterosexual and cannot speak to some issues directly from a space of real world experience along with an elitist chip on their shoulders (the males that is) despite some bragging that they have now employed more women in their midst but still have a gay male driven mindset by just mere observation in public policy/advocacy. They refuse to take ‘telling’ as country people would say from non elitists and experts while HIV infections dilly dally although it is known and accepted as a challenge in the gay community in terms of rates the lumping of transgender folks. The near total omission of bisexuals where they are only seen as a ‘bridge’ for infections and lesbians’ near total annihilation from the interventions altogether despite so called new women’s’ groups in operation still is too gay male and mainstreamed if not hetero-normatively focused. These new groups and advocacies if not added bureaucracies are more interested on the comfort of social media these days and really hardly do real work as one person puts it with ‘real people’ and issues, then it is no wonder the messages are flawed and overlook certain groups. Older outfits such as Womenforwomen, WFW seem all but dead publicly and offered not even a dribble in the department of HIV risk and women who have sex with women, hash-tagging and instagramming if you will are the latest crazes but while such platforms can work when you’re up against altered or bettered versions of individuals profiles including the very NGO republic hiding the actualities to give a near perfect of not falsified appearance then where it the truth to credibility to make the message more effective and lasting hence omission and oversight may be less.

an example of Tribadism

We now know of practices such as Tribadism probably the most risky of them all in sex between women and or the seeming increase in use of sex toys as evidenced by the very retailers within the same gender loving community who have said their sales have increased exponentially and their buyers are mostly women. The sex industry and or the human trafficking illegality that often forces women who are straight into lesbian sex by just mere observation has been clearly incorporating women on women action in bars, so called massage parlours that are really a front for ‘Madame’ services and so on, by virtue of those considerations alone it warrants more forward thinking on the part of the programs and new if not ‘outside the box’ thinking and not just typical responses. It’s all about the money for managers of these establishment and the old hetero-based restrictions are out the window as the rules of the game changes. A tip in the thousands of dollars for such entertainment is the norm today and not just the kissing touchy-feely eroticism but more raunchy presentations on stage to include Tribadism for example.

Tribadism is one of the most risky of all, a point I have been driving at for some years now in previous posts, effectively it is sex between two women where the clitoris and indeed the vaginal openings are made to come together to create friction in a kind of X pattern formed by the participants. The act can be very intense for the parties and led to multiple orgasms often with no barriers such as a dam, cut opened condom or so on. The theory that hairs if not shaven can act as an intervening item to create openings on the skin or the labia minora. We know that cuts and exposure to blood of an infected person can facilitate passing of the infection and given the literal receptiveness of a vagina by virtue of its shape this is grounds for reference at least or stronger advocacy at best.

The practice in particular is now more evident at strip clubs than ever before with often dancers/strippers/performers who may not even be lesbians but the job may require some lesbian sex as management may demand same to make a profit as more male patrons and indeed other lesbians such as butch identified women like this kind of thing and tip heavily, the possibility however slight or low is still a risk no matter what, risk is risk. The typical message for women has to be amended even in the commercial sex work category in the face of a reduction in the prevalence rates. It is well accepted that high knowledge of condom use is out there but conversion to action is another matter but as to the specifics for other groups that is woefully lacking so the messages flies over those groups heads as it feels as if it is not for them to follow as they may not see themselves as at any risk at all. When are the programs people going to include in the narrative wider messages to boldly and specifically (if not in raw language) mention plasticizing bisexuals you too are to consider safer sex options and not just rely on the hetero-normative mainstreamed sanitized near nonsense anymore.

Lesbians and bisexuals aside specifically there are also other nuances often overlooked as the response also miss even sub group practices under the MSM umbrella. Cruisers alone is where I’ll zoom in as cruisers as it were not only include gay or bisexual men but also other men who either experiment, are exposed to gay sex of some sort by way of prison (substitutional sex/situational homosexuality), jail houses or correctional facilities but who when released back into general society over time may pursue sexual experiences via this route as it tends to attract more masculine types who avoid any hint of effeminacy and self identification as ‘gay’ a term seen in their eyes as a man wanting to become a woman and is too loaded psychologically for those men. These are often men who have ‘baby-mothers’, girlfriends and so on and in a type of behavioural bisexuality pattern. Condoms if there is any anal penetration to be had (as mostly oral and hand action are the preferred practices) are not an option as it can be seen as the one suggesting condom use may be HIV positive and or the engaging party is also positive which can lead to serious violent reactions in a blame game. Most men who I have interacted with in this arena simply avoid any mention of condoms just in case as the reaction from the other party is unpredictable. The more raunchy the sex the better it is for some men to include bare-backing, cream-pie action and so on; HIV prevention seems to totally overlook these psychologies when contemplating tailoring the response.

Omissions, oversights cannot continue as the norm not in this day and age alongside hetero-normative sanitized narratives must fast become a thing of the past (a call made some 8 years ago), if it is some expect to bring down infection rates. Risk is risk however small and despite the groups involved. Everywhere else is somehow able to address their prevalence rates save and except for some sub-groups yet here we are wasting time.

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

Tribadism & Safe Sex 2009

Concerns Mount As Transsexual Adolescents Push Up Jamaica's HIV Rates ................

As usual the transgender community is still being lumped with MSM either by the response and by populations overall it seems and it makes the previous studies on MSM HIV prevalence rates of 32% in 2007 and others since problematic while it may be higher trans-persons who merge into the MSM community get counted as gay. The article below touches the very conflation and to think the very named agency is partly guilty of not making the stark differences between the groups even as trans voices screamed to them to pay attention.

The Gleaner carried this:

As a HIV-positive transgender youth, 22-year-old *Tory belongs to the at-risk group that is considered to be most in need of intervention if Jamaica has any hope of seeing further reductions in the number of persons living with HIV/AIDS.

According to a study that was released last week by the Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL), transgender persons who are HIV-positive are more likely to experience homelessness, stigma, forced sex and physical violence. Of the 71 transgender participants polled, more than 52 per cent were involved in sex work for accommodation and food, among other things.

"Now we are seeing where they are at increased risk more than gay men, and more than sex workers, of course, and so it's really just about how we are going to ensure that our programmes are attending to the needs of these persons," said executive director of JASL, Kandasi Levermore.

A UNAIDS report ahead of the commemoration of World AIDS Day on December 1 warned that 15-24 years is a dangerous time for women. It noted that an estimated 45 per cent of all new HIV infections globally in 2014 were among members of key populations and their sexual partners, and warned that new HIV infections are continuing to increase among people who inject drugs and men who have sex with men. The report went on to say that HIV was not declining in sex workers and transgender people.

Tory, a male who identifies as a female, has found himself in several of these categories. He became homeless at 16 years old and became a sex worker shortly after to provide for himself. His clients were mostly professional men, and at 18, he decided to go and live with a police officer who he said was a "regular buyer". He said he contracted HIV from the lawman.

"Being 16 and a sex worker, you get more clients because you are young, because you are new, because they like young people because they think you are not very smart. But I was very smart. Why I was homeless is because I was kicked out of high school because of my sexual orientation," he told The Sunday Gleaner.

MISTREATMENT AT CLINIC

He said due to the mistreatment he received at the first clinic he visited after his diagnosis, he did not take any medication for the first year. He, however, went to a different clinic where the attitude of health professionals was better, and he has since seen vast improvement in his health. He said he is now focused on becoming stable because his greatest desire now is to have a child, although he admitted that he had never had sexual intercourse with a woman.

"I am gay because I won't be in a long-term relationship with a woman," said Tory, before explaining that he is open to having sex with a woman for the sake of having a child.

"I want a child with my genes. Adoption is so hard in Jamaica at this point. She can be a lesbian or she can also be positive and virally suppressed, like myself. So there is a lot of hope to get a child if I want a child when I am ready," he said.

According to a report released recently by JASL, which was funded by the Canadian Institute of Health Research, there is very little knowledge about the HIV prevalence among transgender women in Jamaica.

However, the National HIV/STI programme noted that, "In contrast with the estimated HIV prevalence of 0.4 and 0.5 per cent reported in adolescent girls and boys aged 15-19 at the national level through the UNAIDS 2014 estimates, the HIV prevalence among gay and bisexual adolescent boys is estimated to be 14 per cent, while HIV prevalence in transgender adolescents is estimated to be 27 per cent."

Renae*, who came out as a transgender at 21 years old, said he is concerned that HIV is highest among transgender youths, and blamed this on the fact that those who adopt this lifestyle were often stigmatised or forced to engage in transactional sex.

"Being gay is a taboo, but being transgender is a greater taboo, and because of that, you have a lot of parents who actually do put out their children for these type of things, and you are out on the streets, you have no formal education, you have no way to really provide for yourself," he said.

"So you have to come up with means and ways to provide for yourself, and one of those methods is to become prey to sexual predators out there, or to offer yourself up as collateral, and oftentimes it is to persons who maybe know that they have the virus, but they don't care."

Although Renae was born male, he identifies as a female and is now an advocate for those living in the transgender community. He believes that while there have been improvements in access to treatment for those who are HIV-positive, stigma and discrimination are still forcing some to go underground instead of seeking help.

"That's why I work so hard within the health sector to make things better for trans people on a whole," he said.

[* Names changed to protect identity]

ENDS

And the signs continue to show us that the forward thinking in as far as the NGOs are concerned is still lacking and why are more persons being captured way better given the resources?

The more things change the more they stay the same.

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

Continued oversight or deliberate overlooking of Jamaican SGL Women in HIV Prevention ............ 

Continued Trans erasure/invisibility by Jamaican advocates ......... 2012

Bisexuality Day is September 23 ...................

Celebrate Bisexuality Day is observed on September 23 maybe 24th as it falls on a Sunday by members of the bisexual community and their supporters originally in the United States but has been extended worldwide.

This day is a call for bisexual, pansexual, friends and supporters to recognize and celebrate bisexuality, bisexual history, bisexual community and culture, and the bi/pansexual people in their lives.

First observed in 1999, Celebrate Bisexuality Day is the brainchild of three United Statesbisexual rights activists: Wendy Curry of Maine, Michael Page of Florida, and Gigi Raven Wilburof Texas.

Wilbur said,


“Ever since the Stonewall rebellion, the gay and lesbian community has grown in strength and visibility. The bisexual community also has grown in strength but in many ways we are still invisible. I too have been conditioned by society to automatically label a couple walking hand in hand as either straight or gay, depending upon the perceived gender of each person.”

This celebration of bisexuality in particular, as opposed to general LGBT events, was conceived as a response to the prejudice and marginalization of the bisexual persons by some in both thestraight and greater LGBT communities.

In its first year, an observance was held during the International Lesbian and Gay Association, which occurred during the week of the 23rd. While at first it only took hold in areas with an extremely strong bisexual presence, it is now celebrated worldwide.

It features event such as discussions, dinner parties and dances in Toronto and a large masquerade ball in Queensland, Australia. At Texas A&M University, the week featured discussion panels and question-and-answer sessions. Princeton University celebrates this day each year by throwing a party at its LGBT Center.

It has also been celebrated in Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden and the United Kingdom.


Unfortunately in Jamaica either our advocates haven't matured to the recognition of bisexuals as a part of our struggle or we can't be bothered as "batty business" and the associated dramas are more important when some of the very issues of homophobia as we call it are not really so but bi-phobia if one were to closely examine the details at times.

JFLAG, Jamaica Forum for Lesbians Allsexuals and Gays has "Allsexuals" included in their acronym I suppose to cover all other orientations and variants outside of the original LGBT population (excluding those associated with disorders) but I never heard of any direct meetings, interventions or strategies to engage this section of the population or any inclusion in the umpteen public statements or press releases.

Bi-phobia or bi-erasure by default?

I would hate to think that our advocacy representatives are themselves guilty of bi-phobia in the form of bisexual erasure (the tendency to ignore, omit, remove, falsify, or reexplain evidence of bisexuality in history, advocacy, academia, the news media, and other primary sources.)

In its most extreme form, bisexual erasure can include denying that bisexuality exists. Inclusiveness is the name of the game now if we are to get anywhere but with the elitist position taken by the group one wonders when will we begin to move on anything? with recent ugly events further darkening our LGBT history that of aloofness towards the homeless msm population more and more persons in and outside the LGBT community are asking what are the reasons for these organizations.

It is refreshing to see other individual voices saying their piece and going out on their own, I would love to see an all out Jamaican bisexual website or at the very least a couple of blogs related to bisexual issues exclusively. There has been some discourse regarding bisexuality but the backlash from the MSM and SGL female communities suggests we have a far way to go towards inclusiveness and tolerance, ways that are to be facilitated by a JFLAG or similar groups.

Let us hope in the near future something can be done about that either by them despite the insulation or some other group, organization or individuals. Here is an ironical take on the issue from a UK perspective, the images included here were burrowed from this clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-4w6NqfLAc

my audio commentary on the issue from a year ago:

 Bi-phobia by default from supposed LGBT advocate structures? 

Also see:

Biphobia in the L & G communities maybe higher than thought 2011

Peace and tolerance

H

The ‘B’ in LGBTQ stills means something

The old issue of invisibility of bisexuality in the struggle if not the discourse surrounding sexuality, rights and orientation continues, this blog may be a little guilty of it for this year at least as so many other issues have come up but several tags and posts have been made prior. The matter of bisexuals seen as confused is also very much alive despite the feeling is coming from younger LGBTians and also despite the availability of more information on social media persons still believe that people need to choose between or be either gay, heterosexual or transgender for that matter but not bisexual or have no room for such expressions with pansexuality (that most do not seem to know the difference from bisexuality) seen as an extreme.

The ball started a rolling from a workshop on sexuality in June where bisexuality was raised among other things, the conversation continued on social media and subsequently I was alerted to the furore of sorts as to what to make of bisexuals especially given that one male member of the cohort openly expressed his bisexuality and was wondering about a female partner he was thinking of a prolonged relationship given she wants a child and is also aware of his orientation none the less. It is almost annually I find myself doing these kinds of posts as the mindset change I expected seems not forthcoming. What is even more egregious is that the vitriol towards bisexuals comes from more females than males, a surprising feature to me seeing we expect women to be more sensitive to emotions and so on.

Sentiments to the effect that bisexuals want to hide their homosexual desires or experiment with homosexual sex is wrong or that they want to have their cake and eat it too which suggests sexual greed keep coming up in the sub text of it all. One woman who can be described as a lesbian said she does not want any bisexual as a partner as how could she trust them as she was not sure when they would “switch” meaning she could be dropped and a man become her replacement. Other insecurity driven sentiments also came through on the now deleted thread by the administrator of the Facebook group involved. Things got so heated that terse words and indeed curse words were exchanged. Bisexuality is still able to somehow emote such phobic or opposing responses from within the LGBT populations. Some questioned how bisexuals can settle going from the one partner at a time concept as opposed to polyandrous or polyandry relationships. Despite some interventions in terms of posts and related articles posted in the group in question some persons were just not receptive, I guess we are experiencing the misunderstanding of orientation as binary in a sense as mentioned before.

What is to be made of asexuality and given the rise in the discussion as linked to the matters of intersex and the Olympics, transgenderism where it is believed some gays are getting caught up in the novelty element of same and the aforementioned pansexuality. The sudden explosion of transgender visibility and the notion of sex reassignment as it were some young persons are misaligning orientation with aesthetics, feminization (forced or unforced) and drag culture and wanting to align with trans when in fact they are not in the final analysis. The same workshop where this bisexuality issue stemmed from also seemed to have elucidated this mix up with transgender as well. Transgender in the eyes of some is a safer haven in their eyes to avoid homophobia with the punctuated violence and seek or get comfort in that world which can lead to other challenges especially in the homeless department.

Just to reiterate it, bisexuals are not confused nor are they greedy and do not want to be seen as such and some persons are sexually attracted to both sexes, maybe one moreso than the other and that there is an abundance of information out there we must not see the kinds responses to such persons. We need to simply inform ourselves on such matters and really get a grasp of what LGBTQ actually means; and that they are not just simply cute call letters for use to identify with. Real inclusiveness if not tolerance is needed, if we are to really get some respect on all levels then said tolerance must be already demonstrably clear in our own backyards to include embracing inter/intra community differences.

Peace & tolerance

H

Transgender Plea For Rights in Bahamas

Got this sent to me on Facebook recently on the Bahamas Trans developments:

Source: Tribune 242

Tori Culmer, right, speaking at the Transgender and Inter Sex Community press conference at the British Colonial Hilton. Also pictured is, left, Alexus D’Marco and Phylicity Smith. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

By RICARDO WELLS

BAHAMAS Transgender, Intersex United (BTIU) yesterday launched its multi-level equality campaign, “Bahamian Trans Lives Matter”, which seeks to secure equal rights for transgendered Bahamians as the debate about the upcoming gender equality referendum continues.

During a press conference at the Hilton on Tuesday, BTIU representatives called on the Christie administration to ensure that the fundamental rights of all genders of Bahamians - male, female and transgendered - are protected. However, the group stressed that it is not trying to shift the focus of the gender equality referendum.

The group is calling for equal access to healthcare, education and employment without discrimination.

Lead spokesperson for the group, Alexus D’Marco affirmed that members of BTIU, and to a greater extent those in the wider lesbian, bi-sexual, gay and transgender (LBGT) community, are forced to live in unwarranted circumstances due to the confines of socially accepted behaviours in The Bahamas.

According to the self-proclaimed “first lady” of the LGBT community, scores of transgendered and intersex men and women are being discriminated on their jobs, in schools and in other social groupings because of this “well-endorsed” stigma.

“The conversation needed to come about, because discrimination (exists) on all levels. If we are talking about equality we have to go across the board for all Bahamians,” Ms D’Marco said.

“The word equal, that’s the key word. Why are you going to discriminate against one set of people and another set of people get all the privileges? That’s discrimination. I am glad the topic (of the) referendum and all of that has come about because we live in ‘la la land’ in this country. Unless we come forward as humans and Bahamians and stand up for our own rights, things will (never) begin to move forward and change.”

Ms D’Marco labelled those opposing the rights and privileges of transgender and intersex Bahamians as modern-day oppressors.

She said naysayers are opting to hide behind outdated research, refusing to acknowledge transgender and intersex for what it is – a medical condition and not as a sexual orientation.

“Just how they can pick up their collegiate math books and biological books, they can pick up and study (transgender). But, we want to live in ‘la la land’ and keep oppressing people, keep oppressing Bahamians when equality should be across the board,” she said.

Ms D’Marco said the group now has the moral support and backing to come forward and demand what it rightfully deserves - “equality.”

Question four of the upcoming referendum will ask voters to eliminate discrimination based on sex in the Constitution by inserting the word “sex” into Article 26.

Those opposing the bill think that this could one day lead to same-sex marriages, but the government has denied this as a possibility and stressed that the focus is solely on gender equality.

Addressing this particular point, BTIU representatives said they aren’t looking to shift the focus of the equality bills, but they want to use the national conversation on equality to be all encompassing.

BTIU stressed that there are no laws to protect transgender and intersex Bahamians.

Rights

Torri Culmer, a member of the BTIU who is advocating for legal protection for transgender and intersex persons against being terminated from their jobs, stressed that her story proves that the rights of these persons aren’t respected in the Bahamas.

Currently unemployed, Ms Culmer said she was fired from at least four jobs in recent years after it was discovered that she was a transgender woman.

She admitted that when she applied for those jobs, she would do so using her female persona with only her passport and other identification documents indicating that she was born a male.

According to her, there were no issues with these jobs until co-workers or customers that had prior knowledge of her transgender state made a point of it.

“(Employers) find it easier to just let me go, to let a transgender woman go,” she stated.

Furthermore, BTIU lodged concerns for its fastest growing age group - trans youth.

BTIU representatives said trans youth are subjected to bullying in schools and often given religious conversion counseling instead of psychological services specific to transgender and intersex people.

Felicity “Peaches” Smith, an 18-year-old transgender youth, said once she and those around her identified her feminine preferences were not a phase, she was ostracised and ridiculed instead of supported.

Ms Smith said she was run out of high school in the 11th grade.

“I didn’t have anybody to talk to just because of who I (am).

“At the end of the day, no matter who I am, I should not be discriminated (against),” she said.

BTIU contend that youth, once pushed out by family members, are left without homes and unable to finish school.

Officials said these kids often take to street cultures for protection and guidance; and therefore, are preyed upon by older men in both the homosexual and heterosexual communities.

Additionally, the group indicated that access to proper medical care is limited, with many doctors encouraging transgender and intersex people to travel abroad to receive needed medical care.

“There are some things that we need that doctors find themselves discriminating against,” stated Ms D’Marco. “For example, there was one transgender girl, who when another issue going on with her, they asked what medications are you on and she said hormones . . . the doctor looked at her and said ‘What? Who gives you that here?’

“These are the types of things that they face here in this country when they go to the doctor. Everyone can’t afford to hop on a flight to Miami. There are things in the public service sector that we need - healthcare, education and equality,” she added.

LGBT rights advocate Erin Greene said BTIU members should have the right to voice their concerns within the confines of democracy.

“It is very important that other Bahamians, (those) that do not identify with this community take the time to assess what their responsibilities are to this vulnerable minority in the country,” she said.

Ms Greene called on Bahamians to engage the LGBT community respectfully as the matters related to the constitutional referendum play out.

Hey gays! Women matter too!

I had to laugh then feel some pity for some when I saw an article (as re-captioned) from the Gleaner’s In Focus April 24, 2016 and my subsequent entry on his previous piece the Sunday before. The implacable opponents to change continue to respond as expected, Dr Orville Higgins stroke again and he enjoys the thrill as it gets callers to the RJR hotline show he hosts; he insisted on calling those who don’t agree with him as ‘gay bigots’ but I am not surprised as he has been one of those voices who live on the perception of Jamaica being (mis)labelled as the most homophobic thanks to a Time Magazine article; albeit the title of the article was a question and not a statement of fact. 

It is not surprising his ankhs on anything to do with homosexuality. He also chose again as he did last week to use his voice via radio on his show on RJR’s hotline to push the ridiculous position he has taken on women being left out or made invisible towards LGBT rights. There has been a wave of fear-mongering and praying on the public’s ignorance in recent weeks since the JLP has come to office as all kinds of antigay voices crawl out of the woodwork and Dr Higgins is no exception. Then again on our side the mishandling of matters on several fronts in advocacy has left all kinds of negative perceptions of dishonesty which feeds into such opinions formed by Taylor et al.

here is the article in question:

Two bona fide friends read the string of comments after my column, as well as the 'Gay for a day' article by gay-rights advocate Maurice Tomlinson. Of course, the learned attorney, without reading my column, was accusing me of saying being gay was a choice and other unfounded criticisms. Indeed, some of the he-mails bordered on his-teria.

Still, whatever great pains they took to sit on the hard facts, the gay bigots seemed to have forgotten that I was looking on the study that was commissioned by their advocate organisation, J-FLAG.

Nonetheless, I tried long and hard to understand what was 'homophobic' about anyone saying that they were repugned by two men having intimate contact or two women doing same. Not to mention the petty grade-schoolgirl name-calling which cluttered my mailbox afterwards.

Yet, eliciting a second opinion from my aforementioned friends, I canvassed their views, along with others. Much to my surprise, they were even more strident than I am about how repugnant male-male intimacy was. In fact, in a study I am currently undertaking, it was quite a revelation. And herein lies the surprise. My two friends, who use words like 'disgust', 'repulsive' and 'sickening', are female and gay.

Yes, a very large number of gay females just cannot bear the thought of sex involving men. Expressed succinctly by a dear friend of mine, who rolls in the grass at the cheap androcentric attempts to label dislike as hate and homophobia, she declared, "If I cannot stand the idea of a penis involved in sex, how in hell am I going to enjoy or like seeing two?"

Tomlinson, by his own admission, stated that he never liked the idea of heterosexual sex. Therefore, during his brief excursion into male-female wedlock, in order to successfully make love to his wife, he "had to fantasise about men". Is he, therefore, a heterophobe? Does he want to carry out acts of violence against straight couples and want them to disappear off the earth? Does it imply that he wants the legislature to outlaw sex between men and women? I think not. Dislike and hatred are not the same, and that is the main point of my last week's article; and he should have read it.

As regards the fight against HIV/AIDS, I wonder just how committed the 'penilecentric' and 'anuphile' gay advocates are to the protection of the majority of their community. Yes, another inconvenient fact: there are more females than men in this society and the USA, and bet your bottom dollar that there are more gay females than men who have sex with men (MSM) in Jamaica.

Never mind Diana King's shameless attempt to exaggerate and blatantly lie that this society vilifies rapists and abusers of children less than homosexuals. While her revelation about her sexuality did not create the impact and widespread attention that she might have hoped, this utterance barely had an impact on anyone but a Shy Guy. Just check what happens to rapists and paedophiles in prison, and ask the gay prisoners who run large parts of the correctional institutions if I am wrong.

RIDICULOUS

Why is it that female-female sexuality is so unimportant to the male gay voices? In the national database on HIV/AIDS, the data are not collected or presented to reflect transmission among lesbians. This is true for the statistics in the USA and even UNAIDS. It is only now that a small subgroup within Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL) is attempting to gather information, more than 30 years since the virus was first detected in Jamaica.

And as ridiculous as this might sound to the 'gay-from-birth theorists/activists', there are indeed some women who thought that they were gay while in boarding school and college. Some are bisexual and some have, in a manner of speaking, turned their backs on their gay past.

Another subgroup of women (and some men too) engage in transactional sex. Called female sex workers by UNAIDS but judgementally labelled 'prostitutes' by the USA and 'promiscuophobic' Jamaicans, these vulnerable women are a high-risk group.

First of all, being women, they are more prone to being victims of violence. Second, because of the lower status of women, they are less able to negotiate the terms of their sexual engagement, inside and outside of their consensual sexual unions.

Third, their vulnerability adds the risk of human trafficking - a big problem in the USA and a noticeable one in Jamaica.

Finally, perhaps men, who might never have experienced the dynamics of sex with women and natural lubrication, are ignorant, or don't care, that copious amounts of potentially virulent body fluids get produced by aroused females. As a matter of fact, female sex workers also complain of harassment and extortion by a small group of corrupt cops, and other human-rights abuses.

Yet, with sheer hypocrisy and selfishness, male gay advocates argue that the illegality of anal sex (with men and women, too, by the way), or buggery, prevents them from telling their constituents, 'don't bend for a friend without rubber on the end'.

However, hardly anyone, in seeking to protect 'at-risk' groups, seems to think that decriminalising prostitution, which includes women going to other women on 'Back Road', in massage parlours and strip clubs, is as big a deal. I might have only passed through the law school a few times, but the infinitesimal big of law I know tells me that if telling MSMs to 'rubber up' is aiding and abetting the commission of a crime, condom-ing a prostitute is also condoning her crime.

By the way, is anyone following the war in the USA regarding the right of transgender people to use bathrooms of whichever sex/gender they identify with? As horrific as it might be that a man with a functional penis, but dressed as a woman, is using the bathroom with your 10-year-old daughter, can you imagine a female transitioning to male but with an intact vagina surrounded by a bathroom full of 'rusty-back', horny men at a stage show?

I end with the gay for a day challenge, which I graciously decline, because once you go back, you can't turn back.

- Dr Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in sociology at the UWI, a radio talk-show host, and author of 'Broken Promises, Hearts and Pockets'. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com.

While I agree in part that LGBT/HIV advocacy on a whole has certainly left out same gender sex practicing females out of the data collection, programs development and so on Dr Higgins a Sociologist I might add seems to forget that the epidemic hit men first and more dangerously than females but in the same breath more women seem to be testing positive based on the figures we have seen. And that women who have sex with women, WSW are at lesser risk than males who engage in unprotected anal sex. Then to try to use the abhorrence by same gender loving women towards anal sex between men to justify the rift in his eyes is downright dishonest and shows us the measure of the man we are dealing with. I am on record on this blog and elsewhere as to overlooking of same gender women in HIV prevention but not for superfluous reasons as Dr Higgins seems to be doing.

Want more dishonesty the old argument of gay advocates in HIV work claiming they cannot tell gays to use condoms is so dead it shows how behind Dr Higgins is or purports to be in order to give credence to his argument. Then why would there be an adjustment to the push from a full repeal to an amendment while stressing consent? Oh boi. Then he tries to put Diana King’s coming out as public relations tool to gain popularity while overlooking the hypocrisy she was trying to highlight recently with her twitter blast on paedophiles and child abusers.

Yet this is the man who is lecturing to University students who are to become future leaders, intellectual ghetto-ing indeed, Wilmot Perkins was right years ago when he warned us about some of these people with titles but cannot think to save their own skins.

Peace & tolerance

H

Transgender friends reveal new identities to families in Jamaica

Source BBC

Steffan Zachiyah and Romario Wanliss have just returned from Jamaica, where their families saw them as men for the first time.

The two friends live in Birmingham but travelled to their families' home country to reveal their new identities.
Jamaica is considered by some human rights groups to be one of the most transphobic countries in the world.

Newsbeat and Radio 1 Stories caught up with Steffan and Romario after their trip.

"Since the filming of the documentary, I have a greater sense of what 'family' means.

"There is something wonderful about knowing where I get my characteristics from and knowing that I am the future generation carrying on the name of the family.

"My dad and I have continued to talk and I have become much closer to my other family members, especially my brothers and sisters.

"I'll definitely be going back [to Jamaica] at the end of the year."

Steffan

"Since the documentary I've spoken to my brother Gilla in Jamaica and it almost feels like he's been on my journey all this time.

"He seems to have really accepted me for the man I am.

"I've also had a more in-depth chat with my mum about my transition.

Steffan with his older brother Gilla

"Because she has been very inquisitive about why I've made the decision to transition, for the first time ever, I've been able to open up to her and voice how I feel.

"She says for now she won't be addressing me as her son nor her daughter, but I have faith that we can only move onwards and upwards from here.

"I'm hoping she will soon be able to grasp the concept of why I have decided to transition and still love me for who I am."

ENDS

Well good to see some good visibilty coming to the trans populations IN Jamaica instead of persons outside having to stay away due to discrimination.

Peace & tolerance

H

Bisexual Invisibility: Impacts & Recommendations

So from my last post involving bisexuality invisibility some new developments have occurred in the negative as persons identified as gay throwing all kinds of comments regarding bisexuals as being confused to one suggesting bisexuals need not ask for rights as that is a gay thing. I am distraught in a sense as one wonders now how to address this dissent and disrespect for our bisexual colleagues given that there is B in the conveniently used LGBTQ call letters and it means something and not just a space take in the arrangement.

A Note on Language

The term bisexual is imperfect at best. It implies a duality of genders that many people feel erases transgender and gender-variant people. For others, it connotes a requirement of an exact balance between someone’s attractions for women and men, or attractions only to women and men who identify with the genders they were assigned at birth. While pansexual and omnisexual are finding more acceptance, some people feel the terms reinforce a stereotype of promiscuity. More recently, fluid has appeared as a way to describe those attracted to more than one gender, but it is not yet widely used or understood. There are also people who chafe at any label at all.

More broadly, queer is attractive as an umbrella term for non-heterosexuals, but many people still hear it as a pejorative, while others use it as a way to avoid naming or acknowledging those outside monosexual identities. Some who would otherwise self-identify as queer―to indicate their solidarity with the broader community―instead choose to call themselves bisexual specifically to avoid such erasure, even when they are uneasy with the term’s implications around gender.

The good news is that more and more people are comfortable navigating the complexities of human sexuality and gender as they are actually lived. The bad news is that the English language has not yet caught up in expressing that complexity. At this time, there is no clear “best practice” for terminology that fully honors gender diversity while not reinscribing invisibility for nonmonosexuals.

At this moment in the movement for full equality and dignity for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, bisexual is the term that is most widely understood as describing those whose attractions fall outside an either/or paradigm. It is also (along with MSMW and WSMW) the term most often used in research.

As people become increasingly fluent in the dynamics of gender and sexuality, the language will evolve as well. For now, and with full awareness of its limitations, bisexual is the word used in this report.

Bisexual Invisibility

Bisexuality is the capacity for emotional, romantic, and/or physical attraction to more than one sex or gender. A bisexual orientation speaks to the potential for, but not requirement of, involvement with more than one sex/gender.

Bisexuals experience high rates of being ignored, discriminated against, demonized, or rendered invisible by both the heterosexual world and the lesbian and gay communities. Often, the entire sexual orientation is branded as invalid, immoral, or irrelevant.

Despite years of activism and the largest population within the LGBT community, the needs of bisexuals still go unaddressed and their very existence is still called into question. This erasure has serious consequences on bisexuals’ health, economic well-being, and funding for bi organizations and programs.

As the authors of one study put it, “Bi-invisibility refers to a lack of acknowledgment and ignoring of the clear evidence that bisexuals exist.”

An Invisible Majority

According to several studies, self-identified bisexuals make up the largest single population within the LGBT community in the United States. In each study, more women identified as bisexual than lesbian, and fewer men identified as bisexual than gay.

An Invisible Majority

According to several studies, self-identified bisexuals make up the largest single population within the LGBT community in the United States. In each study, more women identified as bisexual than lesbian, and fewer men identified as bisexual than gay.

In 2010, a study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine6, based on a nationally representative probability sample of women and men in the U.S., found that among adults (5,042 respondents), 3.1% self-identified as bisexual, compared to 2.5% as gay/lesbian.

An “Eclipsed and Conflated” Identity

Despite the overwhelming data that bisexuals exist, other people’s assumptions often render bisexuals invisible. Two women holding hands are read as “lesbian,” two men as “gay,” and a man and a woman as “straight.” In reality, any of these people might be bi―perhaps all of them.

The majority of research lumps data on bisexuals under “gay” or “lesbian,” which makes it difficult to draw any conclusions about bisexuals and skews the data about lesbians and gay men. “Thus any particular needs of bisexuals are eclipsed and conflated. Only a handful of studies separate out bisexuals and/or report on their bisexual-specific findings. Fewer compare bisexuals to people who are not bisexual.”

Not Just a Phase

While bisexuality has often been considered merely a “phase” en route to a stable gay or lesbian orientation, it is also a stable sexual orientation in itself. A longitudinal study of sexual minority women (lesbian, bisexual, or unlabeled) found that over 10 years, “more women adopted bisexual/unlabeled identities than relinquished them.” Of those who began the study identifying as bisexual, 92% identified as bisexual or unlabeled 10 years later, and 61% those who began as unlabeled identified as bisexual or unlabeled 10 years later. While no similar long-term study has been done with bisexual men, at least one study suggests that bisexuality can be a stable sexual orientation for men as well.

“The only thing I would change about my sexuality is how others treat me for it.”

My coming out as bi has been both extremely satisfying and saddening. I came out as gay in high school when I was 16. While I thought occasionally about women, I largely discounted these feelings as random daydreams. I had heard that bisexuality was a farce so many times from gay friends, that people who were bisexual were just afraid to come all the way out of the closet, that I never thought of coming out as bisexual when I was younger. I was attracted to men, I didn’t have any shame about this, and I wanted to be recognized.

Despite San Francisco’s reputation as a gay mecca, it is where I first came to recognize my opposite-sex attractions. Being single at college parties, I often found myself in situations where women were hitting on me. I was interested but at the same time befuddled. The idea that my same-sex attractions represented an inflexible and absolute sexuality had become entrenched in my thinking, and I wasn’t prepared to question this. Despite this lack of mental readiness, my desire and curiosity were far greater, and I eventually began sleeping with women. I kept my opposite-sex attractions subordinated, leaving them out of discussions with friends back home and rationalizing them away as mistakes to myself.

After roughly a year, stories began to trickle back to friends and family. As questions and underhanded comments started coming in, I found myself constantly being put on trial. Why was I doing this? Was I closeting myself? Why wasn’t I being “normal,” gay how I should be? In the process of trying to answer these questions for myself and others, I realized how long I had been cheating myself and sublimating my desires to others’ ideas about sexuality.

I came out as bi when I was 19 and have remained so since. Rather than quieting the doubts of others, animosity only intensified. Aggressive queries about when I was going to focus on guys full-time again became a standard part of trips home. On top of this, I noticed a change in how sexual partners treated me. Women I was with, no longer with the safety of presuming me straight, would question my real orientation and complain that my sexuality made them anxious that I would one day vanish into a relationship with a man. Men I was with wouldn’t acknowledge my sexuality, referring to me as gay despite my protest. I found myself in relationships waiting for accusations and dismissive comments, ready from the start to move along to someone new. I am happy with my sexuality, and very grateful that I was finally able to fully realize my desires. The only thing I would change about my sexuality is how others treat me for it. Finding my sexuality has been wonderful. I only wish I didn’t have to sacrifice feeling safe, feeling part of a community, and feeling like I have anyone to confide in but myself.

– Jack M., 21, male

An Invisible Place in History

Bisexuals find themselves erased in history. Many famous people―such as Marlene Dietrich, June Jordan, Freddie Mercury, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Walt Whitman―have been labeled as lesbian or gay for their same-sex relationships, yet their long-term relationships with different-sex partners are ignored or their importance minimized. This disrespects the truth of their lives for the sake of a binary conception of sexual orientation. It also makes it more difficult for bisexuals just coming out to find role models.

This historical erasure also extends to activists. Rather than acknowledging the decades of hard work bisexuals have done in the LGBT movement, many gays and lesbians have accused bisexuals of trying to “ride their coattails.” In fact, bisexuals have often been leaders in the movement. In just one example, it was a bisexual woman, Brenda Howard, who organized the one-month anniversary rally in honor of the Stonewall uprising (which in turn was led by transsexuals and drag queens). Then a year later, she organized a march and celebration that turned into New York’s annual pride parade and inspired countless other pride celebrations around the world. Yet it wasn’t that long ago that bisexuals and transgender people had to fight for inclusion in the name of San Francisco Pride, one of the last major U.S. cities to do so.

Bisexual Exclusion

Often, the word “bisexual” shows up in an organization’s name or mission statement, but the group doesn’t offer programming that addresses the specific needs of bisexuals (see the chapter on organizations and programs serving bisexuals). Even when an organization is inclusive, the press and public officials often fall back on the “safety” of saying just “gay and lesbian.” There is even a growing trend of talking about the “gay, lesbian, and transgender” community or “lesbian, gay, and transgender” movement. But words matter. Invisibility matters. Bisexuals find themselves excluded in other ways as well. Many personal ads have specified “no bis” in their criteria.

Bisexual and Transgender Allies in Invisibility

“From the earliest years of the bi community, significant numbers of [transgender people] have always been involved in it. The bi community served as a kind of refuge for people who felt excluded from the established lesbian and gay communities.”

— Kevin Lano (Alexander, J. & Yescavage, K. (2003). Bisexuality and transgenderism: InterSEXions of the others. Journal of Bisexuality, 3(3/4). p. 8, as quoted in Miller et al. (2007).

That quote reflects the actual similarities to our Jamaican scenario as well as several bisexuals remain quiet on their opposite sex attraction in fear of a backlash or avoiding confrontation with sometimes paranoid reactions when such disclosures are made.

Other Forms of Biphobia

Bisexual invisibility is one of many manifestations of biphobia. Others include:

 Assuming that everyone you meet is either heterosexual or homosexual.

 Supporting and understanding a bisexual identity for young people because you identified “that way” before you came to your “real” lesbian/gay/heterosexual identity.

 Automatically assuming romantic couplings of two women are lesbian, or two men are gay,or a man and a woman are heterosexual.

 Expecting a bisexual to identify as gay or lesbian when coupled with the “same” sex/gender.

 Expecting a bisexual to identify as heterosexual when coupled with the “opposite”sex/gender.

 Believing that bisexual men spread HIV/AIDS to heterosexuals.

 Believing that bisexual women spread HIV/AIDS to lesbians.

 Thinking bisexual people haven’t made up their minds.

 Refusing to accept someone’s self-identification as bisexual if the person hasn’t had sex with both men and women.

 Expecting bisexual people to get services, information, and education from heterosexual service agencies for their “heterosexual side” and then go to gay and/or lesbian service agencies for their “homosexual side.”

 Feeling bisexuals just want to have their cake and eat it too.

 Assuming a bisexual person would want to fulfill your sexual fantasies or curiosities.

 Thinking bisexuals only have committed relationships with “opposite” sex/gender partners.

 Being gay or lesbian and asking your bisexual friends about their lovers or whom they are dating only when that person is the “same” sex/gender.

 Assuming that bisexuals, if given the choice, would prefer to be in an “opposite” gender/sex coupling to reap the social benefits of a so-called “heterosexual” pairing.

 Assuming bisexuals would be willing to “pass” as anything other than bisexual.

 Believing bisexuals are confused about their sexuality.

 Feeling that you can’t trust a bisexual because they aren’t really gay or lesbian, or aren’t really heterosexual.

 Refusing to use the word bisexual in the media when reporting on people attracted to more than one gender, instead substituting made-up terms such as “gay-ish.”

 Using the terms “phase” or “stage” or “confused” or “fence-sitter” or “bisexual” or“AC/DC” or “switch-hitter” as slurs or in an accusatory way. Switch hitter locally has a connotation in lower classes of some acceptance especially if the named persons are gender conforming to onlookers.

 Assuming bisexuals are incapable of monogamy.

 Feeling that bisexual people are too outspoken and pushy about their visibility and rights.

 Looking at a bisexual person and automatically thinking of her/his sexuality rather than seeing her/him as a whole, complete person.

 Not confronting a biphobic remark or joke for fear of being identified as bisexual.

 Assuming bisexual means “available.”

 Thinking that bisexual people will have their rights when lesbian and gay people win theirs.

 Expecting bisexual activists and organizers to minimize bisexual issues (such as HIV/AIDS, violence, basic civil rights, military service, same-sex marriage, child custody, adoption, etc.) and to prioritize the visibility of so-called “lesbian and/or gay” issues.

 Avoiding mentioning to friends that you are involved with a bisexual or working with a bisexual group because you are afraid they will think you are a bisexual.

As an example of the extent and depth of biphobia, a study published in the Journal of Sex Research reported that heterosexuals rate bisexuals as a group less favorably than any of a number of groups (including Catholics, lesbians, people with AIDS, and people who are pro-life), except for the category of people who inject illegal drugs.

Bisexual Health Issues within HIV and STI Prevention

There are health issues that are specific and generalizeable to bisexuals as a group and health issues that are specific and generalizeable to people who have partners of more than one gender as a group. This literature review shines a spotlight on specific challenges related to HIV and STI prevention among bisexuals, WSMW, and MSMW.

Unfortunately, existing research on this topic is scarce. Much of it lumps bisexuals into either “lesbian” or “gay male” categories, making it difficult to draw any conclusions about bisexual health.

Data on bisexual women’s sexual health is less prevalent than men’s, particularly data on WSMW.

Additionally, not all researchers take into consideration whether their study participants identify as bisexual, MSMW, WSMW, or something else.

It is important to recognize that many, if not most, bisexual people do not come out to their health care providers or to researchers due to judgments that silence, stereotypes that shame, and assumptions that erase bisexual identity. When a woman is partnered and says she is using birth control, there may be an automatic assumption that she is monogamous and heterosexual. A man in a same-sex relationship is assumed to be gay and therefore not in need of information about sex with women. When a man says he is married or partnered, there are often no subsequent questions asked about other sexual partners. Health care providers need to become aware of how to serve this often-overlooked community and its unique concerns, looking at a patient’s sexual behavior rather than simply a patient’s sexual identity.

Some have simply chosen to be invisible in one stigmatized category by wearing the mark of another.

Some Recommendations

One of the challenges―and frustrations―for bisexuals and their allies is that so much invisibility persists despite decades of educational efforts. One long-time activist described it as “sweeping sand.” While many people and organizations have certainly become more welcoming and inclusive of bisexuals over the years, others remain inconsistent, oblivious, or occasionally hostile. The question becomes how to create institutional changes that remain even if a bi-supportive leader, staff person, or volunteer moves on.

 Educate the public, advocates and elected officials about inclusive language (for example, “anti-LGBT bias” rather than “homophobia”) and ensure its use whenever possible and accurate. Review the STI brochures offered in Public Health and, if needed, encourage them to adopt models created (one that addresses those who identify as bisexual and one for those who don’t).

 Work with the Public Health systems to ensure that data collection addresses the experiences of bisexuals accurately and consistently.

 Share this blog post and similar ones on what bi-specific programming they have, if any; whether their programs that say they serve bisexuals are welcoming in practice; and how the content of their programming changes to address the needs of bisexuals.

 Include specific, separate information on bisexuality in diversity trainings.

 Ensure that bisexuals are included among the speakers when there are panels, forums, and other official discussions affecting the LGBT community.

Many assumptions lie at the core of bisexual invisibility: assumptions about a person’s sexual orientation based on her/his partner’s gender; about bisexuals people’s reliability, honesty, or commitment to the LGBT movement; about bisexuals’ health concerns and needs; and about the world as an “either/or” place rather than one of infinite variety. Any long-term solutions must dispel these assumptions to make room for those whose lives exist beyond binaries.

Think on these things friends.

Aspects of this blog post garnered from:

Peace and tolerance

H

new news:

Yoko: John Lennon suppressed his bisexual side