B I S E X U A L I T Y

1. BISEXUALITY brought to you by the WOU Safe Zone Committee

2. Introductions • Name • Major/Year in School or Department • Where are you from? • Why are you here (what do you want to get from this session)?

3. Who is the WOU Safe Zone? • Students, staff, and faculty make up the WOU Safe Zone • The WOU Safe Zone Committee works with the LGBTQQIA campus group, Triangle Alliance • Safe Zone trainers can come into classes, clubs, and residence halls to facilitate educational programming on LGBTQQIA topics

4. GLBTQ—XYZ… What??? • Gay • Lesbian • Bisexual • Trans (Transgender, Genderqueer…) • Queer • And a few more… • Questioning • Intersex • Ally

5. What We Will Be Covering • 1. multimedia visual and conversation starter • 2. definition • 3. brief history • 4. Kinsey Scale – what to do with it –history, move into today with #5 • 5. Measure your Sexuality • 6. Bisexual facts/fantasy – monogamy, threesomes etc. • 7. closing activity/discussion

6. Bisexuality “[I] went to a bisexual convention. Though I’d known that I liked women and I like men, meeting a group of people who had chosen this as a viable identity—not just a resting place between gay and straight—gave me a word to use with myself and a sense of legitimacy.” Queer Studies 1196, Beemyn & Eliason, p. 73. • Definition: not lesbian, not gay, not straight. An individual who is physically or emotionally attracted to both men and women.

7. Bisexuality: A Brief History Beginnings: The 1970’s and 1980’s 1976 - The San Francisco Bisexual Center, the longest surviving bisexual community center, opened its doors. It offered counseling and support services to Bay Area bisexuals. 1979 - A. Billy S. Jones, bisexual founding member of National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays, helped organize the first black gay delegation to meet with President Carter's White House staff. Jones was also a core organizer of the 1979 March On Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights. In the 1980s, bisexual groups mushroomed around the country and the world. Throughout the 1980s bisexuals organized significantly in the US, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, and the UK. In addition, by the mid-1980s umbrella groups formed to consolidate resources and facilitate regional organizing. In the 1990’s, more than 1300 bisexual groups in the US and 19 other countries had formed, according to The Bisexual Resource Guide (published by the Bisexual Resource Center). “For most of those years I rarely used the term ‘bisexual.’ Instead I’d say ‘I have no sexual preference’ or I gave a long-winded explanation about loving the person not the gender.” A Euro-American woman excerpted from Queer Studies 1196, Beemyn & Eliason, p. 77.

8. Bisexuality: A Brief History In the 1990’s • BiPO sponsored the first National Bisexual Conference in San Francisco. More than 450 people attended from 20 states and 5 countries declaring June 23, 1990 Bisexual Pride Day. • The First International Conference on Bisexuality was held at Vrije University in Amsterdam. About 250 people attended from nine countries. • Minnesota amended its State Civil Rights Law to grant the most comprehensive civil rights protections for bisexual, lesbian, gay, and transgender people in the country.   • Colorado voted to deny civil rights protection for bisexual, lesbian, and gay people by passing Amendment 2. • BiPOLmobilized a successful nationwide lobbying campaign for visible bisexual inclusion in the March On Washington. • The Second National Conference Celebrating Bisexuality in Washington, DC coincided with the March On Washington. • New York hosted the Third International Bisexual Conference in conjunction with the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. http://gibbin.org/bihistory.html I'm glad I'm not bisexual. I couldn't stand being rejected by men as well as women. Bernard Manning

9. Bisexuality: A Brief History In 2000’s • Same-Sex Marriage legalized in the Netherlands, Zurich, Massachusetts, Japan, Maine, Canada, Spain and South Africa • Adoption legalized or Same Sex Couples in Sweden, Spain, Canada, Iran Switzerland and Israel • Civil Union legalized in Buenos Aires, Germany, New Zealand, New Hampshire and Uruguay • Homosexuality decriminalized in Belize • Registered partnership legalized in Cape Verde, Marshall Islands, New Jersey and Rio Grande • Hate Crimes outlawed in New Zealand • The first Gay Parade held in Istanbul, Turkey Wikipedia

10. The Kinsey Scale Dr. Alfred Kinsey created a scale measuring homosexuality/ heterosexuality in the 1940’s. Someone landing in the middle theoretically is bisexual. The scale has come under a lot of criticism over the years for using only sexual encounters to determine sexual orientation. This would rate a virgin asexual, and someone with only one encounter either entirely homosexual or heterosexual. It also doesn’t account for reasons of encounters other than pleasure. 0- Exclusively heterosexual with no homosexual 1- Predominantly heterosexual, only incidentally homosexual 2- Predominantly heterosexual, but more than incidentally homosexual 3- Equally heterosexual and homosexual 4- Predominantly homosexual, but more than incidentally heterosexual 5- Predominantly homosexual, only incidentally heterosexual 6- Exclusively homosexual

11. Measure your sexuality! What are some good “measurements” of sexuality? How can measurements of sexuality be useful? How can they be harmful? What are some issues belonging uniquely to the bisexual community?

12. Bisexuality Separating Fact from Fantasy Bisexual people are not monogamous. Bisexuality is just a phase. Fantasy The simple answer is "no" or at least "not necessarily" - many of us are absolutely certain that we are attracted to both sexes; there is no confusion. Many people are bisexual for life, which proves it is not necessarily just a phase. It is natural for people who are coming to terms with a sexuality which is not society's norm to be feel confused. For some people, bisexuality is a phase between homosexuality and heterosexuality (and the individual in question could be going in either direction); for others it can just be a brief experimentation. But for many people bisexuality is a lifelong, committed sexual orientation. (https://www.msu.edu/~alliance/faq/faqbisexuality.html#A9) A bisexual deciding to be monogamous is not deciding to be "gay" or "straight." He/she is still bisexual; he/she has chosen a PERSON to live his/her life with, not an orientation, preference or idealogue. It is important to recognize that he/she still FEELS bisexual. (https://www.msu.edu/~alliance/faq/faqbisexuality.html#A9)

13. WOU Safe Zone Mission The Western Oregon University Safe Zone program seeks to form a network of students, faculty and staff committed and trained to provide safe, non-judgmental and supportive contacts for all WOU community members regarding gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans and queer (GLBTQ) issues. It is symbolic of a willingness and a commitment to provide an atmosphere of unqualified acceptance and assistance. How can we all work towards achieving this mission here at Western?

14. Resources • http://whatexit.org/tal/mywritings/bipolitics.html • http://www.binetusa.org/ • http://www.biresource.net/ • http://www.bisexual.org/home.html • http://gibbin.org/bihistory.html • Book: MMA2OM (Married Men Attracted to Other Men) or MMA2OM.com • http://www.threecirclegraph.com/Today_s_Bisexual_Movement2.pdf • http://www.youthnetsouthampton.org.uk/breakout/multidimensional.php • Book: Beyond Tolerance, Evans & Wall, 1991, American College Personnel Association, Alexandria, VA

15. Resources (cont.) • http://www.nyabn.org/Pages/WhoWeR/OurHistory.html • http://www.sfcenter.org/ • http://www.babn.org/ • http://www.biunity.org/ • http://www.geocities.com/SBWN/ • http://www.iub.edu/~kinsey/resources/ak-hhscale.html • http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A570098

16. The WOU SafeZoneisYOU! Sign up to attend a Safe Zone training! Become a Safe Zone ally! Become a Safe Zone trainer! Join the Safe Zone Committee!