“When we talk about bi-erasure, people often see it as an interpersonal thing not realising just how structural it is”
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY ADRIRODRIFOTO
There is no such thing as one bisexual experience. Despite decades of media that tries to tell us otherwise, bisexual people exist in all parts of our world. Tired of seeing the same white, cis representation of the bisexual community, bi activists Vaneet Mehta (he/him) and Lois Shearing (they/she/he) curated an anthology which delves into the many stories that make up the bisexual community.
It Ain’t Over Til The Bisexual Speaks is an anthology full of exciting, interesting, inclusive, and diverse essays from bisexual activists within the community. With contributions from the likes of Shiri Eisner, Hafsa Qureshi, Zachary Zane, and Heron Greenesmith, this anthology digs deep into the history of bisexual activism and the reality of being bisexual today.
We caught up with Vaneet and Lois to find out more about why this anthology is so important right now.
This anthology is so needed right now. Why do you think this anthology is so important to have?
Vaneet: I think it’s really important because there is actually so much activism happening within the bi-sphere. Bi people are involved in so many different branches of activism. There’s such a range of people in our community, and it’s important to highlight and uplift that work. So often we don’t get the limelight. We wanted to elevate the work these people were doing.
Lois: There is a lack of bisexual books, but that is changing now. I think we’re in a real bisexual publishing renaissance! But a lot of the books are very focused on personal experiences or the same type of experience or story which contributes to the idea that bisexuality looks a certain way. It looks like thin, white, cis women who have boyfriends and are promiscuous and not politically engaged. But Vaneet and I know so deeply that it doesn’t reflect what the movement looks like. It’s not just a white cis movement. We wanted to reflect how political and diverse the community is.
Why is intersectionality so important in the bi community?
Vaneet: I think a lot of people see bisexuality in one way. The harm that it does is that it is the only representation that gets created. At the same time, a lot of people think that the bi community is so much smaller than it is. People might see someone like me who is bi and think “That can’t be a bi person”. But we exist in so many forms. It’s also important when we think about the origin of Pride which stemmed from Brenda Howard – a bi activist. It’s important to show that bi people are doing work in more places than you realise. We’re working in pretty much every organisation that exists in the LGBTQIA community. We are constantly pushing the community forward.
Lois: That’s an amazing answer. Mine is a little more glib. Just from an editorial standpoint, it’s just a bit boring to always have stories from the same type of people. We wanted it to be a rich and interesting text from different perspectives. We wanted to write about bisexuality for bi people. When you write about bisexuality for monosexual or non-bisexual people, you have to spend so much time explaining yourself. This is for people who already know about bisexuality.
Vaneet, your essay about bi men was really powerful. Why was the #BisexualMenExist movement so important for you to start?
Vaneet: When I was coming out it was really hard to find other bisexual men. I think a lot of bisexual men are married and hide that part of their identity or they are assumed to be gay as they’re in the queer community. I wanted to bring that to the limelight. Bisexuality is so much more than the cis white woman we often see in the media.
A lot of the essays pick up on the concerning levels of abuse that the bisexual community faces. Why do you think these issues don’t get reported on?
Lois: People are really uncomfortable talking about sexual violence against bi people because it reveals a lot of attitudes towards the idea of the “good survivor” and what a survivor “should” look like. Bi people don’t fit that narrative of the “good survivor”.
Vaneet: When we talk about bi-erasure, people often see it as an interpersonal thing not realising just how structural it is. It’s this thing that happens so high up. When it comes down to a community level and us trying to fix something, it becomes near impossible because there is so little [research] out there.
What do you hope bi people take from this anthology?
Vaneet: I really want to be seen. I want people to understand how much community is out there. How we exist in so many spaces and ways. I also want people to take away from it radical thoughts. I want bi people who aren’t marginalised in any other way to go away and say “I need to support the rest of this community”. I really want queer people who aren’t bi to go away and say “I need to support the rest of this community”. To really put in the effort to understand that every fight is your fight. There’s no point in saying the bi community is free if the spaces can’t be accessed by disabled people. There’s no point in saying the bi community is free if all of our spaces are white-dominated and full of racism. There’s no way that we can say the bi community is free if women are still being abused on the street. We need to be fighting this on all fronts. We need to be linking up and collaborating. Community and creating community can look in so many different ways.
Lois: I want people reading this anthology to take away from it that the bi movement has always been around. We have always been fundamental to queer liberationist movements. We have always been at the forefront. I want bi people to feel seen, connected to their history, and feel empowered to take that out into the streets. There is a long fight ahead of us.
You can buy It Ain’t Over Til The Bisexual Speaks now! You can get 20% off using the discount code ITAINTOVER at it-aint-over-til-the-bisexual-speaks.
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