An ambassador for Just Like Us and trustee for Bi Pride UK speaks about the challenges the community has faced this year
BY ANULI CHANGA, IMAGE PROVIDED
In a climate that is increasingly hostile to the LGBTQIA+ community, LGBTQIA+ organisations are suffering financially. Facing these struggles and determined to put volunteer welfare first, in July this year, Bi Pride UK had to make the difficult decision to postpone Bi Pride 2025 until 29 September 2026.
At a time when our community is facing so much misinformation and prejudice, visibility and representation feel more important than ever. So for me, as Inclusion and Representation Trustee for Bi Pride UK, as well as for many bi+ people across the UK, this was a hard pill to swallow.
This Bi Visibility Day, I’m reflecting on the impact of this decision, the importance of Bi Pride UK as an organisation, as a community voice and in my own life. Many surveys confirm that bi+ people are the largest group in the LGBTQIA+ community, yet we are often deeply misunderstood, erased and excluded from spaces and conversations. Research from Just Like Us, the LGBT+ young people’s charity, showed that one in five (20%) bisexual and pansexual young adults have faced bullying at work, and also three-quarters (73%) were bullied at school.
My own journey to embracing my bisexual identity, and eventually to becoming the Inclusion and Representation Trustee for Bi Pride UK, was a circuitous one. At first, I denied the possibility of even being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. This felt easiest, safest, and I would later recognise the privilege I had in making that choice. Exploring my sexuality took a back seat to managing my positionality as a woman of colour. My sexuality was just another way I could be othered. When I started exploring where I might fit in, choosing a label meant so much. I tried them on like clothing, and ultimately, I found that bisexual and queer felt good to me.
Then, I had to make decisions about how open to be about my identity. Do I let people keep on assuming straightness as a default? That is not an option afforded to all queer people. This option exists simultaneously as a privilege and a tool of erasure. I struggled to find representation around me to help me understand this loaded privilege. I could infer inclusion in queer and sapphic spaces, but the lack of out bisexual people in the public eye was very telling, and at times, isolating.
Thankfully, the past decade has brought us a huge rise in out bisexual public figures. Whether it is Doechii standing at the intersection of Black, queer, woman artists or Alan Cumming reminding the world he is bisexual in the face of assumptions about him being married to a man. The openness of those in the public eye has been priceless to me, but I was still searching for tangible, real-life community.
I attended my first Bi Pride event in 2023 and felt overjoyed. Surrounded by the community, I felt seen and held. It was a revelation. A year later, I was applying to be a Bi Pride UK trustee. It opened my eyes to the level of work and commitment needed to make the biggest Bi Pride in the world happen, and gave me a deep respect and appreciation for all Prides. The love and work that goes into creating spaces for queer people in all the facets of our community is astounding.
This year, being part of the decision to postpone Bi Pride came, I keenly felt the responsibility to our community and, most of all, accountability to our totally volunteer-run organisation. I’m immensely proud of putting our volunteers first and persevering towards the next event.
The day of Bi Pride means a great deal to me and to many others. However, I know the performances, panels, stalls, and incredible atmosphere will all return. Bi Pride is one day, but postponing it has highlighted how vital our work all year round is. Whilst we prepare to return in 2026, we are busy attending Pride events across the country, researching and building the base of current and past Bi+ knowledge, and educating people and businesses about i+ people and allyship.
Every Pride has its own identity and something to learn. For me, Bi Pride UK’s identity is about inclusivity, access, intersectionality and being continuously open to learning and doing better for our community. Like many Pride organisations, the serious drop in funding in the current climate has hit us hard. Now, we’re crowdfunding to keep our event free, raising more than £2,000 in our first month, with a goal of £5,000.
This incredible show of support from the Bi+ community and our allies so far fills me with hope. Today, on Bi Visibility Day, I feel even more proud of the work Bi Pride UK does to contribute to the empowerment, evolution and platforming of the Bi+ community.
Just like our Bi Pride event, Bi Visibility Day is one day. It’s an important day, but Bi+ people are here all year round, and we’re not going anywhere. With your continued support, we’ll see you next year at Bi Pride 2026.
Anuli is the Inclusion and Representation Trustee for Bi Pride UK, and volunteers as an ambassador for Just Like Us, the LGBT+ young people’s charity.
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