Visibility & The Chicago Dyke March
I am writing to ask for your help.
Are you familiar with the Chicago Dyke March? The past few years I have been trying to have a conversation with the organizers regarding the fact that their mission statement does not include bisexuals. Last year they said that it would be an issue that needed to be raised at a meeting and never got back to me about it. This year I actually got a response... however, it was an empty one. It seems rather silly that they won't add one word to their mission statement. Its a small word, but it means a lot. I really don't understand their reluctance/resistance as the event is supposedly geared towards all women who love women and they boast an inclusive and accepting community. So when I was invited to their event on facebook I had to decline based on principle. I also posted a comment on their wall to the effect of "please include bisexuals in your mission statement" ... general, vague and non-threatening... mostly because at least that brings visibility to this issue and makes others aware of the problem.... They deleted it. This has gone on for far too long and I feel it has crossed the line into active discrimination. Apparently they don't feel they need to even respond or acknowledge this issue... let alone recognize or accept bisexuals as a part of their collective... that is, unless they are "queer."
I know that some people believe bisexuals are included within "queer" ... however, I am not one of those people. While a bisexual can identify as "queer"... not all do and that needs to be respected and recognized. I see this subsumation within queerness as one of the largest problems facing the bisexual community currently and one of the primary factors causing bisexual invisibility... which is precisely why this response (or lack thereof) from the Chicago Dyke March Collective is troubling.
Please help me with this advocacy endeavor and contact the administrators or post on their event wall at the links below and let them know that this isn't something they can simply ignore and hope will go away... let them know that this is a problem and its something they need to change... and further, something they can change easily. Continuing to not make that change, however, leads to ignorance and discrimination.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14233764762&ref=ts
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=125462994161232&ref=mf
Are you familiar with the Chicago Dyke March? The past few years I have been trying to have a conversation with the organizers regarding the fact that their mission statement does not include bisexuals. Last year they said that it would be an issue that needed to be raised at a meeting and never got back to me about it. This year I actually got a response... however, it was an empty one. It seems rather silly that they won't add one word to their mission statement. Its a small word, but it means a lot. I really don't understand their reluctance/resistance as the event is supposedly geared towards all women who love women and they boast an inclusive and accepting community. So when I was invited to their event on facebook I had to decline based on principle. I also posted a comment on their wall to the effect of "please include bisexuals in your mission statement" ... general, vague and non-threatening... mostly because at least that brings visibility to this issue and makes others aware of the problem.... They deleted it. This has gone on for far too long and I feel it has crossed the line into active discrimination. Apparently they don't feel they need to even respond or acknowledge this issue... let alone recognize or accept bisexuals as a part of their collective... that is, unless they are "queer."
I know that some people believe bisexuals are included within "queer" ... however, I am not one of those people. While a bisexual can identify as "queer"... not all do and that needs to be respected and recognized. I see this subsumation within queerness as one of the largest problems facing the bisexual community currently and one of the primary factors causing bisexual invisibility... which is precisely why this response (or lack thereof) from the Chicago Dyke March Collective is troubling.
Please help me with this advocacy endeavor and contact the administrators or post on their event wall at the links below and let them know that this isn't something they can simply ignore and hope will go away... let them know that this is a problem and its something they need to change... and further, something they can change easily. Continuing to not make that change, however, leads to ignorance and discrimination.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14233764762&ref=ts
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=125462994161232&ref=mf