Bi Progress

[mikz]

Most of the moving and shaking I did in the early 1990s was bi activism, but it's something I hardly think about these days. Part of the reason is that I've fallen quite low on the Kinsey scale, even though I definitely feel more at home in queer circles than Straightsville. But another big reason is just how bi-friendly the world I live in is,

Comments

[cyan_blue]

Here's hoping, indeed :)

[savanni]

I like that shirt a lot.

On the other hand, I'll like most shirts that have a dual-gender symbol on them. :)

[mikz]

Thanks! I like it, too, particularly because of its history.

I came out as bi in 1992, when the gayandlesbian collective at uni mentioned an off-campus group called 'Love is Boundless' in their newsletter. That group turned out to be as much about what we now call polyamory as it was bisexuality, and probably about other kinds sexuality as well. I'm honestly not sure: I was 19 at the time, and I'd just found a place where I could be open about my attraction to guys, without being expected not to be attracted to women. That's all that mattered to me at the time.

That's all that mattered to a lot of the people I met there, too, and within weeks, we changed its name to the Sydney Bisexual Network. This wasn't what the group's founders had intended, but they were outvoted. Actually, I don't think they voted at all, since they worked by consensus, or some other process that seemed quite bizarre to me. A lot about those founders seemed pretty freaky to my sheltered 19-year-old self, especially mordwen, who had pointed a gun at me when I first

[savanni]

Wow, cool!

I didn't even start identifying as "bi" until a little while after my gender identity shifted around to "androgynous".

My poly activism only extended to keeping Poly Big Fun running for a long time. At this point, I'm totally unwilling to lead anything, but I am interested in finding ways to Exercise My Creative Programming Skillz to make neat things. And if they happen to be of great benifit to the poly community, so much the better!

[mikz]

I burnt out around the turn of the century, and for a while I worried that I didn't have any activism left in me. But I took most of last year off work and ended up doing a fair bit for the bicycle coalition, and also worked on the fund raiser for the first separate poly contingent in Pride. Right now I'm pushing myself to get off my arse and get this national poly activists' conference underway-it's scheduled for October. So all I needed was a sabbatical-perhaps you'll eventually have the drive to be a leader, too.

And in case I haven't already made it clear, I really enjoyed Poly Big Fun! =)

[gailmom]

I envy you your world. :) Thank you for letting me glimpse it.

[mikz]

You should come visit some time!

[p3aches]

Thank you for writing such a wonderfully thoughtful post.Namaste T

[nisaa]

Thanks for your inspirational post, Mik.