Bi's Of Colour

The new home for bisexuals of colour is now at https://bisofcolour.home.blog

UK Black Pride happened on 8th July 2018.

I was welcomed by Phyll Opoku, the founder of this event, on what was to be an incredibly hot and sunny day.  The event was a lot more spread out this year; the Bi’s of Colour stall was in a far corner of Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, but that didn’t stop lots of people from coming to our stall for free badges, magazines and sweeties!  We were even interviewed by a reporter from the Voice black newspaper!  One heartwarming situation happened when a very young person came to the stall and told us that they weren’t bi, but their cousin came out as bisexual a week ago - the youngster was collecting badges and information for them!

We had 3 biphobic incidents on the stall, and 1 transphobic incident - all from white people.  This is bad, but it’s no joke when I say it’s still an improvement from other Pride events in the past when we would get a lot more aggression from Lesbians and Gays from all ethnicities.  However the positive responses far outweighed the bad, and for that I am grateful.  Bisexuals of Colour often get racist biphobia from all corners of the population, both straight and LGBT.  That’s not to say that straight, lesbian and gay POC are all innocent when it comes to biphobia - they are sadly perpetrators of bi-hate too.  But on this day at black pride, we had none of that.

Lastly, all the members of Bi’s of Colour who helped out on the stall were amazing!  They were all knowledgeable, patient and really good at talking to people who had questions about bisexuality.  In the heat of the very long day, they made things a lot more bearable for all of us, with supplies of ice, drinks, cooling spray and sunblock.  I was so proud of all of them.

LGBT+ People of Colour are the Canary in the coal mine.

It’s long known that when it comes to the hierarchy of the LGBT+ acronym, queer POCs are the bottom of the barrel.  This goes double for asexual, trans and/or bisexual women and femmes of colour.  In 2016, London LGBT pride let the racist hate group UKIP march as part of the parade, because UKIP has a gay group as part of a movement. https://www.buzzfeed.com/patrickstrudwick/ukip-have-been-allowed-to-march-at-pride-and-some-lgbt-peopl?utm_term=.vfvnrbdeJ7#.umGRmMaEzg

  This year London LGBT pride let a Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) group lead the parade after they pushed themselves to the very front. https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/07/07/anti-trans-group-allowed-to-lead-pride-in-london-march-after-hijack/

Now, we are rightfully disgusted that this was allowed to happen.  The TERF group shouted transphobic slogans during the parade, which is supposed to be welcoming to Transgender people.  

HOWEVER

London LGBT Pride showed their hand years ago in 2016, but it was quickly forgotten and mostly ignored by the majority of pride attendees because UKIP hate is mostly aimed at POCs.  Jacq A was part of the Community board for Pride London that year, and resigned when they realised what was happening.  But no other member of the board stood up for LGBT People of Colour.  And now we see another vulnerable group treated in a terrible manner with Trans folk being targeted.  It seems the warning from the canary in the coal mine went unheeded until it affected (mostly) white people.

We at Bi’s of Colour chose back in 2016 to no longer work with or take part in London LGBT Pride.  We have known for some time that London Pride is far from its roots as a protest - it’s simply a corporate party for affluent cisgender lesbians and gays.  The Armed Forces, the police and airlines that regularly deport LGBT People of Colour have more of a presence at Pride than bisexual, trans and asexual groups - the cost of participating is often a major factor in that, but the unwelcoming atmosphere doesn’t help either.

Two bisexual groups you may not have heard of:

Bi Sides Phillipines (top photo) and BiCollective Delhi (bottom photo)

Bisexual/Pansexual people of colour exist all around the world.  Thanks to their visibility and hard work,  bi people can have somewhere they won’t be erased or talked down to.  Both these groups have a presence on Twitter, so pop by and show them some love!

Bi Collective Delhi @bi_delhi

It is with regret that the Bi’s of Colour Book will no longer be happening.  Despite extending the submission date, and opening the call out to the whole Bi of Colour world, we didn’t get enough contributions (Those who had already submitted their work have been paid).

We will share the submissions we did receive either in the form of blog posts, or in another medium.  Bi’s of Colour are still going strong - we are & always will share the stories and experiences of bi/pan folk of colour; whether online or off.

Regards

http://www.bicymru.org.uk/bifest-wales/

BIG BI FUNDAY!

They have a travel fund for those who may have trouble travelling to Leicester.  It’s a lovely day out for all ages in a safe, accepting space.

This looks like a great opportunity for European Trans folk of Colour - there will be a day of empowerment just for us before the main event happens.  The conference is also offering full funding for those who need it, and are specifically encouraging of Trans POCs too.