#bihistory

let’s be crystal clear: bisexuality isn’t fake, fringe, or medically “uncertain”

i’ve already seen people spiraling over this like, “did something change? is bisexuality being declassified or delegitimized?” absolutely not.

major professional orgs in mental and medical health spaces recognize bisexuality as a valid sexual orientation. it’s not a disorder, it’s not a phase that needs treatment, and attempts to “change” orientation—conversion therapy—are widely opposed and considered harmful. this is solid, established ground. policy language on a government site doesn’t erase that, no matter how clumsy (or intentional) the edits.

but the erasure still hurts — and it’s not abstract

bisexual people deal with a specific set of stressors that often go overlooked:

bisexual erasure / invisibility: when people erase or ignore bi identity, rewrite it as “actually gay” or “actually straight,” or just don’t name it at all. over time, that wears you down.

double discrimination: catching dismissal or suspicion from both straight spaces and within parts of the broader queer community.

stereotypes: “confused,” “greedy,” “promiscuous,” “can’t commit,” “will cheat,” “performing.” these tropes show up in media, dating culture, and sometimes friend groups.

mental health fallout: feeling unseen or invalidated correlates with higher rates of anxiety, depression, isolation, and difficulty accessing affirming care.

so when bisexual language disappears from stonewall, of all places, it’s not just symbolic—it taps into a real pattern of being talked over, rewritten, or corrected out of existence.

history gets flattened when we erase the intersections

if you remove bisexual and transgender identifiers from the story of stonewall, you’re left with a sterilized narrative: a “gay rights moment” that sprang whole-cloth from a bar raid and politely evolved into a parade. but that’s not how uprisings work. movements happen at the intersections—gender variance, sexuality, race, class, policing, survival economies. to acknowledge that is to admit that liberation was (and is) collective, messy, and led by people who didn’t always fit neat boxes.

removing language doesn’t just tidy text—it narrows who future generations thank.

“representation” isn’t just rainbow marketing — it’s protective

when bisexual and trans identities are named in official spaces, it sends signals downstream. parks do programming. teachers pull official blurbs into slide decks. local tour guides quote federal copy. researchers cite federal language for grants. when that language includes us, resources flow toward us. when it doesn’t? guess who gets cut first when budgets shrink.

representation also reduces shame. a teen who reads “bisexual activists” on a national site doesn’t have to fight through only fandom headcanons and hashtags to find a lineage. that matters.

if you’re bi (or bi-adjacent) and tired: same.

the emotional whiplash of being “too straight for the gays, too gay for the straights” is exhausting. add government erasure? chef’s kiss of institutional invalidation. but you’re not making it up. the patterns are real. and you’re not alone.

what we can do (low to high energy options)

➜ screenshot everything. if you’ve got older captures of the stonewall page with bi/trans language, archive them (wayback, screenshots, pdf). receipts matter.

➜ write in. the national park service accepts public comments and feedback. a short, respectfully frustrated note goes further than you think—especially if enough people send them.

➜ boost bi & trans orgs. the bisexual resource center is one place doing the work of visibility, education, and community support. signal boost, donate if you can, share resources.

➜ tag correctly when you post queer history. we can counter erasure by naming: #bisexualhistory #transhistory #stonewallwasatransriot (or your preferred tags). language spreads.

➜ include bi & trans context in fandom spaces. fic notes, meta, server resources—these micro archives matter more than you think.

➜ correct gently but firmly. when someone says “stonewall was a gay bar riot,” you can say, “yes, and it also involved trans folks, drag queens, bisexual people, and others targeted by police.” expand, don’t erase.

grief + rage = fuel

it’s okay to be angry. to feel gutted. to feel like we take two steps forward and one quiet edit back. queer history has always been a push-and-pull between those who lived it and those who want to package it. our job? keep telling the version with blood, breath, gender variance, and blurred edges intact.

we were there. we are there. in every archive they trim, there’s someone who remembers the missing lines. don’t let them become footnotes.