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News & Updates

 

 

Lani Honored

Lani Ka'ahumanu received a "Lifetime Friend and Champion Award" from San Francisco's Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club.  Present were a a "who's who" of noted bisexuals - politicians, authors, historical figures, reporters.  Everyone from Maggi Rubenstein to Rebecca Kaplan (pictures courtesy of Liz Highleyman)

   

First Person History

Cliff Arnesen accounts his life, including his historical Congressional testimony on behalf of GLBT soldiers.  for more his efforts, see the New England GLBT Vets website.

 

Big Bi Book Weekend

The Big Bi Book Weekend is a fabulous weekend of bisexual literary (and other!) fun is being held in NYC in conjunction with the 19th Annual Lambda Literary Awards (aka the 'Lammies') on Thursday May 31st 2007 and continuing on with other events into the 1st weekend in June as a super kick-off to LGBT Pride Month 2007.  See NYABN for details

Bi Health Timeline

BiNet USA now hosts the official Bisexual Health Timeline.  The timeline is part of the Bisexual Health Report, a a joint effort of The Task Force, BiNet USA, and Fenway Health

Make your Pride event truly a GLBT event!

It's planning time for Pride events across this great country.  Make sure your list of events is truly inclusive!!  To help you in this endeavor, BiNet USA is compiling a list of out, proud bi entertainers.  Contact one today!!  If you have recommendations for additional bi/queer/pansexual talent, contact wendy.

more news

 

Updated Friday February 9, 2007, 8:24 a.m. ET

BiNet USA partners with Camping.OUT

BiNet USA is excited to announce it's partnership with Camping.OUT, the Triangle Foundation's GLBT youth summer camp program. 2007 marks the first year this popular program goes national, which makes it a perfect time for BiNet USA to get involved.
 
Camping.OUT is a summer camp for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and allied youth, ages 13-17 from around the USA. The second annual camp is being held August 14-19, 2007 in Northern Michigan. It is designed to provide a safe space for GLBTA youth where they can create a community in which they can be themselves and develop their community leadership skills. Activities are offered by camp staff – who complete an intensive training prior to the start of camp – as well as GLBT community leaders from around the U.S. These activities range from the usual camp activities – kayaking, biking, swimming, hiking, arts and crafts, drama, etc. – to community leadership development activities – group discussions on political issues, leadership development sessions, media training, teambuilding exercises, etc. Campers individually pick which activities they participate in during the two program sessions that take place each day. They also have free time to develop their own discussions and talk with one another, camp staff and outside presenters.
 
BiNet USA will be supplying presenters, performing youth outreach, and assisting with scholarship fund raising efforts.

Updated Tuesday February 6, 2007, 6:48 a.m. ET

BiNet USA partners with First Freedom First

BiNet USA has partnered with First Freedom First to promote their "Respect all Families" campaign. First Freedom First fights to safeguard the separation of church and state.  With the Respect all Families campaign, they counter the efforts to define proper families as headed solely by one man and one woman.  
 
 "This was an obvious collaboration", says Wendy Curry, president of BiNet USA. "BiNet is a microcosm of our country.  Our members have families headed of multi-gender marriages, same gender marriages, single parent households, polyamourous partnerships, families of choice, and many many other combinations.  Each adds to the richness of our community. Each should be valued and respected." 

 

Updated Monday January 22, 2007, 7:47 a.m. ET

Curried Spam is here!  

BiNet USA president Wendy Curry shares her thoughts on a variety of topics in her new column, Curried Spam.  

Updated Monday January 15, 2007, 5:49 a.m. ET

Utah is ahead of the rest of the country!!!!

Utah Pride Center Announces January as Bisexual Pride Month

Why Bisexual Awareness Month?  Why not?  Bisexual awareness month gives us a chance, as a community, to open up a dialogue about that scary, invisible sexuality.

Bisexuality isnīt something thatīs easily defined.  Websterīs will tell you one thing, wikipedia will tell you something completely different, and every bisexual out there had their own definition of who and what they are.  But what it really boils down to is that thereīs an entire part of our own Queer/GLBT population that is all too often overlooked.

It sounds silly to say, "Bisexuals are people too.? But, stop and think for a second.  How often have you said or heard the following: "Oh, youīre just exploring.  Itīs just a phase.  Youīre just experimenting.?  Some people are truly just exploring or going through a phase or just experimenting.  But, for countless others out there, itīs an identity to be embraced. 

 

Updated Friday December 8, 2006, 3:19 p.m. ET

The 3rd National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Health Summit will convene in Philadelphia from Wednesday, March 14th through Sunday, March 18th. This summit will bring together over five hundred health care professionals, academics, activists, community members, and their allies to share cutting-edge information and develop strategies to better serve the health and wellness of the nation’s LGBTI communities

Updated Thursday December 7, 2006, 9:19 a.m. ET

BiNet USA joins myspace!

At the request of some members, BiNet has agreed to create a group on myspace.com.  The new BiNet USA group provides another mechanism for people to discuss issues surrounding bisexuality.  There are forums about everything from coming out to Jim McGreevey.  Come! join the discussion at http://groups.myspace.com/BiNetUSA

 

Updated Wednesday December 6, 2006, 8:24 a.m. ET

The 19th Annual Lambda Literary Awards (lammies) nominations are now closed. The judges are busily reading and making their suggestions for  the first ever bisexual lammy award winner.  Stay tuned!!

The awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 31, 2007, in New York City. For ticket information, visit Lambda literary web site.

Anxiously awaiting the winner?  Read and judge for yourself!  

Updated Wednesday May 24, 2006, 10:45 p.m. PT

 

 

FRITZ KLEIN

1932-2006

Dr. Fritz Klein -- renowned bi leader, creator of the Klein Sexuality Grid, author of the seminal "The Bisexual Option" and founder/funder of the Bisexual Foundation, which made many conferences possible throughout the world -- passed away Wednesday morning, May 24, following a cardiac arrest at home, according to his life partner, Tom Reise, in a posting on the foundation's website, Bisexual.org, where you can find an expanded biography and remembrances.
Fritz Klein

According to the posting, "Fritz underwent surgery several weeks ago for a cancer-related blockage, and in the past week seemed to be on the upswing and his spirits were high. He had been out to the movies with me Tuesday and his passing was unexpected, and quick with no suffering."

Plans are being made per his wishes for a big party in San Diego to celebrate his life. His body is being donated to science, per the posting. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to San Diego's Diversionary Theater, a nonprofit organization near and dear to him.

More news, click here



 
June 15th - 18th, 2006
Ryerson University
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Click here for more info or to register!

MORE NEWS:

  • Bi Professional Group Forming
  • Mexico website online
    JOIN THE BINET USA DISCUSSION EMAIL LIST! GET THE LATEST NEWS!
    CLICK HERE TO SEND AN EMAIL REQUEST!

    bi triangle TRANSCENDING BOUNDARIES 2006 bi triangle
    And Northeast Regional PFLAG Conference
    DCU Center in Worcester, MA
    October 27-29, 2006

    For more information or to submit workshop proposals or to volunteer, visit
    http://www.transcendingboundaries.org/


    bi triangle STUDIES & EVENTS bi triangle
    Watch this space and visit Bi Resource Center's Conferences & Events page

    MORE ATTACKS ON BI'S

    BiNet and friends have once again been busy fending off a recent rash of "bi's don't exist" attacks in the media. Must be something in the air(waves) or ink(fumes):
     
     
  • Friday, Nov. 4: Dr. Joy Browne on Discovery Health Channel reportedly told a female caller who had been involved with men and had fallen for a woman that she had to choose whether she was straight or gay, that bisexuality is a crock, that the caller should see a therapist. The 4th-highest-rated radio talk show according to Talkers magazine also said that "saying that 'I'm bisexual' just means 'Do me!'? That, 'I don't care who does me as long as somebody'."? To complain, write to?Browne's website: http://www.drjoy.com/contact/index.html? as well as Discovery Health Link at http://extweb.discovery.com/viewerrelations?as well as call WOR.? WOR's listener feedback phone line at 212-647-4500 or link to WOR's "contact us" page: http://www.worradionet.com/Contacts.htm. Also cc to bialogue@nyabn.org
  • Early October: Famed sex therapist Dr. Ruth said in a column there is no such thing as "Everyone is either straight or gay ? there really is no such thing as being bisexual." Imagine being a person just coming out and reading that! "It's unfortunate that Dr. Ruth, whose column reaches millions, would perpetuate myths about the lives of bisexual people - in essence rendering them invisible," Cindi Creager, national news director for GLAAD, opined.
  • A bisexual fifth-grade teacher sued his former school district Oct. 13, claiming administrators harassed him and forced him to quit, according to the Associated Press. Emmit Hancock, a former teacher at Willow Oaks Elementary School in Menlo Park, Calif., sued the Ravenswood City School District, seeking unspecified monetary damages, the report said. According to the filing, the teacher, 27, told his students about his sexuality to stop them from shouting gay slurs at each other on the playground, the report said, adding the harassment began thereafter and that parents complained. The district says Hancock was not forced to resign and that he quit because his educational philosophy was at odds with what administrators wanted.

    = = = =

  • IN OTHER NEWS:

    Lawrence Nelson, partner to the late bi activist Brenda Howard, was given the 1st Annual Brenda Howard Memorial Award Nov. 6 by the Queens Chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)

    = = = =

    "Confessions of a Frustrated Bi Housewife" is a new book in the making. Check it out at frustratedbihousewife.com

    = = = = =

    Previous postings:


    OUTRAGE CONTINUES TO MOUNT
    OVER BI-MEN-DON'T-EXIST 'STUDY'
    The backlash over new, dubious research that concludes bi men don't exist (and similar dismay to the way the New York Times reported the study on July 5) continues to grow and is having the salutary effect among bi people and their allies of uniting and galvanizing them to respond. Meetings and national conference calls have been held, letters and statements have been issued, talk shows (good and bad) have gotten on the bandwagon, and as you can guess, BiNet USA plus other groups are receiving floods of calls and emails.
  • THE STUDY ITSELF

    As to the new report, "It measures what it measures -- a reaction to a (visual) stimulant," says Dr. Ron Fox, who along with others criticizes the study's methodology and especially its leap to a conclusion that bi men don't exist because they didn't show arousal to visions of lesbian sex, though he notes "all studies are good in that they add" data to our body of knowledge and address questions of science and curiosity -- but the data must be properly gathered, the research properly conducted and analyzed, and drawn conclusions (if any) be valid and not illogical; otherwise, as others have noted, it's junk science.

    In this case the study apparently merely showed that some sighted, assumably Westernized men are physiologically aroused by some visual (and aural?) stimulae. Several critics have noted that many men in the study -- of all sexual self-identities -- were not counted because they displayed NO genital arousal. (The study apparently doesn't draw any conclusions about this phenomenon, but if it did, would it have said that THESE people don't exist either?) (We're attempting to seek permission to legally link to study so you can read for yourself.)

    The study is roundly criticized by many from start to finish for its methodology and leap to a conclusion based on something other than the data. The study is written by three people -- two former grad students and their professor, who, critics report, lost his chairmanship of the Northwestern University psychology department over a book that claimed to analyze interviews and "studies" (not of his own), the tome denigrating and dismissing the reality of transsexuality. (We'll attempt to reach the researcher for more on all this.)

    Among many criticisms of the new study is how self-identified bi men were culled: Ads were placed in gay publications asking for bi men. However, many bi men in Western society don't read gay publications, so there's a good chance the men who were recruited as self-identified bi were gay-leaning in the first place, thus further possibly skewing the research, which also (among other factors) doesn't seem to take into consideration Western behavior/enculturation including internalized biphobia vs. non-Western constructs of bisexuality; nor does it seem to take into consideration other cultural matters plus the vastness of bisexual awareness and arousal, let alone what is MEANT when people say they are bi.

    The small study (almost ALL such studies are necessarily small, Fox notes) indicated a physiological response (genital arousal) in about 22 of 33 or so self-identified sighted bi (and apparently Westernized) men (cultural backgrounds, age, race, income and professional levels, educational background and other factors are not detailed in the version reviewed here) watching 2-minute films of lesbian sex and gay male sex. Theoretically, sighted bi men would be erotically aroused by both as they are attracted to males and females, and in this particular study, this didn't apparently happen for the most part (self-ID'd gay men were aroused as would be expected by the male sex acts, self-ID'd straight men were generally aroused by the lesbian sex). However, the study stops short of taking into account research (including its own) shows that shows many people of ALL stripes are NOT aroused by porn -- been there/done that perhaps; desensitization in our modern age (too much MTV and R-rated films?)-- or perhaps they see sex as something other than (or more than) just a visually stimulating act, or other factors.

    This discussion will be long and ongoing; for more, click on our links and check back with us regularly. Meanwhile, we're in for a LOOONG year until Creating Change in Oakland come November...

    = = = = = = =

    Previous update (revised July 7, 9, 12):

    STUDY TO BI'S:
    YOU'RE DEAD
     
    OK, not dead, just non-existent. Per a study, as reported July 5 in the New York Times, a team of psychologists, measuring genital arousal in response to images of men having sex with other men vs. women having sex with other women, found that about 25 of 33 men who identified themselves as bisexual were exclusively aroused by either one sex or the other, usually other men. A number of researchers and bi activists have criticized the study's methodology and noted it doesn't look at the broader issues of romance, sensuality and other aspects of bisexuality. In addition, a number of individuals and groups, including GLAAD and NGLTF, took exception to the inflammatory headline on the NYT report, "Straight, Gay or Lying? Bisexuality Revisited" and noted the lead researcher has a dubious background.Meanwhile, NGLTF and GLAAD convened a phone conference Friday July 8 with numerous bi activists (including BiNet USA President Denise Penn and VP Luigi Ferrar) on coordinating responses and actions.  
  • End previous posting


    JOIN RAPID-RESPONSE
    SPOKESPERSON TEAM
    As you can guess, the NYTimes report and the study itself have spawned a number of media calls to BiNet USA, so we are reinvigorating our rapid- response network. This is a team of people located throughout the U.S. who can quickly reply to media attacks or inquiries (and even be proactive in trying to get coverage of bi issues). You speak for yourself as a bi person, not "on behalf" of BiNet nor "all bi's," but as our name implies, we network individuals and groups with each others to help foster the bi community and educate the larger society. If you'd like to be such a spokesperson/rapid-response team member, send us your name, address (or at least city), phone number and email address plus permission to give these out if and when journalists, producers and others tackle bi-related stories, reports, etc. Email us or write to BiNet USA at the address above.  

    JOIN OUR BOARD!
    BiNet is always on the lookout for board members, regional reps, volunteers and activists! If you're interested in serving, submit by email or postal service your contact info, office you're interested in and a statement of why you're interested plus some biographical information.

     


     

    NEW BI BOOKS! ?

    Now available in bookstores and online: "Getting Bi" by longtime Boston activist Robyn Ochs via the Bisexual Resource Center, with assistance from co-editor Sarah Rowley and literally a world of contributors; and "Bi America" by longtime Minnesota activist William E. Burleson. 

     


     

     

    The Mission of BiNet USA:

    As an umbrella organization and voice for bisexual people, BiNet USA will facilitate the development of a cohesive network of bisexual communities, promote bisexual visibility, and collect and distribute educational information regarding bisexuality. To accomplish these goals, BiNet USA will provide a national network for bisexual organizations and individuals across the United States, and encourage participation and organizing on local and national levels.

    BiNet USA, a 501C3 nonprofit organization, is the oldest national bisexual entity in the United States. It is a network of groups, projects and individuals, encouraging dialogue and participation as a way of creating and maintaining a cohesive bisexual community and empowering individuals to feel proud of their bisexuality.

    If you would like to support BiNet USA as an organization or as an individual, please consider making a donation or becoming a member of BiNet USA, adding your voice to our community and our efforts.

     


    BiNet USA thanks the

    BiCafe

     

    for its past support of our website.


    DISCLAIMER: BiNet USA and its website pages at www.binetusa.org are intended for educational and informational purposes only and to communicate with our organization's members. It is not intended to be used as a dating or personal-meeting service and therefore does not knowingly link with any pages that are of a dating or personal-meeting nature or are visually/sexually explicit. Use of our listserv emails on Yahoo! Groups is intended for educational and information-sharing purposes only and is not to be used for meeting other people as described above nor in violation with any U.S. federal laws or relevant local or state laws. It is not intended to be used by persons under the age of 18 years except for informational purposes regarding legal, cultural or social issues or for personal understanding of relevant issues. By using this site, you acknowledge that you are aware of these precautions and purposes and adhere to them.

    COPYRIGHT: All content on www.binetusa.org is copyrighted 1998-2007 by BiNet USA and cannot be duplicated without BiNet USA's written or emailed permission (except under "fair use" commentary conditions in accordance with copyright laws and court decisions).

     

     

     

     

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