BiNet USA organizes a number of different initiatives in order to devote more time and energy to specific causes that need greater attention. Currently, there are six initiatives listed to your right. Each one has a great deal of information listed about the initiative, as well as plenty of volunteer opportunities for people interested in getting more involved in the inner workings of BiNet USA.

Also, every initiative leader is always looking for volunteers! There is so much to do with every initiative that BiNet USA is undertaking, if you could even spare an hour or two a week, it would be greatly appreciated. Just email the coordinator of your initiative!

• The Fundraising Commitee, headed by Marcella Bucknam, is self-explanatory, but without funds, BiNet USA goes nowhere!

 
• The Technology Initiative, headed by Jon Spinner (Webgod in chief of the web diety triumvirate), seeks to expand the outreach and effectiveness of BiNet USA through the Internet and other technologies.

 
• The Youth Initiative seeks to reach out to young people who are struggling with their identity, to let them know that they are not alone, and that there is someplace safe near them where they can get assistance and information.

• The Education Initiative , seeks to increase the further the awareness of Bisexuals in the educational community, by working to shift the focus of established groups (such as GLSEN) and helping to remove prejudice from students of all ages.

 
• The Ally Campaign, headed by Marcella Bucknam,, is BiNet USA's effort to align itself with other organizations, particularly in the Gay and Lesbian community, who share the same commitments to ending discrimination.

• The Rural Initiative  seeks to improve the distribution of information about Bisexuality to those areas not usually served by city-based organizations.

• The Multicultural Initiative seeks to ensure that everyone feels welcome in BiNet.  Contact Gigi for more information

 

 
 
 
 
 

In the Ally Campaign, we invited 62 organizations--progressive, LGBT and communities of faith--to align themselves with BiNet and their goals. Details of what it means to be an Ally are listed below.

ABOUT THE ALLY CAMPAIGN

BiNet USA's voices have been heard at major national conferences, such as those organized by NGLTF, PFLAG, the Gill Foundation and LLEGO. Our voices have been interviewed by the national press including Newsweek, the New York Times, and the Toronto Globe and Mail. Our voices have been printed in local LGBT papers, and by publishing houses. Our voices are heard on Capitol Hill, at regional bisexual retreats, at national LGBT policy discussions and at local bisexual, transgender, lesbian and gay conferences as we educate legislators, inspire activists, inform debate, expand minds, create safe space, and nurture local bisexual communities.

Now we want to take our work one step further. With a committed volunteer corps of over fifty activists around the country, BiNet USA is embarking on several major organizing, education, development and visibility projects, and we need help.

BiNet USA seeks to accomplish three goals with our Ally Campaign:

• To create an environment where we have strong political allies who share our desire for and our understanding of a dynamic, mutually supportive partnership

 
• To learn from you what it means for BiNet USA and for bisexual activists to be your ally

 
• To help raise the funds necessary to achieve BiNet's ambitious plans for the coming years, which include emerging out of our exclusively volunteer structure, and expanding the activities we deem fundamental to our mission
Our donations levels are:
 

Budget level	Donation level
Over $1 million	$1,000 +
$500,000 to $1 million	$750 +
$100,000 to 500,000	$500 +
$50,000 to 100,000	$250 +
$10,000 to 50,000	$100 +
Below $10,000	$25-50 +

If you donate at the levels above, you will benefit from:

• 1/4 page ad in the Annual Meeting booklet
• 1/4 page ad or an article you write 1 time a year in the BiNet News
• Announcements of your events in our newsletter
• A place on our allies list in our brochure
• A note in our upcoming web site along with link to your web site
• Press releases on the ally campaign, going out 2 times a year to publicly announce our alliance with every organization which has become an ally
• Subscription to BiNet News
• Inclusion of your membership brochure in selected BiNet USA mailings
• Joint fundraising events with our respective members and constituencies
What does it mean for you to be an ally? What kinds of things would BiNet expect? What can you do to help?
• Include bisexuals:
• in your language-media, publications, letters, speaking
• in your programming
• in your data gathering,
• on your staff
• on your board,
• in policy, vision, mission, goal and action plan formulation
• Confront/challenge/educate to end biphobia when you see it
• Be as inclusive of transgender/intersexed peoples as you are of bisexuals
• Support Bi visibility
• Learn about the diversity of Bi culture
• Consider Bi activists to be peers and treat us as such
• Honor Bi financial and activist contributions to progressive movements
• Recognize how bisexuality challenges the foundation of heterosexism by living in and visibly embracing the range of sexuality between the poles
• Recognize that while there is great work for us to do together, there is also important work which only Bi organizations can do for ourselves
• Give money to BiNet USA and to other bisexual organizations

• The Education Initiative,  currently unstaffed, seeks to increase the further the awareness of Bisexuals in the educational community, by working to shift the focus of established groups (such as GLSEN) and helping to remove prejudice from students of all ages.

 

 
 
 
 
 

The Education Initiative of Bisexual Network USA focuses primarily on the K-12 educational arena.  Its 'work' is divided into four sections:

I POLICIES AND PROGRAMS
to advocate for the inclusion of sexual orientation in school personnel's and student's anti-discimination policies and programs; that such anti-discrimination language must include bisexuals, transgenders, and gender identity/orientation

Possible Actions:

A. Continue to work with GLSEN (i.e. contacting local chapters and continue working with national office, esp. its Back to School writing campaign)
B. Work with Teacher Unions (i.e. AFT and NEA)
C. Work with Southern Policy Law Center, specifically on its Teaching Tolerance Project
D. Build coalitions to help schools see that homophobia and transphobia are a problem in schools (for example, in Montgomery County- SMYAL, GLSEN DC, PFLAG, GLOV working together)
E. Use safe schools coalitions as a resource (for example,in MD, MA, DC, Seattle, and in other places.

II CURRICULUM AND LITERATURE
- to continue advocating for the inclusion of literature and instruction that reflect the diversity of relationships,orientations, experiences, etc.; compile listings of bi-specific and bi-friendly resources

Possible Actions:

A. Work with GLSEN on their newly published curriculum guide
B. Ensure that whenever there is curriculum dealing with lesbian and gay issues, it must also deal with bisexuality.

III TEACHER AND COUNSELOR IN-SERVICE TRAINING
To work with school districts, school sites, and even Teacher Education programs in Bi Awareness and Sensitivity
Possible Actions:

A. "Safe Zone" campaigns, structured to get teachers and staff to learn what it means to create and maintain safe space for diverse youth, and to visibly post safe zones once they understand what it means.
B. Develop a Bi101 Packet specifically for teachers and counselors

IV PEER/STUDENT SUPPORT

To work with counselors and students in developing bi-specific and/or bi-friendly student support groups in high school

A. Take the opportunity to speak with kids
B. Get involved with colleges - get speakers to tell their stories and get them involved
C. Identify LG speakers bureaus which send speakers to highschools, and hook them up with bi folk

What can you do?

1.   Lead a section (POLICIES AND PROGRAMS; CURRICULUM AND LITERATURE; TEACHER AND COUNSELOR IN-SERVICE TRAINING; PEER/STUDENT SUPPORT)
2.   Take on a specific task and/or project listed above
3.   THE MOST IMPORTANT PART - Contact Marcella as soon as possible to tell us what specifically you are interested in taking on.
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• The Rural Initiative, is currently looking for a leader (interested?  contact Wendy Curry), seeks to improve the distribution of information about Bisexuality to those areas not usually served by city-based organizations.

Rural Outreach Initiative

The goal of the Rural Outreach Initiative is to provide support, education, and a sense of the larger bisexual community to bisexuals living in geographic isolation in the United States. The materials and principles behind the initiative are also applicable to outreach efforts aimed toward bisexuals living in other types of isolation due to economic, religious, physical, age, and family pressures.

To view the Rural Outreach Packet, click here.

The Initiative has four primary foci at this time.

1. Creation and distribution of a Rural Outreach Packet.

Version 1.0 of the packet is ready for printing and distribution. We are currently working to put it online; click here to review what has currently been posted.The packet has three sections - Isolation Fighters (subscriptions, catalogues and mail order, the internet, and national organizations); Bisexual and Queer Information; and Organizing and Activism. We are currently doing fundraising to allow us to make the packet widely available.

2. Training

Even the most willing organizers and organizations cannot provide effective support to people in isolated areas without a clear understanding of the specific difficulties and needs involved. BiNet Leadership will attend a Training Retreat where they will learn about reaching out to people living in isolation and building bi community in rural areas. The skills they will learn will not only be applicable to their own organizing efforts, they will also learn how to teach those skills and support others who are working to start new grassroots organizations. This training retreat is planned for late summer or early fall.

3. Speakers Bureau

We are working to create a network of "known" bisexuals who are willing to travel to rural locations as speakers. These people would be available at limited cost to the local group and would help the group bring in new members and raise funds. What can you do to help?

1. Our primary need is for money, of course. If you would like to make a contribution to this project, send your tax deductible donation of any size to: BiNet USA, P.O. Box 7327, Langley Park, MD 20787-0327. Please mark it "Rural Outreach".

 
2. We need speakers/performers with name recognition to be part of our Speakers Bureau. We are looking for people in all of the following categories. (Click on any one of the items below to send email to Marcella Bucknam, quest@binetusa.org. Please include the clicked sentence as the subject of your email.)

 
• I can pay my own travel expenses and will donate my time.
• I will donate my time but would need my travel paid.
• I am willing to be a resource but would need travel expenses paid and a small honorarium.
3. We also need workers to help with:

 
• Printing and distribution of the Outreach Packet
• Planning and implementation of the Training Retreat
• Recruitment and coordination of the Speakers Bureau