This week marks Bi Awareness week, along with Bi Visibility Day on the 23rd of September. These events represent a time to be aware of the discrimination that the bi community faces inside and outside of their community, along with the challenges that they’ve overcome. Make sure to celebrate the bisexual and biromantic people in your lives, and listen to their stories.
Bi Visibility day has been celebrated on September 23rd since 1999, and has remained an important event to help combat biphobia both inside and outside the LGBTQ+ community. While many people identifying as bi face homophobia and discrimination for their identity, they are also often excluded for not being queer enough, as many bi people get into straight passing relationships. Bi Visibility Day and Awareness Week both help to combat biphobia and these stereotypes by bringing more understanding to what it actually means to be bi.
One of the most important symbols for understanding what this identity means is its flag, which was created in 1998. The pink represents attraction toward the same sex, and the royal blue stands for attraction toward the opposite sex. The purple area where the colors overlap symbolizes attraction to all genders. For bi people, love and attraction transcend the borders of gender, truly playing into the saying that “love is blind.”
Bi Awareness Week and Visibility Day are both extremely important for those in the community, and are a valuable time to learn about and understand those under this umbrella term. Combatting the discrimination that is directed at the community helps to ensure the safety of people identifying as bi and the people they care for. So during this week, help to create safe spaces for those who might not have one, open yourself up to those who need someone to hear their story, and keep loving the way that you want to love.
Check out below for some resources in our community:
- Youth Pride Association: The YPA works to educate, advocate for, and support LGBTQ+ youth! You can find resources on different identities under the LGBTQ umbrella, as well as issues the community faces!
- The Center Orlando: The Center aims to protect, empower, and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community through education! The Center offers STI testing, free condoms, and a food/resource bank for those who need it!
- One Orlando Alliance: One Orlando Alliance aims to uplift the LGBTQ+ community via resource sharing, unity, and transformation!
- Orlando Youth Empowerment Series: The Orlando Youth Empowerment Series Unconference is a participant-driven event designed to engage and amplify the voices of LGBTQ+ youth in Central Florida.
- Orlando Youth Alliance: The Orlando Youth Alliance aims to provide a safe space for LGBTQ+ people in Orlando!
- PFLAG: The local chapter of PFLAG, the largest organization in the United States for parents, families, friends, and allies united with people who are LGBTQ.
- Zebra Youth: Zebra Youth is an organization that provides services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and all youth (LGBTQ+) ages 13 – 24. Zebra assists young people facing homelessness, bullying, isolation from their families, and physical, sexual, and drug abuse with individualized programs to guide them to recovery and stability.
- Equality Florida : Equality Florida has centers all around the state, providing resources like: mental health therapists, primary care providers, endocrinologists, Trans resources.
- The Trevor Project : The Trevor Project is the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention nonprofit for LGBTQ+ youth. The Trevor Project provides resources about mental health, suicide prevention, sexual orientation, gender identity, and much more.
- UCF’s Pride Student Association: The Pride Student Association is dedicated to fostering a vibrant and inclusive environment for the LGBTQ+ community at UCF. Our mission is to celebrate diversity, promote unity, and empower individuals by providing a platform for networking, education, advocacy, and social engagement.
- WPHS GSA Club: Gay-Straight Alliance or Gender-Sexuality Alliance, is a student-led and student-organized school club that aims to create a safe, welcoming, and accepting school environment for all youth, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
- NAMI LGBTQIA+ Connection Recovery Support Group: NAMI holds several support groups including one that is held virtually once a month to foster a safe, non-judgemental space for people in the LGBTQIA+ community to share their experiences and get support from each other
- UCF LGBTQ+ Student Support Services: A system within the UCF campus to support, connect, and uplift the LGBTQ+ student population
- A Window Between Worlds: A program for LGBTQ+ domestic violence survivors that creates a safe space where survivors can express themselves through art