Make the bisexuals in your life this happy. | Photo: Flickr/Midia Ninja
As we’re getting closer to Bi Visibility Day, West Hollywood, Los Angeles, will hold the first Bi Pride in the US.
The event will take place on 22 September, the day before the annual Bi Visibility Day.
The LA’s branch of bi network amBi came up with the idea of organizing the country’s first city-wide Bi Pride.
‘While a small number of cities have issued proclamations recognizing Bi Visibility Day, this is a historic celebration as the first full-fledged Bi Pride celebration hosted by any US city,’ says Ian Lawrence-Tourinho, President of the amBi network.
amBi is a ‘social club with a mission’ born in Los Angeles in 2006. It currently has six chapters on two continents, making it the first international bi network.
Their aim is ‘to build a world in which our bisexuality is a clear source of pride, joy, and strength’.
Bi Pride matters
Bisexual people constantly need to come out to others as their sexuality isn’t defined by the gender of the person they’re dating. Bi visibility, therefore, is extremely important. And having a Bi Pride can make the difference.
Lawrence-Tourinho also said: ‘Short of carrying bi flags around all day, to be visibly bi we’d have to walk hand in hand with at least two people who aren’t the same sex.’
Furthermore, he added: ‘The general public often feels very threatened by bisexuality.’
‘We blur the clear lines between straight and gay that people find very reassuring. How can a straight person prove they are straight if just being in a heterosexual relationship isn’t ‘proof.”‘
‘LGBT organizations fail time and time again to address the bi community’
When asked about the reasons for a separate bi pride, he explained there is a real need for such events.
‘Ostensibly LGBT events and LGBT organizations fail time and time again to address the bi community,’ he said.
‘Just a few years ago, it was common for amBi to get booed and heckled by gays and lesbians in the crowd as we marched in the LA Pride Parade. We still get hostile people coming up to us at the festival every year.’
The event in West Hollywood
While ‘other cities have done Bi Pride proclamations’, the organizers believe ‘this is the first full-fledged Bi Pride Celebration held by any city in the US’.
The event will take place in the Auditorium in West Hollywood Park.
- 1:30pm Rally
- 2pm Bi Visibility Walk
- 3pm Party featuring
- 6pm After Party
Singer Torrey Mercer will perform her new single Boys/Girls.
Moreover, Kai Hazelwood (2018 Artist in Residence for The City of Los Angeles’ Cultural Affairs Department) will offer a chance to experience her project Story Time Silent Disco. Finally, Irene Suico Soriano will inspire with her spoken word.
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