Bi Visibility Day takes place on Monday 23 September 2024 and is part of bisexual awareness week, which takes place from Monday 16 to Monday 23 September.
An important date in the LGBT calendar, Bi Visibility Day was first observed and celebrated at the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) conference in Johannesburg in South Africa in 1999. Celebrated worldwide and also known as Bisexual Pride, this day aims to highlight biphobia, challenge bisexual and biromantic erasure and raise awareness of the bisexual community.
What is bisexuality
The term ‘bi’ (short for bisexuality) refers to people who have a romantic and/or sexual attraction towards more than one gender. People under the bi umbrella may describe themselves using one or more of a wide variety of terms, including, but not limited to, bisexual, pan, and queer.
Stonewall, Britain’s leading charity for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans equality, research suggests that bi people are less likely to be open about their sexual orientation compared to gay and lesbian people, with 74% of gay and lesbian people out to friends, compared to 36% of bi people. In addition, bi people are more likely to experience poorer mental health and increased anxiety even compared to lesbian and gay people.
Jill Cowley, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Faculty, Arts Design and Humanities said: “At DMU we are fully inclusive of our bi staff and students, whose voices matter, are heard and are celebrated here at DMU. Diversity at DMU means that we provide services at the university that are LGBTQ+ inclusive, as well as a safe environment to allow everyone to be themselves. Our recent position as the second most LGBTQ+ inclusive employer in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index is a testament to this.
“Bi Visibility Day is important, as we must continue to raise awareness about issues faced by the bi community and champion equality for all at DMU.”
Bisexuality: Representation, Validation and the Lived Experience
To highlight bi equality, we previously held an event for DMU Pride, hosted by Jane Hearst (a bisexual PhD student at DMU), where an intersectional panel – Dr Connor Winterton (an academic with an interest in queer film analysis), Alex Millington (DMU PhD student in Performing Arts with a focus on theatrical intimacy on the contemporary British stage), Rosie Nelson (a lecturer in Gender) and Peach (DMU alumni and co-founder of Octagon Hotpot in York)- celebrated Bisexuality: Representation, Validation, and the Lived Experience.
The panel discussion celebrated the experience and expression of bisexuality and moved beyond limiting notions of 'part heterosexual, part homosexual' as the normative conceptualisation of bisexuality; the event sought to understand how bisexuals understand their sense of self and how to better represent this in popular culture.
Watch back DMU Pride events
If you have missed any of the DMU Pride events, you can watch them on the DMU Events YouTube channel.
Join the LGBTQ+ Society
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How to report homophobia, biphobia, intersexism and transphobia and support available
DMU is proud of its LGBTQ+ staff and student community and is committed to providing a working and learning environment where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.
DMU’s No Space for Hate campaign emphasises our commitment to challenge inappropriate behaviours and provide practical support to students who are victims, survivors or witnesses of hate or harassment. This comprises of a policy, website, anonymous reporting tool, a specialised service which outlines support and reporting options, specialist staff within Security and new mandatory training for staff involved in the disciplinary process.
Posted on Thursday 19 September 2024