Gay Chicago TV Tackles Bisexuality, Biphobia, and Bi Erasure: Nationally known Bisexual/LGBTQ activist Br. Michael C. Oboza of Bisexual Queer Alliance Chicago appears on Critical Thinking hosted by Waymon Hudson to discuss the issues of biphobia, bisexual erasure and bisexual history in the LGBT movement.
Among his many credits Br. Michael is the 2011 Michael Page Lifetime Award winner from the Marin Foundation; is a member of the Legacy Walk Selection Committee of the Legacy Project; and founded the New Liaison for Bisexual Programs at the Center on Halsted in Chicago. The discussion looks at the issues that face the bisexual community from both anti-equality forces and from within the gay and lesbian communities.
Says Gay Chicago TV news presenter & columnist Waymon Hudson,
The very concept of bisexuality often finds itself trapped in a position of both invisibility and hypervisibility — despite the fact that bisexuals constitute the largest population within the LGBT community. Can you imagine the pain caused by not only being rejected and demeaned by anti-equality forces who call you “sinful” or “sick,” but also being rejected or told you don’t exist by the very community you are supposed to be part of?
In truth, how are these claims by some in the gay community any different than the homophobic rhetoric we fight against from the far-right about gays being a perversion or something than can be changed or prayed away. The truth is, they aren’t. Comments like “bisexuality is just a stop on the way to gay” can be as demeaning and damaging as calls of fag and dyke. These facts are underscored by the groundbreaking report from the San Francisco Human Rights Commission called “Bisexual Invisibility: Impacts and Recommendations.”
We cannot, as a community, be part of erasing a vital and thriving part of our movement and history. In the same fashion, simply throwing a “B” into the acronym LGBT isn’t enough— we have to celebrate, educate, and support bisexual people in our movement with true inclusion and visibility in all areas of our community. Having frank and honest discussions amongst ourselves like on this episode can help that process along.
Ignorance, close-mindedness, and refusal to accept others is what we are fighting AGAINST as LGBT people — we have to demand better of ourselves and be examples for others of what true acceptance looks like.
