Bi Activism discussion…
[in response to a thread of discussion on the babn-chat list about why turnout for San Francisco Pride was so low, relatively speaking. -Thomas]
… I’m too tired to really put much thought into this but (argh, and now I
have)… my personal philosophy is make it available, make reasonable
efforts to make others aware that it exists, live with the results… energy
for activism goes through cycles; the important thing is that we keep the
institutions and vehicles for such alive, even if only in a reduced form.
… I think the primary issue is lack of leadership, pure and simple; in my
life, I’ve noticed that (most) organizations (especially smaller ones) are
made, or broken, by the presence or absence of one or two fanatically
dedicated individuals who focus almost exclusively on them, and them
alone… we lack enough of those individuals. How many of us on this list
can truly say that our energy is devoted almost exclusively to a bisexual
activist organization … is there anyone in BABN who puts 20 hours a week
into it? 20 hours a month (of actual work, not just talk on this group)? I
certainly don’t put 20 hours a month into SOBOA. Activism is about “doing”,
and we don’t have enough of that happening.
Why is this the case? Many reasons, some of which have already been
outlined… in my view, bisexuals, even more than others, are pulled in many
different directions. I don’t blame anyone for not being singularly focused
on BABN or SOBOA or any other bi activist organization. Beyond all the
“reasons”, there is also pure random chance… which I think is as much a
factor as anything.
My observation has been that when people simply decide to “just do it”, and
put a lot of energy into making a bisexual-themed event happen and
publicizing it, *most* of the time, the result has been quite positive
(SOBOA fund raiser for DeFrank Center put on by Chris V. couple years back;
Tuesday night socials when Chris O. decided to make them live again; Mark
Kraft and FlutterBi; the Bi 101 Forum god knows how many years ago); the
problem has been sustaining that energy over multiple events and activities,
or via an organization, in a way that allows these things to build on one
another.
Why is FenceSitter’s Ball happening, and not FLIRT? Not because the latter
was particularly unsuccessful (at least from what I saw when attending
it)… no, the reason is, the former has someone who is determined to see
that it happens. Why did I get 20 copies of the “B.E.N.T. (Bi Events News
Tribune)” newsletter in my mailbox from someone in the MidWest… and why is
ATM moribund or dead? The former has people who are determined to make it
live, the latter doesn’t (no blame to those who made it happen for a decade
and burned out).
Basically, bluntly put, when enough of us (and, really, all it takes is two
or three people) decide to make the creation of bi community and
institutions an absolute priority in their lives, the rest of us will
benefit from the results. Until then, each of us is pretty much stuck living
with the choices we’ve made about the level of involvement and commitment
we’re willing to give the bi community; I plead to being as “guilty” of lack
of involvement as anyone - and I’m sure I’m not the only person pulled in a
thousand different directions.
Regards,
Thomas Leavitt
