Bi Community Milestone: the Bay Area Bi Network turns 20!

Reprinted from the article "Bay Area Bi Network turns 20" in the Bay Area Reporter by Heather Cassell published on November 8th 2007


[San Francisco CA, 8 November 2007] Bisexuals and their allies will gather Sunday, November 11 for a celebratory brunch in Oakland (California USA) to mark the Bay Area Bisexual Network's (BABN) 20th anniversary. Founders and current members of the all-volunteer bisexual educational organization will gather at Lake Merritt Hotel-Barbary Lane Senior Communities, 1800 Madison Street from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tickets are still available, event is Sold Out.

"The community brunch will celebrate, appreciate, and honor those who have and are contributing to the visibility and the nurturing of our Bay Area bisexual communities," said Lani Ka'ahumanu, co-founder of BABN.

BABN was founded in 1987 after the historic March on Washington for gay and lesbian rights. The Boston Bisexual Women's Network organized a national contingent of bisexuals for the March on Washington to march alongside gays and lesbians in response to the backlash against the bisexual community and against accusations from both the gay and lesbian and straight communities that bisexuals helped spread the AIDS epidemic.

"The stereotypes of who bisexual people [are] ... were more visible than who we were as people," said Ka'ahumanu, 64, about one of the reasons why the network was founded. Ka'ahumanu said the climate for bisexual people, in particular bisexual men, in the late 1980s was hostile.

Around the same time, Ann Justi and Maggi Rubenstein, Ph.D., co-founders of BABN, attended a conference hosted by the East Coast Bisexual Network (now the Bisexual Resource Center) in New York City, noted Ka'ahumanu and Rubenstein. BABN quickly grew into an educational network that hosted a speaker's bureau, retreats, festival booths and parade contingents, monthly cultural and education forums, and a newsletter that became the first national bisexual magazine, Anything That Moves. Ka'ahumanu said that BABN became the umbrella organization loosely linked to BiPOL, the bisexual political group founded in 1983, and Bi Friendly, the bisexual social group founded in 1988.

Justi was unavailable for comment by press time.

In 1990, members of BiPOL, who were also members of the network, organized the first national bisexual conference during Pride Week in San Francisco. More than 400 bisexual individuals representing 20 states and five countries attended the conference, breaking the community's isolation, Ka'ahumanu said.

A year later, Karla Rossi founded Anything That Moves, the national quarterly bisexual magazine. Rossi, 51, who was managing editor from 1991 to 1993, said the magazine addressed a variety of bi related issues from spirituality to health care to community news, and included bisexual themed fiction and poetry.

Rossi added that the magazine was born in her Castro apartment where Armistead Maupin once lived and wrote. In an e-mail this week, Maupin confirmed that he lived and penned two of his novels, Further Tales of the City and Significant Others, at the Castro apartment.

Anything That Moves folded in 2002, according to Rossi and other members of the magazine collective. The magazine reached international status with an estimated press run of 2,500 in 1999, said Jen Yee, who was a longtime volunteer staff member of the magazine. "Anything That Moves] was important in that it was a symbol," said Rossi. "It was a magazine that represented its time in a way when everything seemed like it was new and the energy was high."

That energy continued throughout the 1990s, when bisexual and transgender organizations pushed to be recognized within gay and lesbian organizations.

Matthew L. Le Grant, co-chair of BABN from 1987 to 1997, and Bill Beasley, a BABN organizer, were elected to the board of what was then known as the Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade during the mid-1990s, Le Grant said. Le Grant said that he and Beasley were instrumental in changing the name of the Pride organization and parade to reflect the bisexual and transgender communities. In 1994 the Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade changed its name to the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee, Le Grant said.

"After feeling so isolated ... up to that point, to have a joyous community committed to affirming our identity was just a wonderful thing," said Le Grant, 52, who is married and lives on the East Coast with his wife, who also identifies as bisexual, and their daughter. "I'm very glad I had a hand in it."

In 2000, BABN established an Internet presence with two active listserves with more than 700 members, said Joe Holt, volunteer webmaster. The listserves announce monthly social gatherings and are an active place for discussion about topics of bisexual interest. BABN members also participate in local festivals, such as the Folsom Street Fair, and the San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade.
Ka'ahumanu and other activists involved in the organization feel that BABN remains relevant.

"Especially during the period you come out, it's so affirming just to have men and women around you that identify the same ... so that your orientation is not an issue," said Le Grant.

Ka'ahumanu agreed. "It's still not easy coming out with bisexual people, there is still so much misinformation out there that work still continues and BABN still provides a solid foundation to counter that."

Rubenstein isn't surprised that BABN has reached its 20th anniversary.

"It was due to a lot of our perseverance that BABN continues to exist and thrive," Rubenstein told the B.A.R.

"It's been 20 years," said Rubenstein, who added, "I felt bi at 13 and I still feel bi at 77. We still struggle, we still speak out, we are so proud that we've continued in a vibrant community as people who really deserve recognition."

Sunday's brunch will feature proclamations from Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and Berkeley City Council member Kriss Worthington, as well as awards, food, and entertainment. Bisexual activist and comedian Rob Yeager from Minneapolis will emcee the event. Tickets are $50 or $35 for low-income.

For more information, visit www.babn.org or contact Ka'ahumanu at aloha2 (at) mindspring (dot) com.