{"id":1127,"date":"2015-02-06T16:24:30","date_gmt":"2015-02-06T16:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uncharted-worlds.org\/blog\/?p=1127"},"modified":"2015-02-13T21:28:36","modified_gmt":"2015-02-13T21:28:36","slug":"thoughts-on-bi-stonewall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uncharted-worlds.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/thoughts-on-bi-stonewall\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts on #BiStonewall"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some thoughts, as a kind of open letter to UK “lesbian, gay and bisexual charity” Stonewall<\/a>, related to an event this week and their work after that.\n\t\t<\/p>\n

Stonewall are hosting a day this Saturday with a theme of “We want to hear from bi people about how Stonewall can best campaign to tackle biphobia.” It follows on from a possibly-similar-ish event for trans people<\/a>.\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI’m not going, but I’ve been thinking about it on & off ever since it was announced.\n\t\t<\/p>\n

<\/a>To everyone at Stonewall<\/h2>\n

\n\t\t\tFirstly, yay :-) I was heartened to hear the initial reports of how the trans* consultation day went last summer, and I’m glad there’s going to be a bi one. Thank you for setting it up.\n\t\t<\/p>\n

<\/a>The skills of perception that we bring<\/h2>\n

\n\t\t\tThe default shape of our world erases bi people<\/a>. Privilege always brings with it a degree of obliviousness; in the case of bisexuality in the UK, this obliviousness is shaped by “the epistemic contract of bisexual erasure” (to use Kenji Yoshino’s words<\/a>). So when Stonewall repeatedly erases and neglects bi people, it’s part of that wider pattern: by default, that’s what happens<\/em>. Reversing cultural-default erasure takes attention and active steps. Even many of us ourselves have had to work to unerase ourselves within our own thinking.\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThis has implications for your ability to foresee the effects on us of your words and strategies.\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tOne of the main things I’ve learnt about activism over the years is that the more varied the people you have the opportunity to “run things by”, the better the things tend to turn out. The first ten people you show something to might miss an implication which the eleventh picks up.\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThis is true in general, so it’s gonna be even more true under conditions of widespread erasure. You need people who have actively worked on undoing that erasure, who can perceive what you don’t yet perceive.\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIf your plan is “spend a day asking us what we want you to do, and then go away without us and try to do it”… well, let’s just say, I hope that isn’t<\/em> your plan :-)\n\t\t<\/p>\n

<\/a>Structures<\/h2>\n

\n\t\t\tMy key question is: what structures are you setting up<\/strong> for incorporating bi people’s insights and knowledge and experience, day to day, from the ground up?\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tNot “what are the key issues for bi people in the UK in 2015?” That’s important, but for me today it doesn’t come first.\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tNot “what has Stonewall done wrong in the past on bi stuff?” Yes, how you take responsibility for the past is the foundation for people’s trust in you in the present. I’m trusting in your willingness to do that (based in part on what happened at the trans* meeting), and it’s not where my focus mostly is.\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tNot even especially “what are our insights, this particular day, this particular group of people and the ones who wrote in?”. I mean yes hurrah, there are insightful experienced activist people planning to turn up on the day, and no doubt they will tell you many valuable useful things all day… and, of all the things that could be talked about, my attention is primarily on what you’re setting up after<\/em> that<\/strong>.\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI want to know how we, and our thoughts and experiences and input, are going to be woven into your structures tomorrow, next week, next year, going on<\/strong>.\n\t\t<\/p>\n

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