“The Not-So Silent B”

• In Event: LGBTQ Political Unity and Division

Abstract

What are bisexual political interests and why have bisexuals received relatively less attention than their lesbian, transgender, and gay peers? This paper analyzes an archive of bisexual periodicals and organization minutes from 1970 through 2000 to examine how bisexuality evolved from radical sexuality, practiced by celebrities, married couples, and free-love activists, to a relatively marginal political identity on the eve of same-sex marriage struggles in the 1990s and early 2000s. Focusing on the “double-bind” that prevented bisexuals from gaining political traction, the discourse analysis in this paper shows that the perception of bisexuality as “radical” sexual orientation, which challenged the organizing logic of binary gender so central to gay and lesbian sexual identities, motivated lesbian and gay political actors to silence bisexual voices in their midst for fear that they would disrupt their rights claims. Bisexual political actors met these exclusions with attempts to reformulate meanings associated with identity, gender, sexuality, and political praxis away from dualities and towards recognition and honoring diversity. Although these efforts were eventually eclipsed by the ascendency of the mainstream lesbian and gay movement, bisexual thinking on these topics present a compelling alternative vision for contemporary “LGBTQ politics.”

Author

• Zein Murib, Fordham University-Lincoln Center