Bi The Way

I freely confess, I’m a bit of a bookworm. So I figured I’d write a series of articles about interesting books I’ve read about bisexual culture.

The first book on my list is “Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out” which is a collection of essays by over 70 bisexual writers, both male and female, which has been complied and edited by Loraine Hutchins and Lani Kaahumanu.

First published in 1991, for years it was one of the only literary resources available to bisexuals, and whilst it has a notable bias towards female bisexuality, male bisexuality is far from ignored.

Its structure of short contributions from bisexual people from different walks of life are expressed in poetry, prose, art and short essays. It covers a range of topics from personal to political to spiritual. This means that there is almost certainly something for every bisexual in this book.

I liked this book, mostly for the shear sense of community conveyed by its multiple authors. It is after all a community effort for the bisexual community and that in itself deserves kudos.

Undoubtedly you will find yourself more engaged by some authors than others, just as I was, but the nice thing about the short essay structure is the ability to skip an essay without ruining the thread of the book.

Yet there is a story of bisexual awakening to be told in this book and its told by the skilful editing of Loraine Hutchins and Lani Kaahumanu. Which ensures that whilst no author has the “floor” for more than a few minutes, there is a fluid transition between one author and the next, and the book when taken as a whole speaks with a louder voice than sum of its individual contributions.

In my opinion, if you have never read a book about bisexuality then this should unquestionably be your first.

You can Order Online at Amazon.co.uk and from other good book stores, price: £9.99.
ISBN-13: 978-1555831745.

A lesser known fact is that word lesbian, popular for describing homosexual women, originates from the name of a Greek island called Lesbos. The association of the island with female homosexuality is due to the writing of the ancient Greek poet Sappho, who frequently expressed female to female love in her work and was a native of the Grecian island of Lesbos.

Lesbos is the third largest of the Greek islands with a population of 90,000. Effectively anyone born on the island is a Lesbian - as in ‘from Lesbos’ - not necessarily to say homosexual.

Why is this suddenly of interest? Well a row has broken out over who exactly has the right to use the word “lesbian”. A campaign group on Lesbos are to go to court in an attempt to stop a gay rights organisation from using the term. Apparently because of the social problems it causes Lesbo’s inhabitants and to quote the campaign leader Dimitris Lambrou, “International dominance of the word in its sexual context violates the human rights of the islanders, and disgraces them around the world.”

I admit, its an amusing quirk of naming which would quickly become tiresome to explain, but to say that lesbians (homosexual women) disgrace the islanders is frankly more than a little offensive. Gay and lesbian Rights groups in Greece have pledged to fight the case.

This story is more than a little of my usual beat, so to link this back to bisexuality at least if not men. Aparently this Greek poet Sappho was in fact bisexual not lesbian and committed suicide for the love of a man.

Sources:

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7376919.stm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesbos
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sappho

Young people have a tough time these days, the media portrays them as yobs, hooligans and gang members. But the media isn’t anywhere near as hard on kids as they are on each other, especially when concerning lesbian, gay or bisexual issues.

Coming out as gay or bisexual or been “outed” by your peers can be very difficult for young people, especially for those still in school. The playground taunts can be brutal, they can ruin lives and make it very difficult for the victims to concentrate on their studies. Worse still there seems to be a culture of homophobia bread in the playground, “gay” has now replaced “lame” as the preferred casual slur for anything uncool or undesirable. EG: “X-factor is Gay” - “Those trainers are Gay”. Now whilst this remains a throwaway comment for most kids with no homophobia intended to be attached, it makes for a very daunting environment for lesbian, gay or bisexual teenagers to come out into.

It also makes you wonder how long before the taunt turns away from TV programs, pop bands and inanimate objects to become: “Chris is Gay,” or “Marie is a lesbo.”

Three things have to change if we are going to tackle homophobic bullying in schools:

1. Homophobic taunts and name calling in schools should be challenged immediately by staff.
2. All schools’ anti-bullying policies should be required to include measures specifically to deal with homophobic bullying.
3. At least one teacher in every school should undergo training which includes how to tackle homophobic bullying.

The Liberal Democrats have launched a campaign to end homophobic bullying in schools with these three points in mind. Even if you are not a Lib Dem supporter, I’d urge you to sign this petition and help put an end to anti-gay taunts in the playground.

DELGA Lib Dems - Stop Homophobic Bullying Campaign