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"We said what we said, again."
BY MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF BINET USA
Last communication about this “flag controversy”:
We strongly reject and refute any assertion that BiNet USA claimed, or ever claimed the bisexual pride flag.
BY MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF BINET USA
Last communication about this “flag controversy”:
We strongly reject and refute any assertion that BiNet USA claimed, or ever claimed the bisexual pride flag.
When we spoke out to http://bisexualtshirts.com , we had questions about what community groups they were part of; instead of that group contacting us directly, they attacked us. Next, our own former board members, to our regret-added to this controversy
as well as members of a fledgling collective of bi, LGBTQIA and straight advocates associated with us.
It’s easy to get confused about what was said, and when, and by who: so we’re keeping our blog and Twitter open for a while so you can compare our tweets, our statements and what we hold to be true.
Instead of reading clarifying tweets; former board members and volunteers strongly suggested BiNet USA intended to file copyright and/or trademark to OWN A FLAG.
As if a country, a flag, or any people could be owned; as if the history of our organizers suggested anything but constant support of other bi organizations, communities and people-often at great risk to ourselves and our health as visible, out bisexuals.
As the community organization that helped generate the flag, we were asking a question about organizations benefiting from sales from the flag while we hoped for even more. BiNet USA has never tracked the use of the flag for any reason, including financial;
our grant writing to fund our organization has always centered on direct advocacy to bi communities, particularly of color.
Considering the rich history of non-white bi communities being excluded from the aforementioned direct advocacies, it can make sense when white bi community members (including persons who fiercely, casually or ostensibly identify as “white”
or with the social project of Whiteness) respond with communications that center their entitlement; even suggesting they are the ones being stolen from.
Such tensions are even more heightened in this time of COVID; we recommend the work of the scholar Claire Hemmings to better understand the history of these tensions within BiNet USA and larger bi+ communities and organizations: https://www.amazon.com/Bisexual-Spaces-Geography-Sexuality-Gender/dp/0415930820
We ask that you remember who we are, what we are, and what we do now as we continue our work, even as we continue to intentionally remove ourselves from social media and digital realms.
We do this in part because of the rich history of attacks on BiNet USA going back decades. We think all advocates should feel safe, healthy and able to engage in this time of the virus when it’s even more difficult for people to connect.
Too often these attacks have included dogwhistle messaging, using coded racist/Global White Supremacist, classist and specifically anti-black terminologies to couch alleged concerns about the viability of community advocacies led by non-white people,
while at the same time specifically leveraging the participation of community advocates of color toward these motives. Read more about it in “Dog Whistle Politics” and works like it: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17847530-dog-whistle-politics
There are those in bi community who would submit that the assertion of the above is somehow a distraction from the contexts of conversation of Bi+ advocacy. We submit that any such contention is without merit at best, and actively and intentionally deleterious at worst.
To crib from the work of Black woman scholar/activist Kimberlé Crenshaw, any Bi+ activism that doesn’t see itself as actively and intentionally intersectional is useless.
Bi experience always exists on vectors of privilege and lack around race,class,ability,sexuality,gender expression (or lack thereof) ,age,national status and more. Any purported “advocacy” that refuses to recognize this reality is pointedly worthless.
Further reading: https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/the-difference-between-a-karen-and-a-becky-explained-1842708257
While we respect the former BiNet USA board members and volunteers' concerns about the work BiNet USA is currently doing, we encourage BiNet founders, former volunteers and other interested parties to get to work right away like our team has been engaged recently.
We suggest community leaders of bisexual organizations reach out directly to Juba Kalamka, MFA about their concerns; so far ZERO bi leaders of active bi orgs have asked for that conversation.
You may reach him at [email protected] to discuss opportunities for your organization to learn more about the current work of BiNet USA, and how you might be engaged in its future.
Please keep in mind BiNet USA as an organization does not have the resources or capacity to respond to every individual request.
During our direct advocacy work around Coronavirus, we aren’t attempting to assess bi+ status (or more pointedly, the ability/inclination to flag wave as such in contexts which might be life threatening) among the many in need when our country faces 100,000 dead.
Like you, we mourn the too many already gone. We continue to fight globally for every bisexual we can, including A, who we still support on his journey to be a safe African parent and Christian bisexual.
(Thread 1/2. Full statement: https://binetusa.blogspot.com/2020/05/we-said-what-we-said-again.html)
(Thread 1/2. Full statement: https://binetusa.blogspot.com/2020/05/we-said-what-we-said-again.html)
