A bi+ lesbian starter kit for #BiHistoryMonth.

* 1992 comic from the author of "Liliane, Bi-Dyke"
* 1996 Lesbian Avengers flyer w/1973 quote from the bi-founded RadicaLesbians.
* Dyke March banner: https://www.autostraddle.com/photoessay-san-francisco-dyke-march-2017-384060/
*1991 Dajenya poem, in full here: http://dajenya.com/pb/wp_1c8af5cd/wp_1c8af5cd.html

A few notes:

Dyke March was started in 1993 by the Lesbian Avengers, who were always bi-inclusive.

RadicaLesbians was founded by Rita Mae Brown, who has always been out as bi, and Martha Shelley, who dated bi+ activist Stephen Donaldson when they were both homophile activists.

(Rita Mae Brown apparently thinks it's hilarious that people think she's a lesbian. I still can't decide whether that's fair or ridiculous.)

Dajenya is a Black Jewish bi lesbian activist who started the annual Pride event in Richmond, CA, and ran the group that organizes it.

Dajenya has a related poem, "We Claim Our Own," which talks about some of the prominent bi+ historical figures the movement would lose if bi+ people could not be called gay or lesbian. Both poems were published in major bi+ anthologies in the mid-90s.

http://dajenya.com/pb/wp_e1535cae/wp_e1535cae.html

The theme of #BiHistoryMonth this year is "creating bi+ spaces." My intention with this post is to create access to the space that has historically been here for bi+ lesbians.

Bi+ people have always been at the core of gay rights. https://twitter.com/p_vulnerable/status/1375322639326015489

Lastly: I forgot to do alt text for the Dyke March banner! Here it is:

"Dykes ONLY Space For ALL Dykes: ALL DYKES CELEBRATED HERE!! Black and brown dykes, trans dykes, bi dykes, indigenous dykes, femme dykes, butch dykes, gender queer dykes, andro dykes, poor dykes, old dykes...

"...young dykes, working class dykes, every single dyke in the great mosaic of dykes. BE VISIBLE! TAKE OUR SPACE! RESIST!"

Dykes On Bikes, Dykes With Drills, and Global Dyke Day are equally inclusive.

Further reading:
https://barnard.edu/news/karla-jay-68 a RadicaLesbians co-founder, who actually is a lesbian, talks about historical inclusion in more general terms
http://enculturation.net/files/QueerRhetoric/queerarchive/logos2.html - a quick history connecting the RadicaLesbians to the Lesbian Avengers

https://openlibrary.org/works/OL16457725W?edition=bisexualpolitics00tuck - read Bisexual Politics, where both Dajenya poems appear (and it's co-edited by bi lesbian Rebecca Kaplan, who currently kicks ass on the Oakland city council)
https://openlibrary.org/works/OL15841747W/Bi_any_other_name?edition=bianyothernamebi00hutc - read Bi Any Other Name, which also features several bi lesbians.

The bi+ community has always included people who use multiple labels: at once (bi lesbian, byke), or at different times.

As a group, we need and deserve multiple terms for our varied experiences of gender and attraction.

Nobody has the right to tell you what you are.

You are welcome in the bi+ community no matter what label(s) you use.

A bonus for anyone who's read this far: here's a 1988 photo of bi+ activist Loraine Hutchins gearing up to ride her "byke" (get it?) in the DC Pride Parade because there was no bi rep. https://twitter.com/UnicornMarch/status/1263663760222248963

good god, you all retweeted this 11 times before i even finished the thread