BiNet USA

BiNet USA

BiNet USA logo
Formation	1990
President	Faith Cheltenham
Website	www.binetusa.org

BiNet USA is a nonprofit national bisexuality organization whose mission is to "facilitate the development of a cohesive network of bisexual communities, promote bisexual visibility, and collect and distribute educational information regarding bisexuality. To accomplish these goals, BiNet USA will provide a national network for bisexual organizations and individuals across the United States, and encourage participation and organizing on local and national levels." It is the oldest national bisexuality organization in the United States.

Programs and campaigns

Some of the work the organization has been involved in includes:

Campaigns

• 2008: Under the slogan "Vote Against Hate in 2008," partnered with Rock the Vote to successfully reach out to and register people from its constituent communities and encourage participation in the American electoral process.
• 1993: Played a key role in the successful national campaign to include "Bi" in the March on Washington for Gay, Lesbian and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation
• Organizes an Ally Campaign, educating and holding ally organizations accountable for their actions (1998)
• After the 1991 bisexual anthology Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out was forced to compete in the Lambda Literary Awards under the category "Lesbian Anthology", and Directed by Desire: Collected Poems, a posthumous collection of the bisexual poet June Jordan's work, had to compete (and won) in the category "Lesbian Poetry", BiNet USA led the bisexual community in a multi year campaign eventually resulting in the addition of a Bisexual category, starting with the 2006 Awards.

Policy initiatives

• Bisexual Health Initiative (2007): participated in the development of the report Bisexual health: An introduction and model practices for HIV/STI prevention programming in conjunction with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and Fenway Community Health, including the Bisexual Health Timeline.
• Bisexual Rural Initiative (1996): Initiative to reach out and determine specific needs of bisexuals in rural areas.
• Bisexual Youth Initiative (1995): a survey was developed and sent out to organizations nationwide serving GLBTQ youth. The survey report was published and sent to agencies, offering assistance in improving services.

Conferences (partial list)

BiNet gathering

• with the Bisexual Resource Center and the Washington, DC-based Alliance of Multicultural Bisexuals co-sponsor the largest US bisexual conference to date with over 600 people in attendance. (1993)
• Hosts the First National Institute on Bisexuality and HIV/AIDS (1998)
• with the Lambda Literary Foundation and New York City's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Services Center co-sponsor of the "Big Bi Book Weekend" including "Bi Lines: A Celebration of Bisexual Writing in Reading, Music and Culture" a fund-raising event to benefit the Bi Writers Association (2007)
• Co-sponsor of the Transcending Boundaries Conference (2005) (2006)
• with the Bisexual Foundation et al. co-sponsor of the International Conference on Bisexuality (1994) (1998) (2004) (2006) when held in the United States. A member of the standing committee that is currently planning the 10th ICB to be held on the campus of the University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island, USA in July 2008.

History and structure

BiNet USA meeting

Tracing its roots back to the 1987 march on Washington, the group further coalesced in 1990 when BiPol convened the first National Bisexual Conference in San Francisco. At that time a conference track was dedicated to creating a national organization. The following summer the North American Bisexual Network was formalized in Seattle. Later its name would change to BiNet USA which coincided with the group becoming a nonprofit organization.

In its first decade BiNet USA worked on a variety of campaigns, national policy initiatives and hosted/co-hosted a number Conferences. Moving into its second decade, BiNet USA, like many other US charitable organizations, was hit hard when funding dried up in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the US mainland in September 2001. It was forced to lay off its paid staff and roll back its plans for new office space.

Faced with these new economic and logistical realities, BiNet USA begins to focus more of its efforts on Internet activism using the Internet as an organizing tool for community growth. It uses an "800" phone number, its Website, a MySpace Page, Facebook Group and its very active ListServ, established using Yahoo Groups to facilitate communication between various and disparate bisexual, pansexual and fluid communities and activists nationwide.

In 2005, after a period of progress marked by growing acceptance in both the larger LGBT & straight communities, the bisexual community suddenly came under a new attack promulgated by the publication of a study entitled “Sexual Arousal Patterns of Bisexual Men” by the controversial researcher J. Michael Bailey. This study allegedly "proved" that bisexual men did not exist. With little critical examination, various media celebrities and outlets jumped on the band-wagon and claimed to have "solved" the "problem of bisexuality" by declaring it to be non-existent, at least in men.

Working with other established LGBT institutions such as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force GLAAD, the Bisexual Resource Center as well as newer ones such as Bialogue, BiNet USA moved to co-ordinate a national response to this threat to the well-being of the bisexual community. It has now revitalized and updated its 'Rapid-Response Spokesperson Team' and now monitors and responds quickly to media portrayals of the bisexual community.

Starting in 2008 under the leadership of its then president Wendy Curry, who is herself a software engineer, BiNet USA greatly expanded its use of Internet activism taking advantage of the flowering of a variety of Social networking venues including the popular Live Journal Blogging tool, Myspace and Facebook products.

In September 2009, BiNet USA expanded its board of directors, making Gary B. North the new president.

In October 2009, BiNet USA endorsed the National Equality March and helped organize a contingent of several bisexual groups that participated in the march.

In 2014, BiNet USA declared the seven days surrounding Celebrate Bisexuality Day to be Bi Awareness Week, also called Bisexual Awareness Week. The week begins the Sunday before Celebrate Bisexuality Day.

Structure

BiNet USA is chartered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Florida and is headquartered in the Washington DC suburb of Arlington, Virginia. Decision making is by consensus by the Board of Directors with the advice and consent of the members of the Standing Committees and the various Regional Representatives.

Current leadership

BiNet USA Board of Directors

Faith Cheltenham, President

Aud Traher, Vice-President

Luigi Ferrer, Vice-President

Gary B. North, Treasurer

Lynnette McFadzen, Secretary

Morgan Goode, Board Member

Stacey Langley, Board Member

Patrick RichardsFink, Board Member

Peter Ruggiero, Board Member

Dani Siragusa, Board Member

See also

• Bisexual American history
• Bisexual community
• American Institute of Bisexuality
• Bisexual Resource Center
• Creating Change Conference

External links

• BiNet USA official website
• BiNet USA Twitter
• BiNet USA News and Opinions
• Curried Spam (LiveJournal) articles by former BiNet USA president Wendy Curry