By Lauren Beach
The Bisexual Organizing Project’s (BOP) Bisexual Empowerment Conference, A Uniting Supportive Experience (BECAUSE), is the largest and longest running conference on bisexuality in the United States. Since 1992, BECAUSE has annually created an inclusive community by and for bisexual and other non-monosexually identified individuals and their families, partners, friends and allies. The 2013 conference was held June 7-9, 2013, at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, MN. This year’s theme, “BECAUSE: You Matter,” reflects BECAUSE’s values-based commitment to intersectionality, inclusion and diversity.
For the first time, BECAUSE also featured a day-long academic research conference on bisexuality, BiReConUSA, generously sponsored by the American Institute of Bisexuality. Together, BiReConUSA and BECAUSE featured an exciting and diverse array of 41 workshops by 37 presenters from 10 states and the UK that inspired, educated and empowered 150+ conference attendees.
The inspiration for this academic/community conference cooperation, and even the BiReConUSA name itself, reflects BECAUSE’s partnership with another longstanding bisexual conference, the United Kingdom’s BiCon. BiCon, “the UK national get-together for bisexuals, allies and friends,” held BiReCon academic conference programs in conjunction with the 2008, 2010 and 2012 BiCon conferences. Excitingly, event organizers for both BiCon, BECAUSE and BiReCon have agreed to work to alternate hosting BiReCon every other year between BECAUSE in the USA and BiCon in the UK.
UK BiReCon organizer Dr. Meg Barker (see p. 3) personified much of this collaboration between academia and activism in a combined BECAUSE and BiReConUSA keynote address focusing on the connections between mental health, self-care, compassion and resistance. The Twin Cities-based cable television show on bisexuality, Bi Cities, filmed Dr. Barker’s keynote, which will be available online at blip.tv/bicities later this year. In addition to Dr. Barker, the conference boasted three other accomplished keynote speakers: Allen Rosenthal, Natalie Clark and Bill Burleson.
Rosenthal’s BiReConUSA keynote address presented an overview of his PhD work in progress on the sexual arousal patterns, behaviors, attractions and identities of bisexuality in men. Results from Rosenthal’s ongoing studies, published in 2011 in Biological Psychology, scientifically proved that bisexual arousal patterns do exist in men, contradicting earlier results published by the same group.
Changing focus, Saturday’s BECAUSE community keynote speaker Bill Burleson dedicated his remarks to launching BOP’s Minnesota Bisexual Needs Assessment, which he authored. The report is available for free electronic download at www.bisexualorganizingproject.org and for purchase in hard copy on Amazon.com. In a high-energy, positive Sunday BECAUSE community keynote address, Natalie Clark discussed ways that bisexuals and other non-monosexual activists can find solidarity in the diverse labels used to describe themselves and organize their communities and gave valuable advice about successfully organizing rural LGBT communities in the Midwest.
In recognition of the conference’s deep commitment to showcasing artwork reflective of bi and other non-monosexual communities, BECAUSE featured a screening of the film Angels of Sex; showings of the web TV series Rose By Any Other Name; selected excerpts from Kyle Schickner’s “Bi Weekly Show”; and the BECAUSE: You Matter Cabaret.
In addition, on June 9th, BOP also sponsored the World Premiere of QUEER! by Gadfly Theatre at BECAUSE. A pioneering theatrical work revolutionary in its inclusivity, QUEER! confronts the marginalization LGBTQQIAA people face not only from the world at large, but even from within the queer community. QUEER!, which contains bisexual, pansexual, sexually fluid, transgender, genderqueer, asexual, polyamorous, gay, lesbian, POC and youth/elder voices, was written in house by Gadfly Theatre Founders and Co-Artistic Directors Immanuel Elliott and Cassandra Snow. The content of the show’s many diverse monologues and short scenes was motivated by a series of personal interviews and responses to calls for direct submissions. QUEER! had a deep and often inspirational emotional impact on BECAUSE attendees. As BECAUSE Conference Organizer Jessi Hiemer tweeted, “QUEER! made me laugh, cry and think about my own story. It makes me want to be a better community builder.”
In many ways Hiemer’s reaction to QUEER! captures the essence of the entire conference. BiReConUSA and BECAUSE 2013 provided the support, inspired the activism, curated the creativity, disseminated the research and touched the hearts necessary to build a better bisexual community. BOP looks forward to continuing to build bisexual movements at BECAUSE 2014. You can find more about BECAUSE at www.becauseconference.org.