BISEXUALITY: BETWEEN MARGINALISATION AND ACTIVIST POTENTIAL

Dr. Renate Baumgartner, Mag.a Katharina Payk and Claudia Breitenberger Bsc. (all members of the “no*monos” group for bi*sexual/pansexuals)

This workshop is as a moderated discussion including working in small groups and inputs by the moderators. Together with the participants we will discuss topics around bisexuality in the interplay between discrimination/marginalisation and activist potential. Bisexuality is characterized by invisibility. Well known bi-negative attributes are:

promiscuity-allegations or viewing bisexuals as unfaithful and untrustworthy („I’m sure you’ll cheat on me with a man.“ „Bisexuals always need one partner of each gender.“)

questioning the existence of a bisexual identity („This is just a phase.“ „Eventually you’ll have to decide!“)

At the same time as bisexual women are hypersexualized by the heterosexual mainstream, they are thought of having „straight privilege“ by lesbian/queer communities. Bisexuals seem to be in the middle ground between communities: too queer for the heterosexual mainstream and not queer enough for lesbian/queer communities.

However, bisexuality has also the political potential of disrupting categories around binaries (e.g. monosexism, gender binary, heterosexism) and compulsory monogamy. Thinking about bisexuality invites to re-examine categories and social norms around sexuality and gender.

This workshop invites participants to reflect about their sexual attractions and orientation. Definitions around non-monosexual identities like bisexuality, pansexuality and others will be discussed critically and from an activist perspective.