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join us for a Spooktacular bisexual soiree on Thursday October 25th

10/23/2018

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Join BABN and the Center for Sex and Culture for a frightful night of costumes and fun to benefit the bisexual community.

Ware your best bi+ costume and mingle with the giants of bisexuality in the largest sexuality library in the Bay Area. There will be historical prizes (t-shirts and pins) for the best costumes! 


BAY AREA BISEXUAL NETWORK & THE CENTER FOR SEX AND CULTUREBay Area Bisexual Network's mission is to develop a healthy, vibrant, multicultural bisexual community in the San Francisco Bay Area and to promote a better understanding of bisexual lives and issues within the larger lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) community and the public.
The Center for Sex & Culture, located in San Francisco at 1349 Mission St. between 9th and 10th, strives to promote creativity, information, and healthy sexual knowledge.

Facebook Invite: 
https://www.facebook.com/events/2182418742081017
EventBright: 
​
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/spooktacular-bisexual-soiree-tickets-50885041529

DATE AND TIMEThu, October 25, 2018
7:00 PM – 10:00 PM PDT
Add to Calendar
LOCATIONCenter for Sex and Culture
1349 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
View Map



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We went to sf pride and all we got was this shirt

6/25/2018

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 The 48th Annual SF LGBT Pride Parade and the week leading up to the big event was really a time to draw on the strength of our generations of bi+ pride. We have an SF Pride T-Shirt in a few more sizes and we will be putting up a page where you can donate $25 for one to be shipped to you in the coming month. 

The Bi-BQ was a blast and you can see more photos of the Bi-BQ 2018-Bi New World which are uploaded to Our Town SF and also available on their Our Town Flickr page.

The SF Pride Parade had folks come from all over the Bay Area, our sister group, Bisexuals and Friends, at the Billy DeFrank Center in San Jose, the East Bay and even from as far as Sacramento. Thank you for making SF Pride spectacular and rolling with the sound equipment (quite literally for Rabbi Jeremy, who rolled the speaker cart!).

A huge thank you to the various players who helped to make the event happen this year: Anne Killpack, Kai MacTane, Kirsten Berry, Jen Davidson, Martin Rawlings-Fein, Amy Larson, Jeremy Sher & Nick Leonard without whom this event would not have happened!!!
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Org Goals and Targets:

5/24/2018

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Form partnerships with other bi+ groups
  • We have touched base with many leaders to find groups that are happy to partner with BABN: Bi-BQ, BiFriendly (both SF and East Bay), Bisexuals and Friends Meetup (South Bay), Bi Boys' Happy Hour (San Francisco and Oakland, CA), and BiNet USA (national partner).
  • Due to a need for intersectional anti-racism training of board members, we are working in partnership with BiNet USA's Faith Cheltenham and Juba Kalamka (former BABN Board Member) to bring diversity training to the leadership team. A Large part of choosing folks to help train board members is their acknowledgment of bisexuality as a valid sexuality and identity which many anti-racism groups still do not acknowledge in their literature or stance. Which is troubling to say the least. By engaging in anti-racism and pursuing our work in anti-racist ways we can engage in intersectionality both collectively and individually.
Continue BABN’s existence and life, and maintain or improve its health
  • ​​We met in person a few times over the course of a year thanks to Anne and Kai donating their community room and allowing for us to have a physical space to discuss maintaining monthly events: we created brunch events both inside and outside of San Francisco, we are in the midst of creating a drop in bi+ peer-led coming out group at the SF LGBT Center, and creating new Thursday night bi+ programing in coalition with the Center for Sex and Culture. We are also still exploring 501c3 status vs. fiscal sponsorship and acquiring more volunteers for a settled board (some of us were only on email due to health or distance).  Our "holographic board" was not able to take on the further tasks needed to become a settled board. We are currently accepting board membership applications:  If you are interested in joining our diverse board, women, men, non-binary folks, individuals with disabilities, people of color, and LGTQ allies are encouraged to apply.
Continue Pride at our current level (or greater)
  • We attempted to both advocate for our group and our leadership as Pride Grand Marshals this year. Kin Folkz, our former Co-Director, was nominated to the ballot and was elected a 2018 Pride Grand Marshal. Though Kin Folkz is no longer active as a leader with BABN, we look forward to seeing their contingent and now know that there will be at least two bi+ contingents in SF Pride this year, an improvement over last year. We will have a contingent and are actively looking for members to march with us with this year's theme, "Generations of Strength" (sign up to march with us here). Our spot is paid for out of the funds raised by Kirsten Berry, our past fundraiser and former driver. Kirsten was very proud of contributing her skills in driving, moderation and crowdfunding to the org during our rebuilding and we are also very proud of her work. 
Get a Board together within one year
  • The current members of the organizing group are Allegra Hirschman (BiBQ), Amy Larsen (Chasing Amy), Jen Davidson,  Moria Merriweather and Martin Rawlings-Fein. Faith Cheltenham (VP of BiNet USA) is applying to be a settled board member currently and we are so happy to have her on our team. We have a simple board application link for anyone who would like to join us in organizing our community. 
  • Anne Killpack, Kai MacTane, Kin Folks, and Kirsten Berry have stepped down for various reasons but their service over the last few years with organizing our SF Pride contingents, managing our social media, creating bridges to East and South Bay communities and managing our "Holographic Board" is greatly appreciated and we hope that they have great success in all their future endeavors.
Recruit and train staff - Re-establishing office space at the LGBT Center
  • ​Staff: We would need a larger budget to pay any staff and considered a stipend intern as of the last meeting. But having met only 30% of our fundraising goal we are unable to commit money to regular paid staff currently. 
  • We are working on a new logo and looking for a designer who can establish a design aesthetic for our site and brand. In large part due to the work that Jen and Kirsten put into developing a request for proposal (RFP) in which we were able to articulate our needs. Have some other events, besides just Pride and establish a "nest egg"
  • Space Needs: We are renting room 203, the small room, for a Thursday night drop in group at the SF LGBT Center - $24 -$48 a month depending on the need. We are also working with the Bob Ross Senior Center at Openhouse, thanks to Lani Ka'ahumanu, to have a free intergenerational group. We need to recruit and train a social media specialist to fill in for Kirsten, our former social media admin, and to build up our Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Youtube, and Instagram presence.
  • Growing the Bi-BQ and/or Bi Visibility Day events are at the top of our list this year and a large portion of our raised funds will go to securing items for the upcoming, Pride ($325) Bi-BQ (In-kind-people power) and further off Bi+ Visibility Week in September with a fun event, or events, that we can all enjoy. It is not just Pride this year :)
  • Thanks to Moria, BABN was represented at the Santa Clara County bi flag raising for celebrate bisexuality week, in September of 2017.
Increase social media presence and outreach
  • We started using our Twitter, Facebook pages regularly, standardized our Chat list group to align with our Facebook Chat group and many other social outreach tools using Kirsten's admin know how and social media skills. 
Fix the website​​
  • Kai came up with a plan to modernize the page, possibly get our old url back and bring us to the 21st Century.
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Summary of BABN Meeting 7/15/2017

7/15/2017

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Summary of BABN Meeting
In Attendance
Martin Rawlings-Fein, Anne Killpack MacTane, Amy Khittae, Joel Khittae, Kirsten Berry, Moria Merriweather, Kai MacTane.

BABN’s Current Status
Current Co-Directors: Martin Rawlings-Fein, plus Kin Folkz and Allegra Hirschman. Only Martin is active.

BABN is no longer doing brunches or helping boost signal for Bi Boys’ Happy Hour. All it does anymore is the yearly Pride contingent. Martin is running it on his own, as best he can.
We need a Board, 501(c)(3) status, fundraisers, and bylaws.

  • Board: We had one back around 2003, but everyone got burned out. We have one current board application.
  • Non-Profit Status: We no longer have non-profit status through the BRC; they dropped us due to a recent change in the laws. We need to fill out a form and apply, which will cost $275-400.
  • Bylaws: We have a set we copied from FTM International, but we’d like to write our own.

Emergency Committee Formed
An Emergency Committee has been formed to look after BABN’s current and near-future health and survival. Members: Amy, Kai, Anne, Kirsten, and Martin.

Org Goals and Targets:
  1. Continue BABN’s existence and life, and maintain or improve its health
  2. Continue Pride at our current level (or greater)
  3. Get a Board together within one year
  4. Recruit and train staff to handle ongoing operations.
  5. Have some other events, besides just Pride.
  6. Increase social media presence and outreach
  7. Fix the website
  8. Form partnerships with other bi+ groups

Roles Filled at the Meeting
  • Amy volunteered to be Events Coordinator. She has lots of ideas for events and venues.
  • Anne can do social media stuff. Title still TBD, possibly Social Media Director or Officer.
  • Moria has already been complaining to organizations that leave out the B. Now she gets to do so on behalf of BABN, as the Complaints Officer or some similar title TBD.

Future Plans
The Emergency Committee will continue to coordinate via email. They will meet again in late August (in 4-6 weeks) to re-evaluate and adjust course as necessary.

We are also re-starting the Generosity Campaign from earlier this year, to attempt to add funds to our coffers.
--
Bay Area Bisexual Network
e: director@bayareabisexualnetwork.org
w: www.bayareabisexualnetwork.org
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Join the Bay Area Bi+ Community for Pride

6/22/2017

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30 Years of BABN at San Francisco Pride Sunday June 25th, 2017

The Bay Area Bisexual Network is celebrating 30 years as an active partner in the fight for queer equality. Founded in 1987, our mission is to develop a healthy, vibrant, multicultural bisexual community in the San Francisco Bay Area. We have a growing social media presence and have hosted events like the Bi-Trans Brunch and other Bi+ (Bi Plus) meetups. At Pride we will be showing our colors as we march down Market - pink, purple and blue, the colors of the Bi Pride Flag, representing the fluidity of our sexuality. It's Not Just A Phase!

Sunday June 25th, 2017 10:00am
Contingent Placement: 111
Block: L1
Assembly Area: Spear between Howard and Folsom

Assembly Start Times:

Marchers arrive by: 10:15 AM
Estimated Step-off: 11:00 AM


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Who Is Counted? Why When We Rise Matters

3/10/2017

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by Martin Rawlings-Fein

When We Rise was difficult television for me to watch. I kept waiting for the next leader introduced to be Lani Ka'ahumanu who assisted in the founding of the San Francisco State Women Studies Department, she is also credited with the founding of BiPOL the first and oldest bisexual political organization. I kept watching hoping that perhaps Dr. Harriet Leve and Dr. Maggi Rubenstein might show up as the co-founder's of the San Francisco Bisexual Center on Hayes and Masonic, they could have been included as Maggi was also a co-founder of three major sex-education institutions in San Francisco: Glide Memorial Church's National Sex Forum, the San Francisco Sex Information Hotline, and the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality.

Or Dr. David Lourea and Cynthia Slater who presented safer-sex education in bathhouses and BDSM clubs in San Francisco as well as David going on to push the DPH to recognize bisexual men in their official AIDS statistics which was a huge victory for data scientists everywhere.
When that didn't happen and those leaders did not rate even a mention, I hoped that A. Billy S. Jones could have been thrown in as one of those organizers of the March On Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights and was sorely disappointed.

In the end of the miniseries none of that happened, I was only watching  Gay, Lesbian and Transgender stories depicted. While Cleve Jones, the author of the memoir that was the basis of the miniseries stated about the criticisms, "Honestly, if just a fraction of the energy spent complaining went into WRITING, all these stories could be known. The people who feel left out should take responsibility to do that hard work." That is when I realized that while When We Rise did not tell our stories, the truth is that we have been telling our stories separately for years and being told to "shut up" because nobody in the gay community wants to hear them.

Our stories are not convenient, they do not fit into the boxes in which others try to place them. The idea of two women in a relationship that is not a lesbian one was too hard for marriage equality to handle, so Lindasusan Ulrich and Emily Drennen were not used in the case against Prop 8 despite their 3 marriages to each other. During the national spotlight on “gay marriage” the couple were outspoken and protested the use of “gay marriage” in discourse. They even went so far as to create a document "Words Matter" and went to a Town Hall event for the Equality for All campaign (the coalition fighting Prop 8 in California) to present an action called "unVEILing injustice" to  highlight our struggle against erasure. Just one story that could have illustrated the fight for equality even within our own queer community.

Despite Dustin Lance Black's assurances that there was bi+ representation in the miniseries, there were none that I was aware of either in reading his response or other tweets that he pointed me to on Twitter:

@FeinMentsch No problem. Tweets below have specifics. Other characters depicted are listed on IMDB. More bi names there.

— Dustin Lance Black (@DLanceBlack) March 5, 2017
As I read the words I felt his exasperation as a filmmaker. He hadn't done the minimal legwork on Bi+ issues, like our representation in the media (a simple Tumblr search could have helped), I actually felt sorry for him as an artist and historian. If he had done the research he would have known that bi people already see ourselves as part of the struggle, we don't need to be told so on camera without mentioning bisexuality. We are not beards simply staying with our gay, or straight appearing, husbands to keep our housing. We are not objects of desire to be used as props to help the story line along. We are not allies of the LGBTIQA community, but full fledged members of the community. 

Using those items especially as touch points to illustrate stories about us is demeaning and frankly ignorant. To use a slogan of the Bi+ movement, "Nothing About Us Without Us!" Next time, actually talk to a person of lived Bi+ experience to find out if something might be considered offensive. Like perhaps having 8 hours of LG( )T stories without mentioning the "B" word once.

I feel that this kind of miniseries is so important, in the words of Lani Ka'ahumanu, "Yes this LGBT mini-series “WHEN WE RISE” is a big deal AND there is no bisexual representation. The B is missing from this epic LGBT docu-drama. When LGBT people rose in San Francisco [and everywhere else], we rose together. Bisexuals worked shoulder to shoulder with Cleve Jones, Ken Jones, Roma Guy and Cecilia Chung whose lives are featured. This is not to take away from their incredible contributions; this is to point out what might not be noticed in the excitement of watching “When We Rise”. Indeed, this is not a zero-sum game, we can honor those depicted in When We Rise, and mourn the poor Bi+ representation

My hope is that we as a community can rise above the bi erasure to bring our stories out and really be a force for change in the larger queer community. To use a slogan from the fight against the Briggs Initiative, "Come out! Come out! Wherever you are!" If you see poor representation in film and media, send your thoughts to GLADD and report an incident. Something that I suggested to those reading Cleve's Facebook thread was The GLBT Historical Society's oral history program  for those elders who would love to have their stories heard. Also if you don't have those stories yet, become an oral historian through their program and find those stories of our Bi+ elders and leaders to document our rising with the LGBTIQA community.

Let's not let a wide brush of a historical miniseries deter us from telling our stories, let's bring them out into the sunshine and let the world know that we were there and we are here as vital members of the LGBTIQA community not allies like Black painted Lady Gaga during the series, a prime place to say the word bisexual when pitching her as a speaker at the National Equality March yet nobody said the word once during the entire show.

I assume the big bisexual representation that we were all promised was her file footage speech to the
National Equality March that almost never happened because according to Cynthia Connors from NYABN* ( "the March Committee which was steadfastly refusing to allow Bisexuals to "officially" participate finally gave in" and that BiNet had Penelope Williams, a Dominican American bisexual and immigration right activist introduce Gaga on stage for her now famous "ARE YOU LISTENING!!" speech.

The week has passed, we are now in a post When We Rise world, where ratings are key in seeing anything like this spring up again. This is the time to bring our stories out and write them all down.  If you have any remembrances that you would like to write for the Bay Area Bisexual Network blog, please do not hesitate to let me know through either director@bayareabisexualnetwork.org , Facebook or Twitter, or post your own remembrances of Bi+ history through the hashtag #BiHistory on twitter and add a mention of@BABN.

---------
Martin Rawlings-Fein is a bisexual trans man, a devoted husband and father and volunteers as a co-director of the Bay Area Bisexual Network.

*Update: "
according to Cynthia Connors from BiNet USA" is incorrect as Cynthia is the technical admin from NYABN (the New York Area Bisexual Network) not BiNet USA. Giving Credit where credit is due. 

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Official San Francisco Pride Participation Info

6/21/2016

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Official San Francisco Pride
Participation Info
Bay Area Bisexual Network
Reservation Type Parade Contingent
Placement 132 (Assembly Section M1 Market @ Main)


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Bi-BQ- B+ A Pride Event For the Rest of Us!

6/10/2016

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You are invited to the 8th Annual

Bi-BQ- B+ A Pride Event For the Rest of Us!

When: Humpday, June 22nd from 3:30-6:30

Where: Dolores Park. They tried to shut us down, but we prevailed. We will be at the picnic tables closest to Dolores/20th.

What: Everyone under the rainbow is welcome to the friendliest pride event ever. Bring a dish to share, a bottle of something, a blanket to sit on, or just yourself!  No Actual Grill this year (at least not sanctioned by this official event) but we will get some BBQ food. Family Friendly event. No Glass Bottles, we will have plenty of cups!

What to Wear: Bi Colors always appreciated, but this year were hoping for a heavy dose of purple to honor Prince and any Bowie-inspired duds/makeup as well.

Also, Don't forget that after Bi-BQ we will be having a bi-shorts program at the Roxy at 7pm! Get Tickets Here!

RSVP: on Facebook or to allegra.hirschman@gmail.com

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Bi Pride parade contingent by Anne & Kirsten

6/9/2016

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All right, folks, there's gonna be a Pride parade contingent. My partner and I have committed ourselves to organizing, cat-herding, and even throwing some cash at these shenanigans. What we need from you:

* We need you to take monitor training. I'll post more detail later unless our humble moderator beats me to it, but the great news is that YOU CAN TAKE IT ONLINE. No more having to take a day off work or hauling yourself to somewhere in the East Bay at an awkward time! We need a BUNCH of monitors - vehicle and pedestrian monitors.

* We need a theme. I would really like for us to have some cohesiveness this year in our contingent! I have an Emergency Backup Theme if you don't come up with something better. Since we have next to zero budget, theme's gotta be cheap. If you have suggestions, please sing out! Unless you come up with something better, it's "Save the 'B's" and lots of letter B on sticks and B-shaped balloons and everything, like a giant Sesame Street skit. You can do better than that, right?

* We need you to round up all your bi friends and allies, and tell them to come and march this year. Marching means under your own power - we do not have space for riders unless something changes.



What we do have:
* A vehicle which can hold your backpack and some water, but no passengers
* Spare signs and banners
* A MEGAPHONE (those of you who are good at crowd-pleasing can take turns, maybe we'll come up with some chants when the theme is solid)
* Some flags and banners
* Lots of heart! I want to nail the theme down soon, so get me those ideas as soon as you can. Hope to see you there!

In previous years SF Pride has done the training in-person. They will
not be doing that this year. Instead they are offering a simple,
two-step online training that will get more information to more people,
meaning a better parade for everyone, and saving all participants time
and money.

Yours in Pride!
Anne

STEP 1: Watch the 10-minute video at the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDIzSFWYW-U

This video contains pertinent information for ALL contingent members, so
please take the time to watch it, even if you are not able to commit to
being a monitor on the day of the parade.

STEP 2: Complete the survey at the link below:

https://survey.zohopublic.com/zs/MsituF

This survey gets your name and contingent information, and asks you a
few questions to verify that you did in fact watch the video.

Every contingent needs to register two wheel monitors for every axle on
all motorized vehicles in the contingent. In addition, we need to
register contingent monitors based on the formula below.

2 - 25 Marchers - 2 CM's registered
26 - 50 Marchers - 4 CM's registered
51 - 75 Marchers - 6 CM's registered
76 - 100 Marchers - 8 CM's registered
101 - 200 Marchers - 10 CM's registered
201 - 300 Marchers - 12 CM's registered
301 - 400 Marchers - 14 CM's registered
401 - 500 Marchers - 16 CM's registered
501 - 600 Marchers - 18 CM's registered

So a contingent with 75 marchers and a 4-wheeled vehicle would need to
register 6 Contingent Monitors, and 4 wheel monitors for a minimum of 10
registrants.

Once our contingent has registered at least this minimum number of
monitors, our training requirement for the SF Pride parade 2016 is
officially complete.

Note that I say _officially_ complete. UNofficially, I am not personally
going to be happy unless I know we have at least twice as many people
registered as we need for the size of our contingent. (I have very
serious reasons for being this stressed about it, which I'll share in
another email.)

The parade is in EIGHTEEN DAYS, folks! Let's get excited!

Yours in Pride,
Kirsten



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Celebrate Bisexuality Day - September 23rd, 2015

6/19/2015

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This will be an evening variety show, from 6 till 9pm, on El Rio's lovely back patio. Featuring live music from The Bi Half of The Buds, amazing moves by Three Sisters Bellydance, alluring burlesque by Isis Starr, award-winning poetry from Jan Steckel, inspiring words from Lani Ka'ahumanu, comedy from Nick Leonard, and more entertainment from other talented members of our community.

Raffle prizes and snacks, too! It's a fundraiser for BABN with a donation requested. No one turned away for lack of funds!

Please spread the word, and join us!
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    BABPN

    Our mission is to foster a sense of bisexual/Pan+ community and promote better understanding of bisexual+ lives and issues within the larger lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) community and the public.

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