Parker Jaques: Bisexual, Binary and Proud! (tags)
Parker Jaques isn't the usual sort of interviewee who gets featured in a Queer publication. That's why I wanted to interview him for the cover story in the September 2011 Zenger's Newsmagazine. He doesn't have a traumatic, breast-beating coming-out story to tell. He wasn't Queer-bashed in school because his mother encouraged him to fight back if anyone tried it. He's proud of his identity not only as a Bisexual but as a gender-identified male, and he has such withering contempt for people (like the August 2011 Zenger's cover person, Red) who call themselves "non-binary" -- neither male nor female -- that once we started discussing that subject it was hard to get him to talk about anything else. That's why I call him "Bisexual, Binary and Proud!"
Bisexual Forum Targets Invisibility and Bigotry (tags)
Bisexuals, the "B" in "LGBT," are actually the largest of the four groups represented by that unlovely acronym, but they're also among the most misunderstood people in the Queer community. They face bitter and often ferocious prejudice and bigotry not only from homophobic straight people but from Gays and Lesbians whose anti-Bi beliefs lead them to be threatened by the existence of Bi people. The Bisexual Forum of San Diego held a workshop at the San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center May 12 to dispel some of the misunderstandings other Queers have towards Bisexuals and tell their stories, which often involve a dual coming-out process: first as Lesbian or Gay, then as Bi when they realize they can no longer deny either their same-sex or opposite-sex attractions.