The BOP Connection - September 2017

9/19/2017

The BOP Connection

September 2017

A Newsletter bi the Bisexual Organizing Project
Edited by Cary Crawford
Co-edited by Sally Corbett

September 17 - 24 is Celebrate Bisexual+ Awareness Week!

GLAAD, The Movement Advancement Project (MAP), SAGE (Advocacy and Services for LGBT Elders), the National Center for Transgender Equality, BiNetUSA, the Bisexual Organizing Project, and the Bisexual Resource Center have partnered to champion a week-long social media campaign in support of Celebrate Bisexual+ Awareness Week, coined "#BiWeek". #BiWeek will last from Sunday, September 17 to Sunday, September 24. The theme of the campaign is "Past, Present, and Future", and will highlight notable events, people, resources, and movements in bi+ activism and our community from these periods in our history. You can join the conversation by following us and our partners on social media:

MAP: @lgbtmap
BiNetUSA: @BiNetUSA
Bisexual Organizing Project (BOP): @BiOrgProject
Bisexual Resource Center (BRC): @BRC_Central | Facebook: @biresource
SAGE: @SageUSA

National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE): @transequality

Don't forget to use these hashtags!:
#BiWeek #BiVisibilityDay #BiTwitter #BiPride #BiVisibilityDay #BiChat

Celebrate Bisexuality Day All Weekend with BOP!

Since 1990, bisexual communities all over the world have commemorated pride in our identities by recognizing Celebrate Bisexuality Day on September 23. Bisexual Organizing Project invites the Minnesota bisexual, pansexual, fluid, queer, unlabeled, and allied communities to celebrate with us this weekend with two different exciting community events!

Saturday, September 23, 2017 from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm: Happy Hour at LUSH in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Join us for happy hour at LUSH and celebrate your bi+ pride! We will have a section of the patio (or a section indoors, in case of inclement weather) reserved from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Check in with the hosts when you arrive and they will help you find us!
Sunday, September 24, 2017 from 12:00 pm - 3:30 pm: Lunch at Gorkha Palace in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Lunch will be served family-style at 12:30, and BOP will be picking up the tab! Pop and tea will be included with lunch, and other beverages will be available for purchase. All ages are welcome, but please note that a kids' menu is not available. We will also be hosting an open mic, so bring your instruments, poems, voices, or other performance art you'd like to share!

Hope you can join us!!

BOP's Bi+ Book Club is BACK!

Join us Wednesday, October 4th, from 7 - 9pm at Quatrefoil Library, 1220 E Lake Street Minneapolis, MN. Parking in the rear

October's reading will be Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World, Second Edition, edited by Robyn Ochs and Sarah Rowley

Is the broadest single collection of bisexual literature available today. Getting Bi collects 220 essays from around the world that explore bisexual identity. Topics include coming out, relationships, politics, community, and more. The book also addresses the intersection of bisexuality with race, class, ethnicity, gender identity, disability and national identity. Authors from 42 countries discuss bisexuality from personal perspectives and their own cultural contexts providing insight into societal views on bisexuality from countries ranging from Colombia to China.

Photo courtesy of Minnesota Two-Spirit Society

Minnesota Two-Spirit Society Looking Forward to Bright Future
In May I asked Patricia Columbus Powers how long has the Minnesota Two-Spirit Society been in existence? Who were the founders? What was their reason for starting this group? She said that there has been an Native American LGBTQ+ group for thirty years, and the MInnesota Two-Spirit Society, MN2SS, has been in existence for eight years, but had been dormant. Sue Goodstar (last standing board member at the time, current treasurer) and Deb Williams (board member at large) still held open events for the community. Their revitalization of the organization occurred shortly after the Orlando shootings of 2016.

Patricia also said that at the time, many had reported the Orlando shooting as the largest mass shooting in US history, but it was the largest mass shooting in recent US history. The lack of just one word unwittingly marginalized the pains felt in the Native American community. The massacre at wounded knee saw approximately 300 women, children, and elders shot down by US troops. For Two-Spirit people, the pain of the Orlando shooting was further exacerbated by the marginalization of Native peoples during this time. Many of their community sought solace; only a unique understanding could relate to the grief they felt, twice marginalized.

Seeking those that also could relate, Patricia attended an open event hosted by Sue and Deb. There they discussed the hoped purpose for the MN2SS. They all felt need for a Two-spirit group focused on socializing and networking to be a voice within our community. Shortly after, Patricia was appointed chair and focused on recruitment of new board members. To their fortune, Jase Roe (current Vice Chair) and Alfred Walking Bull (Secretary) joined them a few months later.

I asked her how has the group's vision and purpose changed over time? What does she see as their purpose today? She replied that during the MN2SS’ previous existence, ideas changed as to the purpose of the organization. Groups have formed to focus on mental health and therapy services within the community. Their focus is on creating a strong network to bring talent and understanding

I also asked her what services or activities does the Two Spirit Society provides? How does the group see their part to play in the community?
Patricia said that currently they are focusing on social events to bringing their community together. They are also currently looking to expand their board membership as they continue through their transition. They see themselves as a unique voice to be heard among other organizations serving communities. They have a view of the world that allows them to see innovative ways of thinking to influence others for positive change. They want to be a part of the overall voice in the community, strengthening their message through increased diversity of understanding.

I wanted to know what are their goals for the next couple of years going forward? How can community members and allies get involved to help the Two Spirit Society fulfill their goals?
Patricia said that they plan to continue with board member revitalization, recruiting a few more members to the board. They want to continue building up the organization, focusing on future strategic planning efforts to maximize their positive contribution to the community. The number one way to help as a community member or an ally is to build awareness of their organization and their place within the community. Their voice gives a unique perspective that can strengthen everyone’s understanding of the diverse knowledge held within the LGBTQ+ community.

Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Two-Spirit Society

Since my interview with Patricia, Jase Roe has accepted the board chairman position, and the group has added three new board members. Our congratulations to the Minnesota Two Spirit Society in expanding their board membership.

An Interview with our BECAUSE 2017 Co-Chairs, AL and Sally

BECAUSE is the annual conference of the Bisexual Organizing Project (BOP), that was birthed out of deep need to find space of belonging, dedicated to building empowered bi, pan, fluid, queer, unlabeled (bi+), and allied communities. BECAUSE & BOP have national reach, but work primarily in the Upper Midwest, focusing especially on our local Twin Cities & Greater Metro Area communities. Our conference was founded in 1992 by a handful of bi+ activists and has grown into the largest conference centered around non-monosexual identities in the United States. BECAUSE, which stands for "Bi+ Empowerment Conference: A Uniting, Supportive Experience," strives to be welcoming and inclusive - embracing the many intersectionalities of the bi+ community and encouraging people of all backgrounds and experiences to join us for this eventful weekend full of networking, community building, education, and organizing to create a more welcoming, inclusive, and equitable LGBTQIA community. This year is the 25th anniversary of the first conference, our theme is “Coming Home: Bi+ Past, Present, & Future”. We will gather once again and remember where we have been, honor those we have lost, notice where we are and who has not made it to us, feel that, and together dream up where we want to go then fight like hell to get there.

1. When and where is BECAUSE 2017 taking place?
BECAUSE 2017 will be hosted at Metropolitan State University from Friday, November 10 through Sunday, November 12. Metro State is located at 700 7th Street East, St Paul, MN 55106. Thursday and Friday during the day are our day long institutes, and our big kickoff for the conference proper will be Friday evening, complete with reception, keynote, and entertainment. The conference runs until Sunday evening.

2. What are some of the topics covered in the sessions?
That usually depends on what workshops are submitted. We just closed our open call for workshop proposals, and we are in the process of soliciting other material we would like to have present at BECAUSE this year. We try to cover a wide range of topics that affect bi+ people, including workshops on trans acceptance, coming out, aging, disability accessibility, youth, sex & sexuality, learning about racial justice, sharing your stories, sexual violence & intimate partner violence, dating, kink, polyamory, economic justice, learning about how to be an ally, helping parents relate to their bi+ & trans kids, children’s storytimes, bi+ authors & books, finding bi+ proficient medical care, making your practice more bi+ friendly, how to avoid activist burnout, starting your own bi+ group, and many other kinds of topics. There are closed workshops & hospitality suites just for bi+ people, trans/nonbinary/gender non-conforming people, Indigenous folks and people of color, young people, and children.. We also offer open workshops, but that are geared for specific crowds, such as those new to being out as bi+, health practitioners, counselors and mental health providers, parents, etc. We have a few workshops that are generally always submitted, and we always include our Bi+ 101 and Bi+ Essentials Training; the rest just depends on what the community can bring and what we can solicit that year after we see what is missing.

3. Do you have special activities planned? Who are the notables you are inviting?
We will be announcing conference programming and the schedule on our website on a rolling basis as things are confirmed. We are focusing on having more fun, community building programming and activities this year, and keynotes that encompass this year’s theme, which is “Coming Home: A Bi+ Past, Present, & Future”.

4. How can members and the public get tickets?
Registration is now open! Click here to register on Eventbrite! You can also email because@bisexualorganizingproject.org, to follow us on Facebook, and check out www.becauseconference.org for more information. We try to make the conference as accessible as possible. For example, no one will be turned away because of inability to pay, our spaces are wheelchair accessible, we are well connected to public transit routes, we have captioning in large meetings, and we have a community housing & rideshare program. For more information on any of these things, stay tuned on our website or email us with questions. You can make accessibility accommodation requests when you register, or feel free to send us an email if you have particular questions. We will be releasing more information about hotel accomodations and other amenities for folks visiting for the conference soon.

6. How can members and allies be involved in helping at the conference?
More information about volunteer opportunities with BECAUSE and how to sign up will be available in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, our planning committee is always open to joiners. We have monthly meetings all year, in the Outfront office (Suite 209) at Sabathani Community Center, at 310 E 38th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55411. You can also email us and if you are seeking a long-term volunteer opportunity or need to record volunteer hours.

We're looking forward to seeing so many of you at BECAUSE this year. If this is your first time, welcome. You belong here.

Twin Cities Pride was HUGE This Year!

This June, 425,000 people attended Twin Cities Pride. There were 440 vendors of all kinds - food, crafts, non-profits, corporations, organizations, groups, and lots more. Volunteers this year totaled 600, and the Minnesota Twins rewarded them with four tickets for each volunteer! Consider volunteering next year, with an extra benefit like that. One hundred and thirty units marched in the mile-long parade, and new this year were a massive Bisexual flag and Trans flag. This was the second year for Caravan on Love - Muslims against Homophobia. Although there were no new sponsors, Twin Cities Pride welcomes any organization or corporation that meets the 100% Corporate Equality Index. Anyone can get involved by volunteering next year, just email volunteer@tcpride.org. You can make a donation at https.www.givemn.org/organization/tcpride, which your employer can match if you ask them to participate. Twin Cities Pride has upcoming events too so check it out on their website, www.tcpride.org.

BOP Featured Member!

I’d like to introduce our featured BOP member, Patrick Richardsfink, MS LPC. He currently lives and has his psychotherapy practice Prism Mental Health LLC, in St Cloud, Minnesota. I first heard Patrick speak about coming out and finding community at the BECAUSE conference in 2016. I was impressed by his insights and communication style then, and was eager to interview him when I met him at Pride this summer. I usually start by asking when the person came out and what was early life like for them. Patrick said he was not aware of himself as a sexual being until age 13, when he found he was attracted to more than one gender. He was also aware that he had to keep his bisexuality under wraps, especially when he learned in 1980 at a school assembly that this “sex thing” could kill him, during an AIDS awareness presentation. He grew up in Sacramento and Orangeville, California, but had a repressive home life, as his mom was homophobic. He remembers her talking disparagingly about a high school friend of his, that had died of AIDS, and had also been Patrick’s first partner. Consequently, Patrick never came out until after both his parents were dead. In his first marriage he had some guys on the side, he tried polyamory, but decided he was polysaturated. He met his second wife, to whom he is currently married, while he was chasing a guy she was dating.

When he finally did come out at age 40, he was in college, and it was during a diversity class discussion. He had lived with twenty five years of self censure, and only a couple of close friends, his wife, and one cousin knew he was bisexual. He said, “For 25 years I played a straight guy, and I wasn’t really good at it.” There was a break during the class session, and he was sitting outside working on his laptop, when he saw another student from the class sitting nearby, wave away some gnats that were swarming around his face and said, “Go away you little faggots!!” This was the impetus for Patrick to come out when he returned to class, and the opening came up in the discussion. Subsequently he came out on Facebook, and his practice was featured on the front page of the local newspaper about a year ago.

He had decided to open a practice serving the LBGTQ community in downtown St. Cloud after working for a number of years for another clinic, which he found didn't suit his objectives in providing care to the community. His office is right down the block from a historic queer establishment, the Biology 701, which offered a drag show three times a week. The original owner was bi. There may have been backlash due to homophobia in the town, since it has unfortunately closed. At age 40 he was finally on his path of self and professional realization. Today, he stays in contact with the LBGT Resource Center at the St. Cloud State University campus, and other local queer organizations.

Patrick's advice for coming out is to consider your safety first. If you are safer closeted, then wait until you have some community and security in your professional and home lives. There is always the danger of being caught out, or losing some people in your life because of coming out. His clinic is open Tuesday through Friday and every other Saturday. He charges based on income, instead of insurance, and he provides services for individuals, mostly adults with some adolescents. He does family and couple counseling, premarital and mixed orientation couples, referrals for surgery and has a sub-specialty in treating folks on the autism spectrum. If you’re interested in his professional services, his practice is Prism Mental Health LLC, info@prismmentalhealth.com, 14 7th Ave N, #107, St Cloud, MN 56303. Telephone 320-217-9964. www.prismmentalhealth.com

Editor's Note

Let me introduce myself, my name is Cary Crawford, and I’ll be the editor of the BOP newsletter for the duration of the ride. I hope you enjoy reading about our various activities and personalities, I’ll try to feature an interview with a BOP board member, and a BOP member profile, info about all our activities that we offer for member participation, upcoming events, and features on BOP allies. I’d also like to include member poetry and creative writing, artwork, and photos.So send me yours. Let me know if you want to interview and write an article, or edit another’s writing. Right now it’s just me and Sally Corbett. I’ll try to get this newsletter out quarterly, with a special editions dedicated to the BECAUSE conference and PRIDE weekend. If you think you’d like to help out or include your work contact me at cary.crawford@bisexualorganizingproject.org, I’d love to see what you’ve got for me.

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BOP's Bi+ Book Club is Back!

8/26/2017

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Bisexual Organizing Project's Bi+ Book Club will resume on October 7, 2017 at 7:00 pm at Quatrefoil Library, with "Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World, Second Edition" edited by Robyn Ochs and Sarah Rowley. Every month, we read a new book by, for, about, or written by bisexual and other non-monosexual folks. We meet on the first Wednesday of each month to discuss our readings! Scroll through our flier below to see our book selections from October 2017 through March, 2018. Hope you can join us!

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Join BOP for Celebrate Bisexuality Day!

8/20/2017

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Since 1990, bisexual communities all over the world have commemorated pride in our identities by recognizing Celebrate Bisexuality Day on September 23. Bisexual Organizing Project invites the Minnesota bisexual, pansexual, fluid, queer, unlabeled, and allied communities to join us Sunday, September 24, 2017 from 12:00 pm to 3:30 pm for lunch at Gorkha Palace in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Table service will be available beginning at 12:30 pm, and BOP will be picking up the tab! Pop and tea will be included with lunch, and other beverages will be available for your own purchase. All ages are welcome, but please note that a kids' menu is not available.

We will also be hosting an open mic, so bring your instruments, poems, voices, or other performance art you'd like to share!

Check out www.gorkhapalace.com to see the menu and more!

Hope you can celebrate with us!

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BECAUSE 2017 Save the Date - New and Improved!

7/5/2017

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Yes, BECAUSE is happening this year!
We have a new and improved date! Join us November 10-12 at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minnesota!

Why the date change?
The originally scheduled BECAUSE 2017 dates took place during the very important sacred holidays of Yom Kippur and Ashura. This is a conflict that the communities who celebrate these holidays face all too often, and the same folks are forced to choose over and over between one big part of their identity and another. We could not, in good faith, hold the conference over these holidays. We take full responsibility for this mistake, and we have done all we can to correct it.

We apologize for any inconvenience, and appreciate your flexibility and understanding. If you have any questions or concerns, we encourage you to reach out to us at because@bisexualorganizingproject.org

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Twin Cities Pride 2017

7/1/2017

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BOP had an excellent time showing our bi+ pride at the Twin Cities Pride festival and parade this year! Check out some photos below!

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BECAUSE

BECAUSE
November 10 -12, 2017
Metropolitan State University
St. Paul, MN

LEARN MORE

Mission

Build, serve and advocate for an empowered bisexual, pansexual, fluid, queer, and unlabeled (bi+) community to promote social justice.

Vision

Within the next five years grow Bisexual Organizing Project (BOP) into a successfully-run Upper Midwest nonprofit organization with annual funding of $100,000 that provides community building, education, and advocacy for the bisexual, pansexual, fluid, queer, and unlabeled (bi+) community and our allies.