FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday September 26, 2014 CONTACT: CAMILLE HOLTHAUS CAMILLE.HOLTHAUS@BISEXUALORGANIZINGPROJECT.COM 612-325-6890 Bisexual Organizing Project Announces 2014 Community Recognition Award Winners Minneapolis, MN, USA: Bisexual Organizing Project (BOP) held its annual event for Celebrate Bisexuality Day at the newly opened Nicollet Diner on Tuesday September 23, 2014. This event featured the unveiling of the 2014 recipients of the BOP Community Recognition Awards. In 2009, BOP developed the Community Recognition Awards (CRA) in response to the lack of other awards specifically recognizing work done by and for bisexual and other non-monosexual communities and their allies in the Upper Midwest. CRA seeks to fill this gap and to inspire more individuals, organizations, and businesses to serve bisexual and non-monosexual communities and include bisexual and non-monosexual issues in their work and organizing. BOP gives up to one award yearly in each of three categories: business, individual, and community organization. The 2014 Community Recognition Award winner in the category of Community Organization is the PFund Foundation, a solid ally to bisexual communities since the 1990's. Under the recent leadership of Susan Raffo and Kate Eubank, PFund has further deepened its commitment to social justice for bisexual, transgender, lesbian, and gay people with intersectional identities. In recognition of its longtime support of the bisexual community, we are proud to present PFund with the 2014 Community Recognition Award for a Community Organization. The 2014 Individual Community Recognition Award winner is BOP's own Lou Hoffman, who published the BiFocal zine from 1988 to 1993, began her political bi activism in 1989, set up the first bisexual pride booth in 1992, worked on the original BECAUSE planning committee in 1992, has worked on every BECAUSE since then, and has served as the public face of the bisexual community at Twin Cities Pride for 22 years. Ms Hoffman has been an integral part of most major bisexual events in the Twin Cities, and in 2013 she was invited to participate in the first White House Roundtable for Bisexual Issues in Washington, DC. She has served for many years on the BOP Board of Directors, and is currently the co-chair. In 2011 Ms Hoffman was selected as the Twin Cities Pride Everyday Hero, and in 2013 she won the Lavendar Community Award. In recognition of her commitment and continued efforts on behalf of the bisexual community, Bisexual Organizing Project is extremely proud to announce Lou Hoffman as the 2014 Individual Community Recognition Award winner. The Community Recognition Awards recipients are nominated by BOP members and selected by the BOP Community Recognition Awards committee. Anyone interested in working with the board or volunteering with BOP should contact bop@bisexualorganizingproject.org for more information. BOP is a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit organization.
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Happy #bivisibility day!
I use bi+ to be intentionally inclusive of all non-monosexual identified and behaving people. When I speak to youth, pansexual, fluid, queer, and unlabeled are salient ways that many express who they are to others. I hear about the importance of the bisexual identity from many of the elders who tell me about their fight for recognition in straight and gay spaces. For me, as a white, middle class racial justice leader, I feel that bivisibility has to be about making and transforming spaces for ourselves and each other so all of us can thrive and be honored as the beautiful, deep, and complex people we are. So, today and everyday, I'm calling out and making intentional space for bi/pan/fluid/poly/omni/queer/and unlabeled folks with intersectional identities. Bi+ people of color and indigenous people, bi+ people who are transgender/gender variant, bi+ people who speak multiple languages, bi+ Muslims/Hindi/Jews/Budhists/Pagans/Atheists, bi+ people who have crossed national borders, bi+ folks with disabilities, bi+ folks with limited financial resources, bi+ youngsters and elders -- I believe that all of our stories matter! I believe we are stronger and more powerful when we recognize and honor each other. Honoring each other extends beyond just calling out the presence of those whose voices might otherwise be absent. I ask for each of us to get uncomfortable and reflect about the needs of bi+ people everywhere. We won't find easy solutions to the problems bi+ people face, but we won't find solutions at all if we don't listen to those whose voices might be quiet or full of anger. That's the spirit behind the Bi+ Story Project. We have to get creative to make space so we can listen radically to bi+ people. You can improve #bivisibility by sharing your own story. It's quick and easy: STEP 1. Record a video (aim for 7-10 minutes). STEP 2. Sign into your YouTube account through your gmail address and upload your video. Copy the link to your video when you're done loading it. STEP 3. Visit http://www.bistoryproject.org/submit-your-video.html, complete the brief survey, and paste the link into the survey when prompted. #bistoriesmatter Peace, Mary Hoelscher Welcome to Bisexual Awareness Week! All week we will be posting about bisexual people and communities. We hope you will join in by writing your own posts on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or your own blog, and by sharing some of ours.
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BECAUSEBECAUSE 2024
October 4th - 6th, 2024 Murzyn Hall Columbia Heights, MN We hope you will join us for the BECAUSE Conference in fall 2024! MissionBuild, 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.
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