I’m a firm believer in the power of storytelling to change hearts and minds. And I know that I can’t speak for all bisexual people, so telling my own story—while valuable—is not One challenge facing bisexual
enough. That’s why I believe in the power
people is that you can’t recognize
of the anthology and of community-based
us just by looking. Therefore, visual
publications such as the Bi Women Quarterly.
representation takes on particular
We set the stage, and get as wide-ranging a
importance. Signs, t-shirts, pins,
collection of people as possible to step up
and posters help to make us
and share their experiences. Collectively,
visible and find each other.
we can help people to understand us.
In the days before most people had access to the internet, it was much harder to find each other, and to find resources. This book, with editions in 1995, 1997 and 1999, was an attempt to fill this gap. It consisted mostly of listings of bi or bi-welcoming groups around the world, accompanied by photos, interesting quotations, and a chapter called “Why Bi?” in which a couple dozen people explained why they used this label.
—Robyn Ochs