Bisexual Awareness Month

[InPulaCuSatelitul]

Apparently we’re celebrating this at work, which seems to consist of endless blogs about being bisexual and being “visible.” Fine, no problem with that, but why do I need to know in the workplace? Does it affect how they do their job?

I’m not being goady, I genuinely don’t see why I need to know.

Why is there?

I really don't care what other people do in bed or who they are/are not attracted to (as long as legal)

I would!

If a colleague would mention something that they did with their partner it wouldn't cause a single ripple, same sex/opposite sex. Nobody cares. If they start talking about bedroom stuff in the workplace then yes, that would be frowned on and rightly so. It wouldn't matter who or what their partner was, it's not for work.

Keep that chat for your mates, colleagues don't need to hear it, not from anybody.

I'd rather people were just accepting of people without their sexuality coming into it.

I've changed my mind, this thread has convinced me that one month isn't enough. Let's make it two...

The question here is why is this at work.

People have the right to any view they want to have.

They can be political lesbians that think women shouldn't speak to men. They can be Orthodox Jews, Catholics, or Zoarostrians, or even monks or nuns. They can be Marxists or Mormon polygamists. They can be people who write blogs about polyamory. They can be guys that cheat on their wives.

Why would their employer, whether they are working for an accounting firm, or MacDonalds, or a web design firm, think they should tell them anything about what to think about anything?

What kind of expertise or moral right do they have to do that?

I meant if a straight person mentions going out for a meal or something with their partner. Not bedroom talk. But some people only see gay/bi relationships in terms of what they do in the bedroom.

These things tend to be employee led in almost all cases. They happen because employees all for it because they want to confront prejudice and educate people who want to learn more.
My last employer used to regularly bring in interesting people to give lectures on their subject of interest which we the only meetings people actually choose to go to.

Biphobia is still very prevalent, as evidenced by this thread.

It is biphobic to conflate someone's sexuality purely with what genitals they prefer and what they do in the bedroom. When a straight person at work is very visible about their sexuality (eg a man talking freely about their upcoming wedding to a woman) nobody says "I don't need to think about you putting your penis in your wife's vagina, this is a workplace!!"

Visibility is purely about people feeling free to be who they are at work, whether that's bisexual or a Manchester United fan or into cycling. It's not about shoving anything anyone's face or talking about their sexual preferences in the cafeteria.

To the bisexual people on here who say that biphobia doesn't' exist- I'm glad you've never experienced it, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Well you could happily talk about that where I work, you'd probably be asked where you went, what you ate, etc. but there wouldn't be a ripple of interest in the sex of your partner - just what they ate and whether they enjoyed it. People in our office are obsessed with this.

Bedroom stuff has no place in the office, for anyone.

This is what I was trying to say but you put it better than I did.

Me too! 👏 👏 👏

You could talk about getting married - whoever you're marrying, that's not an issue, not in our place anyway. You'd just be congratulated, you're a colleague and people would be happy for you.

And Vulvuary and Titmas to look forward to.

I'm LGBT+ but I swear even I am SICK to death of all the special days we have - Bi awareness, Lesbian visibilty, Pride, Pride month, History, trans this/that/the other - our work place has started in with asexual blah blah too...

It's too much. But the Pride group at work is run by a load of 20 somethings who love a label ( while declaring labels are over) and would rather spend time on this stuff than actual work.

Great! Then you don't need bisexual visibility month.

But as evidenced by the many people on this thread alone who have said some variation of "what you do in the bedroom is your business" it is still very much needed for many.

Having said that, yes biphobia is still prevalent both from straight people and gay people - I just don't see declaring another day is going to help...

Bisexual people face discrimination from all directions - heterosexual, lesbian & gay, the 'anti woke' etc

I can honestly say I can't think of an instance of being on the receiving end of something malicious specifically because of being Bi, but I did have a good chuckle at overhearing gossip about how I'd "come out as a lesbian" because they found out I'm in a relationship with another woman.

I don't know if that's inherently Biphobic, Homophobic, or just generalised ignorance, but I do think there are still a fair few people around who have such pre-set ideas about the nature of things that a wee reminder/refresher here and there isn't necessarily a bad thing.

And yes, the one thing that does really anger me, is the persistent notion that all Bi people are insatiable sex maniacs, destined to cheat purely because we have a wider pool of potential partners. It's especially risible coming from straight women given how straight men do actually behave. It never seems to occur to them that their hetero DH/partner is every bit as capable of shagging someone else as any Bi partner. I don't "crave" or "miss" sex with men just because I'm in a relationship with a woman. I have a perfectly fulfilling sex life with my partner. It's them I want to be with, not some hypothetical man just because he has a penis.

Too bloody true

Whilst I agree with you on the trans front, I really don’t think it helps anyone to keep demanding attention. Pride already has a whole month, which includes bisexuals, we don’t need more of this pushing, it just gets peoples backs up.

What gets my back up is the suggestion that there can be too much visibility for anything that isn't heterosexuality.

Nobody thinks that heterosexuality is being "pushed" on us every single day, because it's the socially accepted cultural norm. Anyone who isn't straight tries for some visibility and suddenly its too much and gets people's backs up.

The "what you do in the bedroom is your business" would be applied across the board though - it would be very much frowned on for anybody to talk about their sex lives in the office.

Perhaps I'm missing the point because general acceptance of everyone is standard at work so there's nothing to 'push against'?

When a straight person at work is very visible about their sexuality (eg a man talking freely about their upcoming wedding to a woman) nobody says "I don't need to think about you putting your penis in your wife's vagina, this is a workplace!!"

As if anyone would say that to a gay or bi person talking about their wedding either! But don’t worry, if they did, there are discrimination laws already in place that would mean your workplace would deal with it, or you can take them to court.

Sometimes people will offend you, no one ever promised you a world where it wouldn’t happen, some people are dicks, these events won’t change them, it will just turn others off because they’ll get sick of hearing about it. One month for Pride is already more than enough.

You are missing the point yes.

Bi visibility month isn't about talking about sexuality in the office- but the suggestion that it is (as evidenced by many poster here) shows why we need it.

Sadly the general acceptance of everyone is not standard at work, or anywhere, and if you think that it is then you are being wilfully obtuse I'm afraid.

Ok, if you don’t believe there can be too much exposure, why do YOU think support for LGB people has declined in recent years?

By the way, there’s no month long celebrations for straight people, so I’m not sure what you mean about no one getting sick of that? Most people are straight, so obviously you will see that represented more, there’s nothing wrong with that.