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BiNet USA

BiNet USA is a United States national bisexual advocacy organization. It was founded to formalize communication between United States bisexual groups founded in the decades after the birth of the modern LGBT rights movement.

As an umbrella organization and a voice for bisexual people in the United States, BiNet USA's mission is to facilitate the development of a cohesive network of bisexual communities, promote bisexual visibility, collect and distribute educational information regarding bisexuality and encourage participation and organizing on local and national levels.

Programs and campaigns

Some of the work the organization has been involved in include:

Campaigns

1993: Played a key role in the successful national campaign to include "Bi" in the March on Washington for Gay, Lesbian and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation
1995: Developed a media packet that helps generates the groundbreaking Newsweek cover story on bisexuality
Organizes an Ally Campaign, educating and holding ally organizations accountable for their actions (1998)
After the 1991 bisexual anthology Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out was forced to compete in the Lambda Literary Awards under the category Lesbian Anthology, BiNet USA led the Bisexual Community a multi year campaign eventually resulting in the addition of a Bisexual category, starting with the 2006 Awards.

Policy initiatives

Bisexual Youth Initiative (1995): a survey was developed and sent out to organizations nationwide serving GLBTQ youth. The survey report was published and sent to agencies, offering assistance in improving services.
Bisexual Rural Initiative (1996): Initiative to reach out and determine specific needs of bisexuals in rural areas.
Bisexual Health Initiative (2007): participated in the development of the report "Bisexual health: An introduction and model practices for HIV/STI prevention programming" in conjunction with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force & Fenway Community Health, including the "Bisexual Health Timeline"

Conferences (partial list)

with the Bisexual Resource Center and the Washington, DC-based Alliance of Multicultural Bisexuals co-sponsor the largest US bisexual conference to date with over 600 people in attendance. (1993)
Hosts the First National Institute on Bisexuality and HIV/AIDS (1998)
with the Lambda Literary Foundation and New York City's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Services Center co-sponsor of the "Big Bi Book Weekend" including "Bi Lines: A Celebration of Bisexual Writing in Reading, Music and Culture" a fund-raising event to benefit the Bi Writers Association (2007)
Co-sponsor of the Transcending Boundaries Conference (2005) (2006)
with the Bisexual Foundation et al. co-sponsor of the International Conference on Bisexuality (1994) (1998) (2004) (2006)when held in the United States. A member of the standing committee that is currently planning the 10th ICB to be held on the campus of the University of Rhode Island, Kingston RI USA in July 2008.

History and structure

Tracing its roots back to the 1987 march on Washington, the group further coalesced in 1990 when BiPol

convened the first National Bisexual Conference in San Francisco. At that time a conference track was dedicated to creating a national organization. The following summer the North American Bisexual Network was formalized in Seattle. Later its name would change to BiNet USA to coincide with the group becoming a nonprofit organization.

In its first decade BiNet USA worked on a variety of campaigns, national policy initiatives and hosted/co-hosted a number Conferences. Moving into its second decade, BiNet USA, like many other US charitable organizations, was hit hard when funding dried up in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the US mainland in September 2001. It was forced to lay off its paid staff and roll back its plans for new office space.

Faced with these new economic and logistical realities, BiNet USA begins to focuse more of its efforts on Internet activism using the Internet as an organizing tool for community growth. It uses a "800" phone number, it's Website, a MySpace Group and its very active ListServ, established using Yahoo Groups to facilitate communication between various and disparate bisexual communities and activists nationwide.

In 2005, after a period of progress marked by growing acceptance in both the larger LGBT & straight communities , the bisexual community suddenly came under a new attack promulgated by the publication of a study entitled “Sexual Arousal Patterns of Bisexual Men” by the controversial researcher J. Michael Bailey. This study allegedly "proved" that bisexual people did not exist. With little critical examination, various media celebrities and outlets jumped on the band-wagon and claimed to have "solved" the "problem of bisexuality" by declaring it to be non-existent.

Working with established LGBT institutions such as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force GLAAD, the Bisexual Resource Center as well as newer ones such as Bialogue, BiNet USA moved to co-ordinate a national response to this threat to the well-being of the bisexual community. It has now revitalized and updated it's 'Rapid-Response Spokesperson Team' and now monitors and responds quickly to media portrayals of the bisexual community.

Structure

BiNet USA is chartered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Florida and is based in Arlington, Virginia. Decision making is by consensus by the Board of Directors with the advise and consent of the members of the Standing Committees and the various Regional Representatives.