Goodbye from Bi’s of Colour

Bi’s of Colour was formed at BiCon London in 2010 – a year after a racist incident before BiCon 2009 by one of the organisers.  A few of us talked that year about what it would look like to have a safer space for the minority within a minority at the longest running bisexual event in the world. Back then there were only five bisexuals of colour in attendance at BiCon in Worcester, but the following year there were many more.  Twelve of us sat in a room, shared, cried and made connections.  It was the start of something special.  

Jacq produced the Bi’s of Colour History report in 2015; the first of its kind to look in detail at our lives. https://bisexualresearch.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/bis-of-colour-survey-report.pdf  We are often erased in studies about Black people, and we are also erased in studies about LGBT+ people too.  We are very proud that the information is out there now.

We spent the next decade bringing the world information about our lives; providing practical support to our members, and having stalls at LGBT+ events where we sadly faced biphobia and racism in droves. But we also found our white allies who supported us and spoke up when others tried to silence us.  We owe a debt of gratitude to those people who did not look the other way, who helped us raise funds, and who spread the word about our work. Special thanks go to UNISON, the trade union who helped us produce a lot of our physical media, Leeds Bi group and BiPride who were supportive during rough times.  The death of Nila, one of our founders, has added to our sadness of closing, but Nila wanted us to go out with something solid, and was actively involved with this event.

Bi’s of Colour is now closed, but as a parting gift to our members, we are offering them free books on bisexuality – of their own choosing, up to the value of £50 per person. We have a link to Wordery (https://wordery.com/search?term=Bisexuality) , a more ethical alternative to Amazon. Choose your bi books, email us at bisofcolour@gmail.com with the details and your address. We will do the rest.

This book gift is for bi+ folks who are Black or people of colour in the UK only. There is no cash alternative.

Please note: If it is unsafe for you to receive bisexuality books in the post, please email us and we can work out alternative methods of delivery – e.g Drop-boxes, E-books etc.

We also have provisional plans for a send off picnic/meal in the Manchester area soon. We will keep everyone posted on this.

Please share this widely.