BiNet USA

Last updated
BiNet USA
Bi/Net USA, The Bisexual Network of the USA Inc.
Formation1990;33 years ago (1990)
36-4005814 [1]
Legal status 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization [1]
Headquarters Arlington, Virginia, U.S.
Faith Cheltenham [2]
Revenue (2020)
174,000 [1]
Formerly called
North American Bisexual Network

BiNet USA (officially Bi/Net USA, The Bisexual Network of the USA Inc. [3] ) was an American national nonprofit bisexual community whose mission was to "facilitate the development of a cohesive network of bisexual communities, promote bisexual visibility, and collect and distribute educational information regarding bisexuality. Until 2020, BiNet USA provided a national network for bisexual organizations and individuals across the United States, and encouraged participation and organizing on local and national levels." [4] They claimed to be the oldest national bisexuality organization in the United States. [4] [5] In 2020, all of the content on BiNet USA's website was replaced with a statement that the BiNet USA president, Faith Cheltenham, now identified as Christian conservative and was walking away from progressive politics entirely. [6]

Contents

Programs and campaigns

Some of the work the organization has been involved in includes the following.

Campaigns

Policy initiatives

Conferences (partial list)

History and structure

Tracing its roots back to the 1987 Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, 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. This first conference was attended by over 450 people from 20 states and 5 countries, and the mayor of San Francisco sent a proclamation "commending the bisexual rights community for its leadership in the cause of social justice", and declaring June 23, 1990 Bisexual Pride Day. [9]

The following summer, the North American Bisexual Network was formalized in Seattle. Later its name would change to BiNet USA which coincided 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 U.S. charitable organizations, was hit hard when funding dried up in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the US mainland in September 2001.[ citation needed ] 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 focus more of its efforts on Internet activism using the Internet as an organizing tool for community growth. It uses an "800" phone number, website, MySpace page, Facebook Group, and ListServ, established using Yahoo Groups, to facilitate communication between various and disparate bisexual, pansexual and fluid communities and activists nationwide.

In 2005, after a period of progress marked by growing acceptance in both the larger LGBT and straight communities, [10] the bisexual community suddenly came under a new attack [11] 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 men did not exist. With little critical examination, various media celebrities and outlets jumped on the bandwagon [12] and claimed to have "solved" the "problem of bisexuality" by declaring it to be non-existent, at least in men.

Working with other 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 its 'Rapid-Response Spokesperson Team' and now monitors and responds quickly to media portrayals of the bisexual community.

Starting in 2008 under the leadership of its then president Wendy Curry, who is herself a software engineer, BiNet USA greatly expanded its use of Internet activism taking advantage of the flowering of a variety of social networking venues including LiveJournal, MySpace and Facebook.

In September 2009, BiNet USA expanded its board of directors, making Gary B. North the new president. [13]

In October 2009, BiNet USA endorsed the National Equality March and helped organize a contingent of several bisexual groups that participated in the march. [14]

In 2014, BiNet USA declared the seven days surrounding Celebrate Bisexuality Day to be Bi Awareness Week, also called Bisexual Awareness Week. [15] [16] The week begins the Sunday before Celebrate Bisexuality Day. [17]

Structure

BiNet USA was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in Florida on February 14, 1994. [3] It has 501(c)(3) status. [1] Its headquarters are in Arlington, Virginia. Decision-making is by consensus by the board of directors with the advice and consent of the members of the Standing Committees and the various Regional Representatives.

Leadership

BiNet USA was overseen by a board of directors. The members of the board of directors at the time of BiNet USA's re-branding from a progressive bisexual advocacy organization to a conservative nonprofit were as follows. [2]

Bisexual pride flag, which is in the public domain Bisexual Pride Flag.svg
Bisexual pride flag, which is in the public domain

On April 28, 2020, BiNet USA president Faith Cheltenham claimed via the organization's Twitter account that they own sole copyright to the bisexual pride flag, [18] stating that they would be restricting the flag's use without direct authorization. [19] The tweets subsequently received many critical responses, including questioning the validity of a copyright claim, as previous documentation had established the flag as being within the public domain. [20] [21] Their original Twitter account was deactivated on April 29, 2020, and a new account was made and pointed to by Cheltenham. [22] [23]

On April 29, 2020, Dr. Lauren Beach gave a statement on her Twitter in which she stated that, as a board member, she was not consulted about BiNet USA's decision and that she does not agree with it. A day later, she confirmed that the board had an emergency meeting on April 30, 2020, and that a statement is to be released soon. [24] On May 1, Faith Cheltenham released a statement prepared by the BiNet USA's board onto the official blog page, [25] as well as tweeting it from the, now reactivated, official Twitter account. [26] Also on May 1, Beach stated she had resigned from the board. [27] Two days later, Cheltenham posted a statement that she had asked Juba Kalamka to be president of BiNet and that he would do so as of January 21, 2021. [28] The same day, BiNet USA posted a statement that began "As of May 2020, BiNet USA CEASES AND DESISTS OF ALL USE OF THE BISEXUAL PRIDE FLAG". [29] [30]

On May 25, 2020, BiNet USA's Twitter reversed its position, stating "We strongly reject and refute any assertion that BiNet USA claimed, or ever claimed the bisexual pride flag." [31] [32]

In November 2020, Cheltenham announced that she would retain control of the organization and identified as a conservative. She stated that she "and all bi content" would no longer be on mainstream social media. [6] [33]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PFLAG</span> Non-profit organisation in the US

PFLAG is the United States' first and largest organization uniting parents, families, and allies with people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+). PFLAG National is the national organization, which provides support to the PFLAG network of local chapters. PFLAG has over 400 chapters across the United States, with more than 200,000 members and supporters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bisexual flag</span> Pride flag

The bisexual flag is a pride flag representing bisexuality, bisexual individuals and the bisexual community. The pink stripe represents attraction to the same gender, while the blue stripe represents attraction to the opposite gender. The purple stripe, the resulting "overlap" of the blue and pink stripes, represents attraction to all genders, including non-binary people and those of other gender identities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT culture</span> Common culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people

LGBT culture is a culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. It is sometimes referred to as queer culture, while the term gay culture may be used to mean either "LGBT culture" or homosexual culture specifically.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brenda Howard</span> Bisexual rights activist (1946–2005)

Brenda Howard was an American bisexual rights activist and sex-positive feminist. The Brenda Howard Memorial Award is named for her.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bisexual Resource Center</span> Nonprofit organization

The Bisexual Resource Center (BRC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, that has served the bisexual community since 1985. Originally known as The East Coast Bisexual Network, it incorporated in 1989 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and changed its name to the Bisexual Resource Center in 1993.

The bisexual community, also known as the bi+, m-spec, bisexual/pansexual, or bi/pan/fluid community, includes members of the LGBT community who identify as bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, polysexual and sexually fluid. As opposed to hetero- or homosexual people, people in the bisexual community experience attraction to more than one gender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francisco Pride</span> Annual LGBTQ+ event in San Francisco, California

The San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Celebration, usually known as San Francisco Pride, is a pride parade and festival held at the end of June most years in San Francisco, California, to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and their straight allies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robyn Ochs</span>

Robyn Ochs is an American bisexual activist, professional speaker, and workshop leader. Her primary fields of interest are gender, sexuality, identity, and coalition building. She is the editor of the Bisexual Resource Guide, Bi Women Quarterly, and the anthology Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World. Ochs, along with Professor Herukhuti, co-edited the anthology Recognize: The Voices of Bisexual Men.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celebrate Bisexuality Day</span> Annual holiday observed on September 23

Celebrate Bisexuality Day is observed annually on September 23 to recognize and celebrate bisexual people, the bisexual community, and the history of bisexuality.

Bialogue, a portmanteau of the words bisexual and dialogue, is an American activist group that started in New York City, working on issues of local, national, and international interest to the bisexual, fluid, pansexual, queer-identified communities and their allies. Bialogue's mission is to dispel myths and stereotypes about bisexuality, address biphobia and bisexual erasure, educate the public on the facts and realities of bisexuality and advocate for the bisexual community. Its slogan is "Taking Action not just Offense".

<i>Bi Any Other Name</i> 1991 anthology

Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out, published by Riverdale Avenue Books, is an anthology edited by Loraine Hutchins and Lani Kaʻahumanu, and is one of the seminal books in the history of the modern bisexual rights movement. It holds a place that is in many ways comparable to that held by Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique in the feminist movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT pride</span> Positive stance toward LGBT people

LGBT pride is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to shame and social stigma, is the predominant outlook that bolsters most LGBT rights movements. Pride has lent its name to LGBT-themed organizations, institutes, foundations, book titles, periodicals, a cable TV channel, and the Pride Library.

The history of LGBT residents in California, which includes centuries prior to the 20th, has become increasingly visible recently with the successes of the LGBT rights movement. In spite of the strong development of early LGBT villages in the state, pro-LGBT activists in California have campaigned against nearly 170 years of especially harsh prosecutions and punishments toward gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bisexuality in the United States</span> Overview about bisexuality in the United States of America

The first English-language use of the word "bisexual" to refer to sexual orientation occurred in 1892.

New York has a long history of LGBT community building, activism, and culture which extends to the early history of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT culture in San Francisco</span> Culture of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in San Francisco, United States

The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in San Francisco is one of the largest and most prominent LGBT communities in the United States, and is one of the most important in the history of American LGBT rights and activism alongside New York City. The city itself has been described as "the original 'gay-friendly city'". LGBT culture is also active within companies that are based in Silicon Valley, which is located within the southern San Francisco Bay Area.

National Bisexual Liberation Group was a bisexual rights advocacy organization formed in 1972 in New York City and active in the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of bisexuality</span> Aspect of bisexuality history

The history of bisexuality concerns the history of the bisexual sexual orientation. Ancient and medieval history of bisexuality, when the term did not exist as such, consists of anecdotes of sexual behaviour and relationships between people of the same and different sexes. A modern definition of bisexuality began to take shape in the mid-19th century within three interconnected domains of knowledge: biology, psychology and sexuality. In modern Western culture, the term bisexual was first defined in a binary approach as a person with romantic or sexual attraction to both men and women. The term bisexual is defined later in the 20th century as a person who is sexually and/or romantically attracted to both males and females, or as a person who is sexually and/or romantically attracted to people regardless of sex or gender identity, which is sometimes termed pansexuality.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "," Tax Exempt Organization Search. Internal Revenue Service. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Our Board Archived 2020-04-29 at the Wayback Machine ". BiNet. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  3. 1 2 "BiNet/USA, The BiSexual Network of the USA Inc." Florida Division of Corporations. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  4. 1 2 "All About BiNet USA including the Fine Print". BiNet USA. Archived from the original on 2019-01-20. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  5. ↑ Summers, Claude J. (2009-10-20). "BiNet USA". glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture. glbtq, Inc. Archived from the original on 2014-02-20.
  6. 1 2 Cheltenham, Faith (November 12, 2020). "Press Release". BiNet USA. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  7. ↑ Miller, Marshall; André, Amy; Ebin, Julie; Bessonova, Leona (2007). "Bisexual Health: An Introduction and Model Proactices for HIV/STI Prevention Programming" (PDF). National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute, The Fenway Institute at Fenway Community Health, BiNet USA. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2007.
  8. ↑ "Timeline: The Bisexual Health Movement in the US". BiNet USA. Archived from the original on October 22, 2019. Retrieved June 10, 2007.
  9. ↑ "BiNet USA". BiNet USA. Archived from the original on 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2019-08-11.
  10. ↑ "New York Area Bisexual Network: A Brief History of NYC's Bisexual Community". Nyabn.org. 2001-07-12. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  11. ↑ "Bialogue Taking Action: Countering attempts to invalidate bisexuality". Bialogue.org. 2005-10-09. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  12. ↑ Archived April 19, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  13. ↑ "BiNet USA's Blog: BiNet USA Expands Board of Directors". Binetusa.blogspot.com. 2009-09-15. Archived from the original on 2014-12-17. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  14. ↑ "BiNet USA's Blog: [BiNet USA]: National Equality March Washington DC October 10-11 2009". Binetusa.blogspot.com. 2009-09-15. Archived from the original on 2011-10-06. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  15. ↑ "Bi Brigade presents: Bisexual Awareness Week! - Proud Queer (PQ Monthly - Daily Online)". PQ Monthly. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  16. ↑ "Second annual Bisexual Awareness Week to held Sept. 20 – 26; events across U.S. and online". LGBT Weekly. February 14, 2011. Archived from the original on September 21, 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Angry African Girls United - LGBTQIA+ Holidays for the remained of the year". Angryafricangirlsunited.tumblr.com. March 17, 2014. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  18. ↑ BiNet USA [@BiNetUSA] (April 28, 2020). "The copyright of the flag is solely BiNet USA's; it does not belong to any one founder and no founder can approve its use without the President and/or board approval. And yet @Target where can we send a letter? Cause you sell #biprideflags too? Where is our cut?" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  19. ↑ Beach, Lauren [@laurenbbeach] (April 29, 2020). "I want to clarify these are the views of #BiNet President @thefayth, who also was the person tweeting this content earlier today from the now-defunct BiNet twitter. I do not share the view that #BiNet owns or should seek to license the #bisexual pride flag" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  20. ↑ "This Organization Wants to Be Paid for Use of the Bi Pride Flag". www.out.com. April 29, 2020. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  21. ↑ Bollinger, Alex (April 29, 2020). "A group is threatening legal action & demanding payment for use of the bisexual pride flag". LGBTQ Nation. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  22. ↑ Mason, Jessica (April 29, 2020). "No, You Can't Copyright the Bi Pride Flag". The Mary Sue.
  23. ↑ Cheltenham, Faith [@thefayth] (April 29, 2020). "Talking to @binetcollective member about ensuring that folks know the true story of the pride flag for bisexuals; and the need to divest from support for pro profit work. To be clear this is an executive action I made as #BiNet President and remain in conversation with our board" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  24. ↑ Beach, Lauren [@laurenbbeach] (April 30, 2020). "The board has convened an emergency meeting today and will issue a statement after the meeting ASAP" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  25. ↑ "About the bisexual pride flag...: A statement prepared by the board of BiNet USA". BiNet USA. May 1, 2020. Archived from the original on May 2, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  26. ↑ BiNet USA [@BiNetUSA] (May 1, 2020). "About the bisexual pride flag... A statement prepared by the board of BiNet USA. MYTH: The Bisexual Pride flag is open for use by everyone for any purpose, including the confederate flag" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  27. ↑ Beach, Lauren [@laurenbbeach] (May 1, 2020). "Update: A statement about the bisexual pride flag was posted on the #BiNet USA blog by Faith Cheltenham (link below). I am unsure if any additional statement will be forthcoming. I have resigned from the BiNet board" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  28. ↑ Cheltenham, Faith (May 3, 2020). "Statement by thefayth About the Bisexual Community". Archived from the original on May 4, 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2020. I, thefayth, Faith Cheltenham, have asked Juba Kalamka to step up into the presidency of BiNet USA; he's agreed to begin serving on January 21, 2021.
  29. ↑ Cheltenham, Faith (May 3, 2020). "Statement on Use of Bisexual Pride Flag". BiNet USA. Archived from the original on May 4, 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2020. As of May 2020, BiNet USA CEASES AND DESISTS OF ALL USE OF THE BISEXUAL PRIDE FLAG
  30. ↑ "BiNet USA president to depart after claiming ownership over bi Pride flag".
  31. ↑ BiNet USA [@binetusa] (May 25, 2020). "We said what we said, again. BY MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF BINET USA Last communication about this flag controversy: We strongly reject and refute any assertion that BiNet USA claimed, or ever claimed the bisexual pride flag" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  32. ↑ BiNet USA (May 25, 2020). ""We said what we said, again."". Twitter. Archived from the original on May 26, 2020. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  33. ↑ BiNet USA [@binetusa] (November 12, 2020). "...Official statement from Faith Cheltenham, ex" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.