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BiNet USA
BiNet USA (officially Bi/Net USA, The Bisexual Network of the USA Inc.) 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." They claimed to be the oldest national bisexuality organization in the United States. 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.
Some of the work the organization has been involved in includes the following.
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.
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, 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 men did not exist. With little critical examination, various media celebrities and outlets jumped on the bandwagon 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.
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BiNet USA
BiNet USA (officially Bi/Net USA, The Bisexual Network of the USA Inc.) 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." They claimed to be the oldest national bisexuality organization in the United States. 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.
Some of the work the organization has been involved in includes the following.
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.
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, 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 men did not exist. With little critical examination, various media celebrities and outlets jumped on the bandwagon 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.
