Today, September 23rd, is Celebrate Bisexuality Day! This day is but one day in Bisexual Awareness Week which started on September 19th and which I've been celebrating all week on Instagram.

If you don't follow me there, here is my first post of this week:

 

 

 

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A post shared by Renée Yoxon (@reneeyoxon)

In case you didn't know before, I'm bisexual! I came out when I was 17 and have always identified as either bisexual or queer. My "root" was definitely the book Tipping The Velvet by Sarah Waters which I read when I was in high school and loved so much that my then-boyfriend recorded the made-for-TV movie adaptation to a VHS tape for me (but the movie pales in comparison to the book).

Being bisexual feels sacred and important to me because it was my entry point to all things LGBTQ. I started going to my campus "GLBT" group events when I was in my first year of University and it was there that I met my first trans, genderqueer, and gender non-conforming friends. Without those experiences, I don't know where I would be now.

Even though I've identified as bisexual for over 15 years, it sometimes still feels like a dirty word. You barely ever hear it on television or read it in books. Whenever you do see it on television it's always hypersexualized as some gross dude's girl-on-girl fantasy.

That's why when I saw Rosa Diaz come out as bi on Brooklyn 99, I was stunned at how ernest and personal the moment was. She wasn't subject to the male gaze, she was just living her truth. I posted about that moment on Instagram as well:

 

 

 

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A post shared by Renée Yoxon (@reneeyoxon)

Representation matters. Seeing ourselves in the media we consume makes us feel like whole, intentional, and important human beings. That's why I love and support the Bi Pan Library, a US-based media archive and online directory dedicated to increasing hands-on interaction with Bi/Pan/m-spec history and culture, and providing resources for all creators shaping modern queer history.

The librarians at the Bi Pan Library work tirelessly to document as many books, podcasts, magazines, and other pieces of media that represent bi culture.

So as Bi Awareness Week wraps up, I want to let all the baby bi's out there know that I love being bisexual. Bisexuality isn't being "confused", it isn't transphobic, it's a rich and important sexuality, just like any other.