Bisexual organisations unite for billboard campaign during Bi Visibility Week

18th September 2020

Three leading bisexual organisations have united for a billboard campaign during Bi Visibility Week.

On Wednesday (16 September), this year’s Bi Visibility Week kicked off, and to show just how visible the bisexual community can be, three leading bisexual organisations, Biscuit, the Bisexual Index and Bi Survivors Network, alongside Just Like Us, have teamed up with OPEN Media for a massive billboard campaign across the United Kingdom.

For the campaign, 24 billboards will be displayed in prominent areas across the UK including Boxpark Wembley and Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester City Centres. It’s estimated that half a million people will see the billboards.

The billboards carry a simple but incredibly important message to highlight the issues surrounding bi-erasure, noting that 50% of the LGBTQ+ community identify as bisexual.

The organisations are encouraging people who see the billboards to take selfies with them and use the hashtags, #BiVisibleBiProud and #BiVisibilityDay to raise awareness for the bi+ community.

Some of the main locations with the billboards can be found here.

Speaking about the campaign, Lois Shearing, the founder of the Bi Survivors Network, a support and advocacy network for bi+ survivors of domestic/sexual violence, said: “We’re so excited for everyone to see this celebration of bi+ identities as they go about their lives.

“Given that all Pride events and most in-person community groups have had to be put on hold this year, this is a great way to remind people of bi+ issues, as well as reminding the bi+ community that even if we haven’t seen each other in a while, the community is still there waiting for them.

“I also hope that other companies are inspired to follow OPEN Media’s example; allyship isn’t taking up space in a parade, it’s sharing your resources with the communities that need them.

“I can’t wait for everyone to see these billboards and to take pictures in front of them as their beautiful, proud, radical bi+ selves. I also hope the message encourages others to question why bisexuality is still considered taboo and is so invisible, despite us making up the largest demographic within the LGBT+ community.”

Marcus Morgan, the director of the Bisexual Index, an organisation which provides support and resources for UK bisexual activists, said: “Visibility is essential for all minorities – especially bi+ people.

“It shows people that we can be anyone and everywhere. For bisexual people, the greatest thing about increasing visibility is it gives people a chance to spot the most important bisexual of us all – the one in the mirror.

“These billboards will give countless bisexual people a chance to glimpse that, and reflect on how they themselves identify. I’m excited to see them on the streets and with proud bi+ people grabbing bi pride selfies all over social media.”

And Libby Baxter-Williams, a longtime bisexual activist and director of Biscuit, which supports anyone who experiences biphobia and misogyny, who spearheaded the campaign said: “With a big in-person celebration off the cards this year, we’re thrilled that OPEN Media have partnered with us to make such a huge statement.

“Bisexuality shouldn’t be taboo in 2020. That’s why we’re promoting this simple message: Bi Visible, Bi Proud. We exist, we’re not ashamed, and we’re not going anywhere.”