#bisexual activists

Apphia Kumar will be a keynote speaker at ‪the BECAUSE 2016 Conference

Owning her bisexual label since she was 19, Apphia is warrior, a survivor, the voice in the room reminding it to be bi-inclusive refusing to tip-toe around biphobia and bi erasure, a hugaholic, a poet who loves to sing. She founded an LGBTQ support group in her hometown in Pune, the bustling high-tech hub 100 miles outside Mumbai India called “Birds of a Feather”; moderates and hosts BOZ an online group for Bisexuals in/from India; contributed to “Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals around the World”; and is currently the Board Chair for SALGA-NYC, New York’s largest South Asian LGBTQ organization.

Apphia is the first known asylee who was granted asylum in the USA as an out bisexual and is currently working on Immigration Issues through the Bisexual experience.  ​

Please join us for BECAUSE(ie “Bisexual Empowerment Conference, A Uniting Supportive Experience”) the annual Midwestern USA Bisexual+ Conference this weekend Friday April 8th thru Sunday April10th at the University of Minnesota in the Coffman Memorial Union, 3rd floor, Minneapolis MN USA.

 NOTE:It is very important to us that this conference is accessible to everyone. Because of this, we ask that you think critically about what you’re able to contribute; whether that’s more than $70 or less. Pay more if you can, less if you can’t! No one will be turned away due to inability to pay.

Looking forward to seeing EVERYONE this weekend!

Andrea Jenkins Bi Identified Trans Poet, Oral Historian + Activist:  Keynote Speaker at the 2015 BECAUSE Conference

“I am proud of my intersecting identities as a bisexual transgender woman of color. I recognize that I live at the margins of mainstream society, even within loosely formed LGBT communities.” ~ Ms. Andre Jenkins from “The Importance of Being Earnest: Why Truth Matters”August 2015

Andrea Jenkins, Board Chair at Minneapolis Minnesota’s Intermedia Arts is an artist-activist, and award-winning poet and writer. She has been awarded fellowships from the Bush Foundation, Intermedia Arts, and the Playwrights Center; has won writing and performance grants and scholarships from the Givens Foundation, Intermedia Arts, The Loft, the Napa Valley Writers Conference, and Pillsbury House Theater.

Ms. Jenkins a Bi-identified Trans Woman of Color (BiWoc + BiToC) who was a keynoter at the Midwestern USA’s 2015 BECAUSE Conference.  She is the co-curator of Queer Voices at Intermedia Arts, the longest-running series of its kind in the nation, and currently works collecting oral histories from hundreds of people in the Upper Midwest transgender community as an Oral Historian in the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies.

People of Pride #13: Brenda Howard

Brenda Howard was, by all standards, a badass. Regarded as the mother of modern-day pride, Howard worked furiously to organize pride events and groups around the country that celebrated the inclusion of bisexual people (not just Gay & Lesbian) in the LGBTQ+ community. Learn more about all of Brenda Howard’s activist badassery here:

• https://www.advocate.com/bisexuality/2014/06/17/remembering-brenda-ode-‘mother-pride’
  
• https://www.autostraddle.com/idol-worship-brenda-howard-bisexual-curmudgeon-and-mother-of-pride-178878/

Every day in June, I will be posting an illustration that highlights an LGBT+ activist who I believe everyone should know. This series will be in no way comprehensive, & will include a multitude of identities, races, sexualities, and genders.