Imagining Bi+ Futures This Bi+ Visibility Day 

I’ll never forget the energy in the room at Sydney Bi+ Network’s first Bi+ Visibility Day event, BiLines, back in 2019. With standing room only at Redfern Town Hall, we gathered for our storytelling event to celebrate bi+ people and communities, our unique experiences, and joys.

At one point I remember making a beeline to the kitchen space adjacent to the room we hired to have a big cry. I was full of emotions I couldn’t hold in anymore, overwhelmed with deep love and gratitude for our community and how we cultivated a space to be our authentic selves. 

I wasn’t alone in that kitchen for long. Just moments later, I was joined by someone else who was just as teary as I was. Through my sobs, I asked if they wanted a hug, and wasting no time after they enthusiastically said yes, I wrapped my arms around them. I don’t know how long we stood there hugging.

Creating Bi+ Magic

However, I can vividly remember what it felt like to be myself unapologetically in the company of a vivacious community and to sit with the range of emotions that came with it all. 

Though the next two BiLines looked and felt very different, being online for COVID, we still managed to recreate that bi+ magic we generated in the first year. We reminded ourselves of just how important it is to reflect on and share the joyous parts that come with being bi+.

Bi+ communities experience disparities across a number of health and wellbeing areas, something that we, as advocates, discuss a lot. Equally important though, is to highlight the infinite wonderful parts of being bi+. 

And now we are here again. 

Our fourth BiLines is happening on 24 September in a hybrid format, online and in person at the NSW Teachers Federation Conference Centre.

Bi+ Liberation

This year’s event theme is Imagining Bi+ Futures and will focus on exploring what bi+ liberation looks like, building a just world for us all, and how we can work together to get there. It will give us an opportunity to think creatively about the world we want to live in, elevate lived experiences, and connect with each other. 

In a reflection about the event Barbarella Karpinski said, “Bi+ Futures is about creating our own awesome future beyond the negative stereotypes and relationship expectations of others. We have the power to create our own dreams and destiny.” 

Will I be overcome with emotion at BiLines again this year? Most likely yes. Do I mind? Not one bit.

I can’t wait for that bi+ buzzing energy that moves through the room – virtual and in person – when we come together. The exhilaration and comfort that comes with being amongst people who feel like home. I can’t wait to dream with my community about the future that could be, and how we can make it a reality. 

BiLines: Imagining Bi+ Futures is happening on Saturday 24 September, from 2:00pm AEST. Visit Eventbrite for more information and to register for your free ticket. BiLines: Imagining Bi+ Futures is part of the upcoming Stand Bi Us Forum. 

Amber Loomis  (they/them) is a proud bi+ genderqueer human rights advocate, and organiser with the Sydney Bi+ Network.