Getting There |
Internet Release: Booked your holidays yet? |
Bi Community News March 2000 |
Not included here: Pink Paper page 2 story May 2000 |
We want your BiCon clippings! (Especially from overseas journals) |
What They Said
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Bi Community News: March 2000 [Return to top] |
Jenni Yockney, Top Dog of BiCon 2000 answers a few concerns about taking on an International BiCon (IBC): What practical changes will it mean? Will the number of overseas visitors spoil BiCon? Will it bankrupt BiCon, what with the extra space and promo work?
In the past facilitators at IBC had had free registration and suchlike. We intend to carry on the UK BiCon tradition of not doing this, rather than adopt a practice which we think encourages people to lead sessions for the wrong reasons. It looks good for IBC not to skip a year but are there any benefits
to BiCon? ...and what about Mardi Gras? |
DELGA Magazine February 2000 |
A Different Kind Of Festival… BiCon, the annual national gathering of bisexual people of all ages and genders, is held in Manchester this August. Indeed it will be bigger than usual this year as the organisers have taken on the mantle of the 6th International BiCon, so more overseas BiCon’ers than usual are expected. But while it is the bi community’s equivalent of a Pride or Mardi Gras festival, BiCon has a very different structure. For a start, it’s a paying-only event, and nobody argues it should be free. But that’s because nobody makes a profit from running it: there are no paid staff, and any surplus after the costs are paid is given back to the poorest attenders to make the weekend more affordable to them. Run by a team of volunteers in a new city each year, and with the participants in a space together for three or four days, it has far more to do with making new friends and building a community than milking the "pink pound". The gathering is invaluable for the networking opportunities it provides. Workshops at recent BiCons have acted as the springboards for the first youth work projects focussed on the needs of young bi people; for academic research and discussion around sexuality; and for creating the monthly bi magazine BCN - a year-round lifeline for isolated bisexuals. Where the internet reduces how isolated we may feel through mailing lists like uk-bi, BiCon turns that virtual community into a three dimensional reality. But it’s not all networking and politics: in the 1999 programme the session on bisexual representation in the mass media took place alongside a space for men to discuss masturbation (fortunately not in the same room!) There are silly games workshops, and separate programme “tracks” on issues – for instance the transgender track would cover issues from “TG for beginners” to radical gender theory discussions for those who really know what they are talking about. It’s not a strictly bisexual event – which helps given the debate over what constitutes being bisexual. BiCon defines itself as being a bisexual gathering for "bisexuals, their partners, friends and allies". Provided you have come with an open mind about bisexuality and respect the different lifestyles and values of the people there, it really doesn't matter whether you are gay, straight - or even bi! BiCon 2000 will be in Manchester across the Bank Holiday weekend, 24
- 28 August. The organisers would love offers of workshops or plenary
speakers! For more information send an SAE to BM BiCon, London WC1N
3XX or email |
RainbowNetwork queer web site: February 2000 Dead link to rainbownetwork.com removed |
Brits Save World Bisexual Convention! The international bisexual conference, "IBC6", was due to take place in the Netherlands this summer. It will now be held in Manchester, England on the weekend of Manchester Mardi Gras. The event is held every two years, each time in a different continent. 2000 is Europe`s turn, but the Rotterdam team had run into difficulties in recent months. They sent out a plea for help to other European bisexual organisations and the team behind the UK-wide bisexual gathering, BiCon, stepped in. BiCon Director, Jenni Yockney commented: "We are the people best placed to take over. We had already laid the groundwork for an event with several hundred bisexuals, their friends and partners in Manchester next summer. Taking on the global BiCon just means thinking that bit bigger." BiCon will be open to the partners
and friends of bisexuals as well as bi people themselves. More information
and booking forms are available from: |
Unique issue 2: February 2000 Dead link to www.zyworld.com/UniqueMagazine/ removed |
Bisexuals on the Prowl... Fancy a long weekend away with a few like minded souls? How about a few hundred? That's the plan behind BiCon, a national gathering of bisexual people of all ages and genders, which is held in Manchester this August.. The outline of the programme includes four days of workshops, panel discussions and silly games, and an evening programme of discos, live music from performers like Tom Robinson, and arts events in collaboration with the It's Queer Up North festival. The organisers feel pretty confident that it will be a rewarding weekend away as well - this is the eighteenth year it's happened. But the gay press tend to shy away from reporting what goes on in the bi community, so Unique readers may not have come across this annual celebration of bisexual diversity. To start with, why have a separate bisexual event when there's already things like the Pride and Mardi Gras festivals? It's because a lot of bi people still don't feel very welcome at lesbian & gay events. Telling a woman you meet at a gay club that you're bisexual is still one of the fastest ways of making sure you don't pull her! At the 1999 Manchester Mardi Gras bisexuals on the march faced a barrage of abuse from the crowds thronging the streets - not from straight bigots, but from gays telling them they were filthy perverts who should get stuffed! So it's good to create a space where being bi is the norm, and we don't have to explain that part of ourselves to anyone we meet. BiCon is also invaluable for the networking opportunities it provides - workshops at recent BiCons have acted as the springboards for the first youth work projects focussed on the needs of young bi people, for academic research and discussion around sexuality, and for creating the monthly bi magazine BCN - a year-round lifeline for isolated bisexuals. Where the internet reduces how isolated we may feel through mailing lists like uk-bi, BiCon turns that virtual community into a three dimensional reality. BiCon has a fundamentally different feel from the gay festivals as well - being run by a team of volunteers in a new city each year, and with the participants in a space together for three or four days it has far more to do with making new friends and building a community than milking the "pink pound". If the event makes a profit then those in most need who attend actually get some of their money back! Of course there will be plenty of bi women reading this thinking "it all sounds very well, but my girlfriend's not bi and is she really going to trust me away for the weekend with a few hundred other bisexuals!?" All I could say is, "then bring her!" BiCon isn't about separatism in the way that for instance some womyn's organisations build walls around themselves to keep all but the 'pure' out. Each year about twenty or thirty people come who are gay or straight, but they come because either they are with their partner, or because they find the bi community a more comfortable and less judgemental place than their own peer group. BiCon defines itself as being a bisexual gathering for "bisexuals, their partners, friends and allies". Provided you have come with an open mind about bisexuality and respect the different lifestyles and values of the people there, it really doesn't matter whether you are gay, straight - or even bi! BiCon 2000 will be in Manchester across the Bank Holiday weekend, 24 - 28 August. For more information and booking forms, send an SAE to
BM BiCon, London WC1N 3XX, look on the Internet at bi.org/~bicon/bicon2000 or email
Be sure to mention you read about BiCon in "Unique"! |
November 1999 [Return to top] |
We spoke to Jenni Yockney, Director of BiCon 2000 Who are you? (Has this changed since you took on
the job?) Have you done this kind of thing before?
What did you like about BiCon 1999 (or previous ones)
that you would like to see continue? What new directions are you aiming in?
What arrangements have you made so far?
How are registrations going? How many are you aiming
for? What support can the bi community give you at this
stage? What are you hoping to get out of BiCon 2000 personally?
How would you like to see BiCon evolve over the next
5 years? The International Bisexual Conference will be happening
fairly close to the date of BiCon, how do you see this affecting BiCon?
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Internet Release: Booked Your Holidays Yet? [Return to top] |
Announcing the 6th International Bisexual Conference, Manchester, UK 24 - 28 August 2000 Have you booked your summer holiday this year? If not, then here's a
chance to have your cake and eat it. The 6th International Bisexual The Conference is open to all Bisexuals, friends and allies. More information
including booking forms for UK and USA/Canada can be found come.to/bicon/ (dead link) |
PRESS RELEASE PHONELINE FUNDRAISING - LINE BI LINE [Return to top] | PRESS RELEASE
Date: As Above Embargo: immediate
An art exhibition and auction are being organised to raise funds for the national bisexual helpline. "Line Bi Line" is seeking contributions to be displayed during the international bisexual conference BiCon in Manchester this summer, which will then be auctioned to raise funds for the national bi phoneline and related bi community causes. Submissions can be in any media - text, drawings, photography, computer art, etc - so long as they fit inside a 10" by 7" comic bag, and should be sent to Line Bi Line, BM BiCon, London WC1N 3XX. Last year a similar auction at Edinburgh BiCon produced around £500 for bisexual community causes, with contributions including original artwork of cartoons from the bisexual comic "Red Hanky Panky". For more information phone 07946 092xxx or visit come.to/bicon (dead link) ENDS. Notes for editors: o Further information is available from |
PRESS RELEASE BRITS SAVE WORLD BISEXUAL CONVENTION! [Return to top] |
PRESS RELEASE
A UK team has stepped in to save the premier bisexual event in the world from collapse. This will make BiCon 2000 the biggest bisexual event in Britain ever. The international bisexual conference, "IBC6", was due to happen in the Netherlands this summer. It will now be held in Manchester, England on 24 to 28 August: the weekend that the Manchester Mardi Gras festival was to be staged. The event is held every two years, each time on a different continent.
2000 will be Europe's turn, but the Rotterdam team had run into BiCon Director, Jenni Yockney commented, "We are the people best placed to take over. We had already laid the groundwork for an event with several hundred bisexuals, their friends and partners in Manchester next summer. Taking on the global BiCon just means thinking that bit bigger." BiCon will be open to the partners and friends of bisexuals as well as
bi people themselves. More information and booking forms are available
from the web site come.to/bicon/ (dead link) by emailing ENDS. Notes for editors: |
PRESS RELEASE BiCon Comes To Manchester [Return to top] |
The annual national bisexual convention BiCon will be held in Manchester over the August Bank Holiday weekend, 24 - 28 August 2000. The residential weekend attracts hundreds of bisexual people, their partners (gay or straight) and friends from across the UK every year for a programme of live music, discos, workshops, games and networking. BiCon 2000 runs for an extra day since it coincides with the Bank Holiday. This will be the 18th BiCon, and is the first time it has been held in Manchester. Further information is available from BM BiCon, London WC1N 3XX, on the
web at bi.org or by emailing ENDS. Note to editors: |
BICON® is a registered trade mark of BiCon Continuity Ltd, and is used with permission.
BICON® is a registered trade mark of BiCon Continuity Ltd, and is used with permission.