Bisexual history 101: everything they didn't teach you at school
This LGBTQ+ History Month, we get nerdy about the importance of bi+ history - and how to swot up...
Yep, I have a history lesson for you this week, but before you hit snooze, hear me out: because bi+ visibility can be just as powerful in the past as it is today. (And if nothing else, I’m just a nerdy history grad who hasn’t used her degree in a decade, so please indulge me I beg).
This February is the 20th anniversary of LGBTQ+ History Month, which was founded post Section 28 by Sue Sanders and Paul Patrick - the founders of LGBTQ+ education charity Schools Out - and this year’s theme is ‘activism and social change’. How cool is that?
The aim is to honour just how much queer people have contributed to society - because we really are trailblazers… From taking action through protest, to boycotts, education, art, music, literature, social media - and simply by living, breathing and existing openly. *Bow*.
Five historical figures have been chosen as part of the celebrations, including two queer women.
Shout out to bad bitch Annie Kennel (1879-1953): a lesser-known suffragette who was jailed 12 times - not least for gatecrashing a political rally by Winston Churchill - and brushed shoulders (rather closely) with big dogs like Christabel Pankhurst, co-founder of the Women’s Social and Political Union. Oh, and rumour has it she had various other suffragette lovers, too.
Then there’s Octavia Hill, a Victorian social reformer (1838-1912) who campaigned to improve working-class conditions, but wasn’t nearly as straight-laced as she sounds: she lived with her ‘companion’ Harriet York for 30 years. (And if you’re still not convinced, their ashes were literally buried together).
Now, it can be hard enough to untangle queer history as it is due to limitations with evidence, the historical legal context, as well as the subjectivity of who is writing the history itself. This is especially the case when it comes to marginalised groups - including women, working class and queer people - whose stories may not have been recorded.
BUT, when you add in the bisexual dimension, as usual things get even messier. The issue of bi erasure - where we’re assumed to fit into either gay or straight boxes (usually depending on who our partner is at any one time) - was also at play back then, and in the recording of history, where the nuances of attraction can be easily missed.
Then there are extra challenges around the language around sexuality and how it has evolved over time. For example, the term ‘bisexual’ was first used in the 1850s by anatomists, to describe something with male and female traits (more like intersex). It was only in the early 1900s that sexologists like Sigmund Freud started to use the term to describe multiple attraction. And, of course, the understanding of bisexuality has evolved so much since then.
The first UK bi group - London Bisexual Group - didn’t start until 1981; and the very gorgeous bi flag wasn’t created until 1998 (thank you Michael Page: excellent taste). Plus, as late as 1995 we were getting headlines like that infamous Newsweek magazine cover: ‘Bisexual: Not Gay. Not straight. A new sexuality emerges’. Um, no.
All of this means that so many bi+ stories have been lost along the way. However, historical visibility is so important, because it reminds us that we have always existed - and always will do. Especially given that we don’t often have direct role models within our families or immediate social networks, growing up. So this context can help to validate us and ground our identity when it can feel like things are shifting around us.
It’s about time we reclaim LGBTQ+ History Month: so this week, I’m putting the spotlight on some of my favourite female bicons who have been making waves, often without the celebration they deserve…
(BTW: I’d love to hear in the comments which bisexual role models YOU would add to the list).
6 bisexual women activists you NEED to know:
Brenda Howard (1946-2005): Mother of Pride!
She was heavily involved in organising the first New York City Pride march in 1970, to commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall Riot the previous year - and is known as the ‘mother of pride’.
Plus, Howard was also one of the founders of the New York Area Bisexual Network in 1987 - and lobbied for bisexuals to be included in the 1993 March on Washington for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Rights - yaaaas.
Virginia Woolf (1882-1941): Queer lit queen
Despite being married to Leonard Woolf, the Bloomsbury set writer famously had an affair with Vita Sackville-West - with their relationship inspiring her queer character Orlando: which had a huge influence on 20th century LGBTQ+ representation in literature.
Dora Carrington (1893-1932): Tragic heroine
A lesser-known member of the Bloomsbury group (of early 20th-century artists, writers and intellectuals), the painter was married to writer Lytton Strachey. But they both had lovers throughout their marriage - including living in a menage a trois with a Ralph Partridge - and there are PLENTY of nude paintings of the women she had affairs with. Alas, she died by suicide at 38, a few weeks after her husband passed away.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962): Civil rights babe
The first lady is known to have had an affair with reporter Lorean Kitckock, after a series of letters were unearthed following her death. Think: ‘I want to put my arms around you. I ache to hold you close… Your ring is a great comfort to me. I look at it and think she does love me, or I wouldn’t be wearing it’… Wow. Her activist credentials also include championing civil rights, joining NAACP and supporting Martin Luther King from the Montgomery Bus Boycott days.
Josephine Baker (1906-1975): Sexuality on stage
The 1920s Broadway performer was the first African American woman to star in a motion picture and outspoken on civil rights, as the only woman to speak in the 1968 March on Washington - as well as being known to have affairs with men and women, including Frida Kahlo.
Frida Kahlo (1907-1954): Feminist, communist, artist
As famous for her bisexuality as her fabulous brows, Khalo was married (twice) to fellow Mexican artist Diego Riviera - and also had relationships with men and women. She was a communist and Mexican nationalist, too, and attended a protest against US intervention in Guatemala just before her death.
Plus: 6 shortcuts for swotting up on bi+ history this month…
Listen to the new Bi History podcast
I’ve been following Mel Reeve’s brilliant bi history project on Insta for ages - she’s an archivist based in Glasgow - but she’s just launched a podcast too! Listen to the first two episodes, about why bisexual history matters and evolving language.
Read BI: The hidden culture, history and science of bisexuality by Dr Julia Shaw
One of my favourite recent books on bisexuality, Dr Julia takes us on a deep dive into the history of bisexuality, the changing language, academic theories and more.
Go on a solo date to Queer Britain
The UK’s first and only LGBTQ+ museum is based in King’s Cross - plus they’re running an event on LGBTQ+ activism in Camden on February 26 (tickets here).
Check out the Life of Bi podcast
Bi comedy duo Mary Higgins and Ell Potter have some great episodes on the impact of colonialism and the invisibility of bisexuality on their podcast, Life of Bi.
Book an LGBTQ+ tour
In London, the Victoria & Albert Museum does an LGBTQIA Tour on the last Saturday of the month (4-7pm), where you can explore the hidden queer stories in the collections.
Plus, the Tate Modern hosts free LGBTQ+ tours on queer artists twice a month: February 15 and 22 (3-6pm) are the next dates.
Escape with a queer art day trip
Pallant House Gallery in Chichester has a whole exhibition on ‘Dora Carrington: Beyond Bloomsbury’ - until April 27. It’s the first showing of her work for 30 years (I’ve been: very bisexual, very poly, very chaotic).
Florence Scordoulis is a freelance journalist specialising in LGBTQ+ experiences, women’s lifestyle, travel and interviewing. You can follow her work here.