sbswartz:

sinbadism:

autismserenity:

sbswartz:

autismserenity:

vanshira:

bisexual-books:

sbswartz:

Come for the good intention, stay for the biphobia and bierasure: #TheLexaPledge Could Change the Future of Lesbian and Bisexual Representation on TV  #LGBTFansDeserveBetter #iamtired

Claiming the main issue for bisexual women characters is that they always end up with men is ignoring the much larger issue. Bisexual representation (for all genders) is across the board lacking as compared to lesbian and gay representation. And of those characters they are largely written in harmful tropes–not “tropes” referred to here that, if real, just provide representation for the community.

Also, recommending general gay orgs can be harmful–as these are usually dominated by white gay cis men. The overall focus of LGBT centers is the care of monosexuals. Care for and staffing of bisexual and trans people at LGbt organizations are not as common. Referrals such as: Interact Youth, BiNetUSA, StillBisexual, The National Center for Trans Equality, the many options on this list of QPoC organizations and projects - should be considered and asked if they welcome consultation.

#LGBTFansDeserveBetter can be a representative movement. It is not yet. But it can be! For the Love of Fandom: Bierasure and #LGBTFansDeserveBetter

And saying bisexual women ending up with men is a negative trope is just attacking a representation. It is derailing the conversation. It erases, among others, bisexual women attracted to other genders & the bi men those bi women “end up” with. (Where are they in this conversation?) 

This is a powerful movement that is charging forward in an erasive way. It can make positive change for all LGBTQ people. Right very now influential people are signing on to this great pledge. But this is not currently an inclusive movement. We are calling for #TheLexaPledge to be inclusive in the voices at the table. We are calling for #LGBTFansDeserveBetter to amplify many different voices–those of bi+ men, bi+ women, the entire gender spectrum, asexual people, intersex people…we want the term queer to be used responsibly. Queer people of color deserve better, queer people with dis/abilities deserve better, we all deserve better!

You must consider us all when you refer to us or speak on our behalf.

Because LGBT fans deserve better—we all do.

- SB Swartz

I completely agree.  Bisexual female characters ending up with men is not a huge problem.  The lack of bisexual characters, the binary way they show bisexuality, the missing-b word/anything but bi labeling, the lack of bi trans people, and the hyper-sexuality are MUCH bigger problems for bisexuals in general and bisexual women in particular.  

So yeah, this pledge sounds GREAT for lesbian characters but also displays ZERO understanding of the issues surrounding the representation of bisexual women.  

- Sarah 

Doesn’t insisting that all bisexual female characters end up with female love interests at the end basically amount to saying “bisexuals are defined by the gender of their partners and unless their partner is of the same gender they Might As Well Be Straight”?

yes, yes it does

UPDATE
Appreciating all of the conversation around my post and this issue. (BTW, a millions times YES to all of the above.)
Since I wrote this over a week ago, I have reached out to people involved in the article and pledge. Here is an update:

The Mary Sue:
Citing their mission to “promote, watchdog, extoll, and celebrate diversity and women’s representation” and “make geekdom safe and open for everyone” I contacted them again on twitter, asking if they would address the biphobia in their article. I went as far as to ask if they have a preferred way for people to bring up a perpetuation of an oppression–is tweeting not the best method? Does it not get to the person who can address this? Do you have an inbox for this? Just tell me!

Though they continued to respond to others via social media, they did not acknowledge the concern or address the biphobia in their article. I also reached out to the author/site editor, who id’d as bisexual in the comments of the post. They did not respond.

Silence can be a very clear form of communication.

Links to tweets/threads: 
https://twitter.com/cosmostep/status/726858316526292994
https://twitter.com/cosmostep/status/727495380913418241

The Lexa Pledge:

I have been speaking about bierasure in the #LGBTFansDeserveBetter movement since March, so I chose to attempt to engage the two other women who created the pledge by tweeting the original thread you see here and asking if they would be interested in engaging about inclusiveness going forward. One tweeted that she would be interested in talking about inclusiveness and the pledge going forward but did not respond further. The other did not respond at all.

Please continue to speak out about this. Your voice matters.

We must continue to demand that those who refer to us or speak on our behalf consider us all.

Because LGBT fans deserve better—we all do.

- SB Swartz

Do you have an idea on how to ensure an inclusive LGBT Fan movement that represents all of us? Let’s talk about it! @ cosmostep on twitter

Looks like The Mary Sue also hasn’t addressed the racism inherent in the way Lexa was portrayed, even though their commenters have certainly brought it up. Or the resulting problems with centering the pledge around that.

I think it’s interesting that we’re now seeing people sign a pledge named after a white lesbian in brownface and immediately kill off a black bi woman instead.

… Do you guys really not see the issue in having bi women ALWAYS end up with men, and often have their relationships with women portrayed as frivolous or even harmful? Especially having their female partner KILLED and then have them end up with a man?

Cos like. That’s the issue. There are politics behind that trend, and they are not actually sympathetic to bi women. They’re homophobic.

Responses that focus on w/w vs m/w derail the conversation, moving the goalpost of what is ‘queer enough’ just out of bisexuals’ reach.

It’s not that we shouldn’t be having detailed conversation about quality of representation–it’s just that quality of representation cannot and should not be boiled down to the gender of a queer woman’s partner. Only when it comes to bisexuals wanting to be included in the conversation about LGBT representation on TV does the focus turn to the gender of a queer woman’s partner. But the conversation about treatment of queer women on tv already reflects the treatment of same sex partners–they are also queer women characters. The conversation about how they are being treated is intrinsically and oftentimes independently included in the conversation.

There are a LOT of aspects of the Bury Your Queers trope, and representation of bisexual characters on tv in general, that are not sympathetic to bisexuals.

Let bisexuals tell you what the biggest issues regarding portrayals of us are.

Let’s continue to have and hear conversations that talk about LGBT portrayals and racism, sexism, queerphobia, biphobia, transphobia, ableism, and more. These all impact the LGBT community.

@autismserenity​‘s experience with erasure of race and cultural appropriation by people who have signed The Lexa Pledge is a problem we must address. And it is a clear indication that we need more voices at the table.

In the face of all of this erasure, how can we be heard?

Resource: List of main bisexual characters on big 5 primetime television 2000-Present