This year's annual bisexuality conference, The Bisexual Empowerment Conference: A Uniting Supportive Experience (BECAUSE), took place in Minneapolis, Minn., from June 6 through June 8, with nearly 200 attendees hailing from 20 states.
Minneapolis mayor Betsy Hodges even issued a proclamation honoring the conference, declaring June 7 to be "Bisexual Empowerment Day In The City Of Minneapolis." The proclamation set the tone for the conference, in which participants had a truly unique experience.
Special guest H. Sharif Williams, Ph.D., better known Dr. Herukhuti, emphasized this, noting that "being at a bisexual conference has a really different feel then being in an LGBT space."
"It's amazing to be around people you don't have to explain things to," BECAUSE access coordinator, Tanya Byington, tells The Advocate. "They get it."
Participants attend Patrick's workshop
The annual conference, organized by the Bisexual Organizing Project, was created in 1992 to create a safe space for those with fluid sexualities who felt disenfranchised by the other queer conferences that were primarily for binary sexualities. Dates and location for 2015 are yet to be determined.
"The BECAUSE Conference serves as a homecoming for the bisexual community, including individuals who identify as pansexual, fluid, queer, or with no label at all," Camille Holthaus, chair of the Bisexual Organizing Project tells The Advocate. "It is a space where bisexuals of many backgrounds, experiences and intersectionalities can come together in community. The conference is, and always has been, by, for and about bisexuals and our allies. Our mission is to create a safe, supporting and empowering community in which participants are encouraged to discover and celebrate their sexual identities."
BOP Board, BECAUSE 2014: Lou Hoffman, Lauren Beach, Camille Holthaus
New York City-based bisexual leader Paul Nocera
BI HUNG FIT performance
Bi Pride for sale at the merchandise table!
