ABOUT OURSELVES AND THIS BOOK

Bisexual Lives was conceived as a project at a discussion group at the Second National Bisexual Conference[1]Known at the time as the "2nd Politics of Bisexuality Conference", by 1986 BiCon was known as the 'National Bisexual Conference'. The first one called 'BiCon' was the seventh one in 1989. at the London Lesbian and Gay Centre in April 1985. Originally an interview format was constructed around a number of very general questions drafted at this initial meeting. Subsequently many of the accounts turned out to be autobiographical profiles.

The Collective began as nine people, all bisexual, with another two offering to help with the artwork, but there has been a considerable turnover of personnel for various reasons, mostly personal. However, we have tried to keep a balance of the sexes and generally this has been achieved. We started off with one person as the central contact, but most of the time meetings were rotated round members' homes, as was the chairing of meetings and responsibility for most aspects of our work. The project has taken much longer than we ever expected, but our common aim has kept us going and we have learned a great deal in the process.

We have brought together the diverse stories of seven women and five men, presented in their own words and welcomed others to contribute brief comments and experiences on a variety of subjects; these comments are interspersed between the profiles. The sex of the writer is shown thus: [Venus symbol – text coloured pink in this copy] or [Mars symbol – text coloured blue in this copy]. We have also approached the subject of AIDS and how bisexuals are being affected by it and appended a bibliography and other information which we hope will be of use.

The contributors all identify as bisexual, though they are not as representative in terms of age, race and background as we would like. Nevertheless, we hope that this book will act as a springboard for further thought and discussion leading to a fuller understanding of bisexuality as a viable and positive option in people's lives.

The Off Pink Collective: Clare Thompson, Cris Stevens, Guy Chapman, Matthew Milne, Pink Dandelion, Sarah McGhee, Zaidie Parr.

With grateful thanks to: Amanda Harrington, Andy Beech, Brian
                  MacGowran, Christa Gausden, David
                  Burkle, David Smith, Gail Chester, Geoff
                  Appleton, lain Richmond, Kate Burkle,
                  Kate Fearnley, Liz Berryman, Madeleine
                  Slade, Mike Blackmore, Sally Elstub, Sipi
                  Hameenaho, Terry Sanderson,
                  and many others who have given us so much assistance in writing and advising and who have donated or loaned the money which has made the realisation of this project possible.


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Notes

Notes
1Known at the time as the "2nd Politics of Bisexuality Conference", by 1986 BiCon was known as the 'National Bisexual Conference'. The first one called 'BiCon' was the seventh one in 1989.