The much-missed Pride Trust was a company limited by guarantee: rather than having any share capital, members promised to pay something like a pound if it was wound up.
Here's the version of the form I filled after the September 1995 visit of the Pride Trust's Adam Jeanes and Tom Brooks to that year's BiCon to join: Read more
As mentioned in my post on what lead up to London's Pride event changing its name to 'Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride' in 1996, until that happened, the London Bisexual Group used to pay around £100 for a stall in the festival's "marketplace".
In 1993, the minutes of the LBG executive suggest that the group paid for two 2m x 2m stall spaces at the festival in Brockwell Park. At the moment, I cannot if a supplied table was supplied or if we took a pair of folding table ourselves.
In 1994, the cost of what we wanted – again in Brockwell Park – was going to be £150, but this was found from another source..[1]The minutes call it a 'grant', but don't say who it was from. Read more
Notes
| ↑1 | The minutes call it a 'grant', but don't say who it was from. |
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Looking through some old papers, I discovered a mention of a website for the group who had organised the bisexual presence at LGBT Pride 96. Here is a post-event version of it: Read more
The story of bisexual involvement in London's Pride event during the 1990s ended with optimism: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride 97 had been a huge success, both for its organisers, the Pride Trust, and the bi community.
After it, everyone was looking forward to LGBT Pride 98, but it never happened. This is the story of why it didn't and what did happen. Read more
For LGBT History Month in 2011, there was some actual bi-bi-bi content! At the Conway Hall in Central London, three of us gave talks: I can remember Sue George being another participant, but I can't currently remember the third person.
The photo on the front of the flyer / postcard advertising the event is a BiCon group photo..[1]I can't currently remember which year it's from, but it must be 1996 or later – I'm just under the '0' of '20th' with a beard.
.. and on the back, it turns out that the third speaker and I aren't named on the flyer.
Mine was on the bi community's involvement in London's Pride event and this and the following post is recreating and expanding that talk from the photos I scanned for it… Read more
Notes
| ↑1 | I can't currently remember which year it's from, but it must be 1996 or later – I'm just under the '0' of '20th' with a beard. |
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By March 1996, the London Bisexual Phoneline needed some money. The diverter box we used had failed and it wasn't cheap to repair or replace.
One way or another, probably through some of us also being members of the Health Education Authority's bisexual advisory group, we arranged that they would give us a second bit of funding.[1]The first had been for the first run of the second version of the HEA's awful 'hands' ad, which paid to temporarily expand the days it ran from two to six.
Because of some budgeting rules within the HEA, this time they could not give it to us for what we actually needed it for, running costs. It had to be capital costs, i.e. buying something you could kick.
Well, if that's what they needed, that's what we would tell them. While I am certain that Clive knew exactly what was actually happening, either from us telling him verbally or him going 'If you want to spend it on A, you have to tell me B so I can pay', this is what he was told via a fax… Read more
Notes
| ↑1 | The first had been for the first run of the second version of the HEA's awful 'hands' ad, which paid to temporarily expand the days it ran from two to six. |
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In a London Bisexual Helpline meeting at London Lighthouse in 1998, it was decided to formalise assorted policies:
Each was given to someone different to draft, and I had the last one. I can't remember if it was completely original or adapted from somewhere else. I also can't remember if it was adopted.
Although it gives a date of August 1998, the PageMaker 5 file it was recovered from has a 'last changed' date of 12th September. One of PageMaker's little quirks was that how many copies you wanted to print of a document was saved with the file, so it could simply be that was when enough copies for everyone were printed, rather than any more significant changes… Read more
The BiCon Guidelines as originally passed (unanimously!) at the plenary of BiCon 16 in Cambridge, September 1998.
Before being taken to the DMP, they were first discussed at an earlier session – Ian's notes and the changes made to the original draft: Read more
[ Originally published by Tom Limoncelli as 'The Ultimate Guide to Bisexual Conferences' at biconf.org. This is a lightly edited version of the last known draft, dated 1st September 2003.
One interesting point of difference between UK and USA bi events is that the latter's access issues points include a 'scent-free policy' – even BiPOL's first national US bi conference in 1990 had that[1]And an earthquake policy, given that it was in San Francisco! – but it's never been seen as an issue that needs addressing in the UK, perhaps because to this nose anyway, no-one at BiCon wears noticeable perfumes. ]
Conferences change the world. In particular, they empower the dis-empowered.
The first conference I went to was the GAAMC (Gay Activist Alliance of Morris County) conference in 1988 or so. It was a one-day affair with dozens of workshops. It was amazing. To be in the same place with 100 other disenfranchised people was so empowering that it was a large part of why I am an activist today. Read more
Notes
| ↑1 | And an earthquake policy, given that it was in San Francisco! |
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Back in 2005, Marcus Morgan published 'A Manifesto For BiCon Organisers' as a PDF file. As the place it was uploaded to (resources.bi.org) no longer exists, it is now available here.
Since it was written, Marcus has run three BiCons rather than two and several other things have changed. As the file specifically forbids editing it or posting it as web pages, no corrections have been made. The 'excellent article' referenced as being at biconf.org no longer exists there[1]The domain name has been squatted at least twice since 2005 but a copy of the latest version I can find is now here. Read more
Notes
| ↑1 | The domain name has been squatted at least twice since 2005 |
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