Billed as the "highlight of the bisexual year" BiCon 2015 didn't disappoint; with more than 400 participants taking part in a packed programme of workshops and entertainment, it was the biggest BiCon in the event's 33-year history.
Entirely run by volunteers, BiCon may well have the best disabled access of any event in the LGBT calendar, truly making the effort to welcome all. DIVA spoke to bis and allies who called BiCon a "unique space" and "the only place where I can truly be myself without judgement".
"I actually attended because a few friends of mine were going," said Lola, who was attending the annual weekend event for the second time. "I'm interested in going mostly just because it's nice to be in a space of like-minded people. It's not something you always get at places like Pride."
When I wrote Bicon Day 1 I was intending on writing a day-by-day summary of the 4-day-long event that ended yesterday afternoon. But, by the end of day two I realised that a session-by-session blow-by-blow would 1. make for excessively long or vanishingly short posts and 2. not be very well written because I’d be much too tired to write anything overly coherent. So, instead, I have decided to write a general summary of my experiences. For a complete list of all the sessions delivered on pages 16-32 of the Handbook
First and foremost I had the most amazing time. I felt at home and accepted in a way that doesn’t happen very often and this was without doubt one of the best weekends I’ve had over the past few years.
I would also like to say a big thank you to the director of BIWOC. Without Gwendolyn’s generosity, I wouldn’t have been able to afford to attend and have the amazing experiences I did.
The Venue
It happened at the University of Nottingham which was not the most navigable. I found the campus confusing and so got lost more than once on my way around, though I don’t have a paritcularly good sense of direction so it is likely that others did not have the same trouble. What is a problem is the lack of accessibility. I spent a fair amount of time at bicon with a friend who is a wheelchair user and in helping them get around, I learned that the overly steep hills, bumpy ramps and uneven paving makes getting around in a wheelchair on campus very difficult.
On a more positive note, all the greenery on campus made getting lost so much more pleasant.
Accommodation and Food
I stayed on the accessible floor and my room was lovely. It was spacious, warm and bright with an en suite and a fridge under the really big desk. The only real downside was that the shower was ridiculously small. Well, that and the food. Breakfast aside (which was fairly standard), the food was awful. Lunch was bland and tepid at best, with gluten/dairy free options thin on the ground and difficult to get hold of. Dinner was barely even worthy of the name. It tasted like a bad ready meal left in the sun for a few hours. I didn’t even know food could go that horribly wrong.
Sessions and Entertainment
I made the terrible mistake of doing too much on the Friday. I attended sessions all day so ended up both socially and emotionally exhausted, so I missed the evening entertainment and part of the Saturday morning. Despite that, I still attended a session in all but 3 slots. My favourite sessions were Queer Herstory: Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, Bisexual Experience of Mental Health Services and, more than anything else, the Bis of Colour Safe Space.
Queer Herstory was a presentation on the lives and work of those two greats of the early Gay Rights movement. It was followed by a Q&A, which had a range of questions and comments about racism and transmisogyny within LGBT+ political movements. Out of the session came a few links worth checking out:
Happy Birthday Marsha is an upcoming documentary about Marsha P Johnson created by a trans woman
Pay It No Mind is a documentary made in 2012 about Marsha ‘Pay It No Mind’ Johnson
A speech delivered by Sylvia Rivera in 1973 calling out the transphobia of cis parade marchers
Bisexual Experience of Mental Health Services was a group discussion of bi experiences of psychiatric services to help the facilitator create training tools for mental health professionals. A wide range of experiences were shared, both positive and negative, everything from glowing reports of counselors who understand gender and sexuality, to damning indictments psychiatric ward staff.
Bis Of Colour was, without doubt, the best session of the weekend. It was a space where BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) bicon attendees could share experiences. There were around 20 of us in the room (bicon had over 400 attendees) and the ability to just chat with people who understood what it was to be BME and bi in white straight spaces. It was such a breath of fresh air and I am so grateful to Asha and Jacq who fought to create, maintain and grow that space. This year had the largest contingent of colour and three of those who attended (and first time biconners) stepped forward to plan bicon2017 which is really exciting.
However, not all the sessions were quite so successful. I think that the facilitator for Reducing Racism at Bicon somewhat missed the point. They focused on changing behaviours rather than the attitudes that underpin them. This doesn’t fight racism, just changes the way in which it manifests.
Conclusion
Bicon 2015 was an amazing weekend. I made some new friends, learned a thing or two and absolutely plan on attending next year. That was largely down to the people I met there and without the tireless work of Jacq, Asha and other bis of colour, I wouldn’t have met the awesome bi black people I did.
Keep an eye out for bicon2016 at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston
