7 Ways to Deal If You Face Bi Erasure During Pride

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7 Ways to Deal If You Face Bi Erasure During Pride

Bi erasure is literally the worst, especially when it comes from your own community. If you happen to face it during Pride, or any other occassion for that matter, here are some ways to counter it...

1. Stay close with your chosen family

Not everyone is nice. Unfortunately, that includes the queer community. But some people are. Some people will always have your back. They're rare, but they're there. Stay close with them and celebrate Pride Month with those who accept you for who you are.

2. Start making out

Oh, excuse me, did someone just say something rude about your orientation? Or are you femme for femme, and your girlfriend was mistaken from your friend? Sometimes a proper public makeout session is the right move to call someone on their bullshit.

3. Tell them to fuck off

Sometimes we want to take the higher ground. Sometimes we want to be the bigger person or educate someone's that acting ill-informed and engaging in bi-erasure. Other times, we feel it's not our job to school every ignorant asshat we encounter, and it's much easier to just tell them to piss off.

4. Ignore it

Okay, okay. This option requires you to be the bigger person. But, if you want to be secure in yourself, that requires knowing your truth internally, even if some people try and make you feel invisible out of their own fears surrounding sexualities they don't understand or makes them feel threatened. In some instances, you must learn how to ignore it.

5. Go to a safe space

Pride Month is more than the parades and the giant parties, as fun as those events can be. Pride is about feeling proud to be who you are. So, if you have a safe space, be it a friendly bar you're a regular at, your lover's house, a botanical garden, or, I don't know, a musical, go there. Celebrate Pride there. Pride exists within you.

6. School them

Bisexuality does not reinforce the gender binary, it's not a phase; bisexuals were and continue to be a crucial part of the LGBTQ activism movement. Bisexuals date non-binary folks, bisexuality doesn't have to be an even split when it comes to gender and attraction. There is so much to learn about bisexuality. And frankly, it's just embarrassing that some members of the queer community are so ill-informed as to engage in bi-erasure. So the next time someone dismisses your orientation, if you're feeling up to the task, give them an education.

7. Practice self-love

Bi-erasure happens. The feeling of invalidation is extremely painful and traumatizing. If you experience it, ever, but especially during Pride Month, you deserve a back rub. Ask your partner or friend to give you one, or if it's in your budget, go to the spa. Or, just curl up and read, spend time with friends, sleep, and do whatever makes you feel whole. Because you're important, and far too important for anyone to ever erase you!

7 Ways to Deal If You Face Bi Erasure During Pride