This was used as part of a packet of bi-specific, issue-oriented news releases at the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Rights and Liberation



HERE'S WHAT THE GOVERNMENT SAYS
ABOUT BISEXUALS IN THE MILITARY:

"Bisexual means a person who engages in, desires to engage in,
or intends to engage in homosexual and heterosexual acts..."

"A member [of the armed forces] shall be separated ... if ...
the member has stated that he or she is a homosexual or bisexual
unless there is a further finding that the member is not a homosexual or bisexual..."

- Dept. of Defense regulations, 1982 directive



HERE'S WHAT THE MAJOR GAY LOBBIES IN DC SAY ABOUT BISEXUALS IN THE MILITARY:

"Support overturning the military ban against gays and lesbians"
(recent National Gay & Lesbian Task Force direct mail appeal)

"(during this 6 month period) being a gay man or a lesbian
will not disqualify a person from serving in the armed forces."
(recent Human Rights Campaign Fund direct mail appeal)

* * *

Why are bisexuals invisibilized by both homosexuals and heterosexuals? Because it serves heterosexism's interests to imagine gay people as totally different, separate, apart. In many cases -- as the above quotes illustrate - gay and lesbian people buy this lie too.

At the first day of the Senate Armed Services Committee hearings on Gays in the Military, Monday March 29th, only one Senator dared question this false, either/or view of humanity. "Gentlemen," he asked, "are we certain we're talking about two discrete populations here, homosexual and heterosexual? Might we not be talking about three groups; homosexual, heterosexual and bisexual?" No one answered. It's easier to perpetuate the lie that bisexuals don't exist. But the truth is far more complex and interesting.

Cliff Arnesen is bisexual and president of the New England Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Veterans. He was the first veteran to testify in the U.S. Congress (May 1989) on behalf of gay, lesbian and bisexual veteran's issues, and the first openly non-heterosexual veteran to testify on Capitol Hill about veterans issues in general. Arnesen was dishonorably discharged in 1966. "I was interrogated, sent to a psychiatrist, court martialed, sentenced to four months in a military prison and paraded publicly through Fort Dix at gunpoint," he stated in recent testimony to Senator Sam Nunn's committee.

"As a bisexual in the military there is no distinction in terms of punishment, no refuge in being bi. You get the same consequences, you don't get half a discharge. In the military, bisexuals belong to the gay community. It's only in the outside world that our belonging is questioned."

Arnesen is one of the founders of the National Gay Lesbian Bisexual Veterans of America. In 1992 he marched in uniform carrying the local chapter's banner in Boston's St. Patrick's Day Parade. Not only did he endure crowd harassment and assaults that day, he also lost his job due to his visibility in that parade.

Arnesen has been organizing for veterans' issues since 1985. He is one of the organizers of the 12th annual Conference on the Concerns of Veterans which will be held on Capitol Hill next month, May 1-6. "There are twelve thousand veterans with AIDS and many homeless veterans not getting services. The white male middle class domination of the gay movement needs to change" he charges. "Too many gay military spokespeople right now are white male officers. We need to hear from more men and women of color, white women, enlisted people -- all of whom suffer dispropor- tionately from these dishonorable discharges. Ninety-nine percent of those discharged are enlisted people, not officers."

Many people still don't understand that sexual freedom and liberation for all people are connected. However the new Campaign for Military Service -- whose members include NGLTF, HRCF, and the Gay Lesbian and Bisexual Veterans of America -- does use some bi-inclusive language in its direct mail appeals:

"... we urge you to support the President's pledge to overturn the ban against lesbian, gay and bisexual people in the military ... we cannot allow lesbian, gay and bisexual men and women to be the victims of a new wave of bigotry."

Why is there this discontinuity in language right now? Because the bisexual movement is growing and deepening at a rapid rate. Not everyone has acknowledged bisexuals yet. Some, in fact, are still fighting it. Fighting among ourselves benefits no one but the Right Wing bigots. Those in the movement for sexual liberation who continue to talk in exclusive language ignore bisexual contributions and bisexual discrimination to all our collective peril. The Right Wing sees us as united. Why don't we?

The March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation is one giant step forward. It must not end there!

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