June 27, 2024
Ege (they/them) is a bi+ activist currently living in Canada. Ege talks with Bi+ Equal about the Bi+ Forum held in Izmir, Türkiye, in 2019, and how they created inclusive spaces for bi+ activists, refugees and migrants and how they tried to continue and move forward with bi+ activism in Türkiye.
The Bi+ Forum
There is no registered bi+ organisation or initiative in Türkiye, meaning that bi+ activists are often dispersed. However, in 2019 Genç LGBTI+, an lgbti+ organisation from Izmir, was able to get funding and organised a bi+ forum for bi+ people to get together. Around 35 activists and non-activists gathered for three days in this forum, Ege remembers. “The forum was a vivid space where they started with talking about how to understand bisexuality and discussing stereotypes and coping mechanisms. During the second day participants had the opportunity to discuss different topics related to bi+ issues, such as visibility and health”, Ege recalls,“For the first time I didn’t have to explain, I didn’t have to give any background information or legitimize why we need this.”
A big goal of the forum was to talk about what bi+ people want and need from the bi+ community, and what they hoped the outcome of the forum would be. They discussed what they needed regarding politics and talked about their agenda for activism going forward. Ege says: “It was about let’s talk with each other and find out what we want as an activist and what we need.” This is when participants decided that it was important to keep in touch and keep reaching out to each other.
Moving forward
Unfortunately, after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the forum was held online for 4 more editions and due to funding issues, no in-person forum has been held since. As the team of Genç LGBTI+ realised their human and financial resources were too limited to organise the forum again, they put out an open call for both previous participants and others to gather in a session to talk about bi+. After that session, between 20-30 people formed a group to keep in touch and keep working on bi+ equality in Türkiye through regular meetings.
One of their current projects is developing a bi+ manifesto about how they define bisexuality and monosexism and what they want from the bi+ community in Türkiye. In this manifesto they want to call out more bi+ people and activists to join.
Activist burnout, a reality
Something that might be recognizable for other activists internationally is a lack of resources and activist burnout, which is something the bi+ activists in Türkiye also struggle with. Ege explains how although the working group is still together, the activity in the group has decreased for a multitude of reasons. Some bi+ activists are feeling pressure under the current government and decide to move to other areas of activism. Others decide to contribute only in the background due to time and energy limits.
Ege mentions the need for leadership in the group to gather and motivate people, as they are sure people in the group are still eager to contribute. However, often the same people end up taking on the leadership role, leading to them getting burnt out. This poses a huge challenge as this results in a lack of direction for the working group and projects moving at a slower pace.
Ege is hoping the manifesto will soon be finished and published, as it is expected to get a lot of people’s attention. Ege hopes the bi+ movement in Turkey will be vibrant again, with more energy to engage people.
Creating inclusive spaces for bi+ asylum seekers and migrants
One thing that Ege regards as a huge success of the Bi+ Forum was that it was inclusive of bi+ asylum seekers , mainly from Iran. For migrants and refugees it can be very difficult to find their community in a new place. Ege therefore requests bi+ initiatives to be aware of these intersections and create events in which migrants and refugees can also join. One way to do this is to introduce ‘pay what you can’ systems, so that people who would love to join but don’t have the financial means can still come. Another way to include migrants and refugees is to organise events that make it easier for them to socialise, usually events around food or music are really helpful to mingle, says Ege.
Knowing the activism before you
Ege stresses the importance of knowing the initiatives and activists that came before you. It is important to know the history and have a connection with former and current activists to promote the sense of community and recognition. Ege says: “I feel like that is really important because we don’t always have a community and finding your own place in lgbti+ communities is hard so feeling that kind of connection is really nice’.
- Reach out to Genç LGBTİ+ through their Instagram page or website to join our bi+ community.
- Check out Bitopya.org for translations on bi+ politics, bi+ health, and visibility.
- Read "Gel Bi+ Konuşalım" (Let's Talk Bi+), published in September 2024 by the bi+ working group.
