About BiNet USA

We Have Been Successfully Networking For Nearly 20 Years

1987

• A contingent of 75 bisexuals marches in the 1987 March On Washington For Gay and Lesbian Rights. This event proves to be the first nationwide bisexual gathering.

1990

• BiPol convenes the first National Bisexual Conference in San Francisco. A conference track is dedicated to organizing a national organization. The North American Bisexual Network is formed (it would later change its name to BiNet USA).

1991

• Organizers convene in Seattle to officially establish the network as an organization, complete with a six-person steering committee while committees form to look at fundraising, projects and more.

1992

• BiNet USA holds a national meeting in Minneapolis, where its consensus governing model is formalized and various projects are established, particularly one focused on AIDS education.BiNet USA creates a national and regional structure to govern itself, elects national coordinators, begins publishing BiNet News and provides staff training's and board presentations to national gay and lesbian organizations.

1993

• BiNet USA plays a key role in the successful national campaign to include "Bi" in the March on Washington for Gay, Lesbian and BI Equal Rights and Liberation. BiNet USA, the Bisexual Resource Center and the Washington, DC-based Alliance of Multicultural Bisexuals sponsor the largest conference to date. Over 600 people attend the conference.

1995

• BiNet USA develops a media packet that generates the groundbreaking Newsweek cover story on bisexuality.
  
• BiNet USA establishes a Bisexual Youth Initiative, which develops and sends a survey to organizations nationwide serving GLBTQ youth. A survey report is published and sent to agencies, offering assistance in improving services.

1996

• White House liaison for Gay and Lesbian Affairs meets with representatives from BiNet USA and leaders from the transgender community.
  
• BiNet USA establishes the Bisexual Rural Initiative to reach out and determine specific needs of bisexuals in rural areas.

1997

• BiNet USA joins new National Policy Roundtable convened twice a year by the Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. This is ongoing.
  
• BiNet USA sends a survey to members creating a 25-point policy platform to provide guidance from the grassroots to inform our advocacy efforts.

1998

• BiNet USA organizes an Ally Campaign, educating and holding ally organizations accountable for their actions.
  
• BiNet USA hosts the First National Institute on Bisexuality and HIV/AIDS.
  
• BiNet USA leaders lobby members of Congress exclusively for the purpose of educating about bisexuality and the BI movement.

1999

• BiNet USA turns out hundreds across the country to support NGLTF's March on 50 State Capitols, Equality Begins At Home, with the theme: "Biphobia Makes Me Blue."
  
• The Gill Foundation invites BiNet USA to conduct the first workshop on bisexuality and the BI movement to LGB philanthropists at its "Outgiving Conference."
  
• The BiNet USA national conference, held in Texas, determines that BiNet should establish a national headquarters office and hire an executive director.

2000

• Leaders from BiNet USA and BRC establish a team to work with the Policy Institute of NGLTF on a major publication addressing public policy issues affecting bisexual people. 
  
• A major national fundraising campaign secures enough funds to go forward with opening a national office and hiring an executive director.

2001

• BiNet USA hires an executive director and begins the process of occupying an office in San Francisco's new glbt center. However, a series of setbacks occurs: Office insurance turns out to be astronomical; the economy's slide causes donations to drop dramatically; the 9/11 terrorist attacks divert attention from social issues, while potential supporters focus their donations on organizations dealing with the 9/11 aftermath; etc. As a result, the office is not occupied, the E.D. is sadly let go, and BiNet USA enters a reassessment/rebuilding phase.

2002-present

• After a hiatus -- during which much discussion and consultation is held while activists focus on war-related issues -- fundraising is restarted, volunteers are once again recruited (for the board of directors, regional reps and special projects), and plans are laid to move the organization forward.