 Pride 2020 was very different but in Bi+ Ireland we tried our best to still be here for our members and we wanted to make sure that the Pride season was still a means of connection for our members, old and new. Quick summary of things we done during Pride 2020 before we expand out our thoughts:
Now for the extended version: Pride in Ireland spreads right across the summer months from late June to the very end of August, when we jump into Bi+ Visibility at the end of September. These 4 months are by far the busiest in the Bi+ Ireland calendar as we engage with the community group online, receive the most new members compared to the rest of the year, engage in outreach and education and host some events. While these are tasks we do all year round, there is a natural increase during June to Sept. But what did we actually do? Well…. Quiz We were delighted that 21 people joined us for our online quiz to mark Pride. There was a lot of laughter and conversations on the night, with 2 prize winners, 1 for most prideful and 1 for winning the quiz. Fundraised Our members fundraised €180 at the Quiz. We sent €80 of this to MASI. €25 was sent to the Small Trans Library. £25 was sent to Transgender NI. €25 was sent to Teach Solais to be redirected to GOSSIP, who work out of Teach Solais. We still have €25 in the pot which we hope to give to a Trans organisation that is based in Munster. Zoom Watch Parties We hosted Zoom watch parties so we could provide our members a space to watch the events with company. We watch Dublin Pride Virtual Parade and Dublin Pride Virtual Concert. We had about 10 people at both events, and it was nice to be together. Facebook Watch Parties We also utilised Facebook Watch Party functions to watch several events together. Here we had watch parties for
Bi+ Pride Video Submissions We have been compiling submissions for a bi+ Pride video which we will launch for Bi+ Visibility in September. We are still taking submissions so if you would like to submit photos, drawings, quotes, whatever you want to represent you. This will be a public video so please keep this in mind if you submit something. Please be conscious of any identifiers. You can submit anonymously. Please submit your work through the following form: https://forms.gle/5tbsMnymVv42JH6b8 Community Group 2020 Bi+ Ireland are so grateful to have won the Galway Community Pride’s Community Group of the Year Award 2020. To check out the video, with the award announcement and our acceptance speech as given by Sharon Nolan please check out the following public facebook post from Galway Community Pride at approximately 11:30 https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=354143935747573 Virtual Prides Although we were not able to participate in as many prides as we would have liked, we were able to advertise virtual prides throughout Ireland. www.biireland.com/news-and-events/virtual-prides-in-ireland One of our volunteers, Paulie Stanton, spoke on behalf of Bi+ Ireland at Dublin Pride Virtual Concert. This can be found at 2:02:50 https://vimeo.com/event/135594/videos/433349488 One of our volunteers, Jess Connor was interviewed on behalf of Bi+ Ireland by BeLonG To as part of their Pride programme. http://www.biireland.com/news-and-events/interviews-videos-by-bi-ireland-volunteers One of our volunteers, Paula Dennan, spoke on behalf of Bi+ Ireland at Pride Inside’s Bi+ Community Panel hosted by Kerry Pride https://www.facebook.com/KerryPrideFestival/videos/279963439906013/ Bi+ Ireland submission to Dublin Pride Virtual Parade can be found at 52:59 https://vimeo.com/event/135594/videos/433087733 You can find Bi+ Ireland guide submission on page 69 of Dublin Pride Guide which you can see here https://dublinpride.ie/pride-guide/ And we were pleasantly surprised to see the Bi+ Ireland banner at Global Pride during Belfast Pride’s submission. Galway Community Pride Galway Community Pride held a visibility demonstration in Eyre Square on Saturday 15th August with local LGBT+ groups to put the community center stage, to have our issues echoed on the streets, and carry the community's flags within the city. Our Galway co-ordinator Sharon attended their social-distanced and carefully arranged demonstration. She brought the Bi+ Ireland banner to represent the amazing bi+ community locally and all across Ireland. You can see more about the event here - https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=647197252875201 Bi+ Enough Cards and Bi+ Badges We sent over 50 Bi+ Enough cards, free of cost to people all over Ireland and to several people based outside Ireland. Over 40 badges were bought during the Pride session and made by our shop volunteers. These seemingly small tokens tend to have a big impact on people who receive them. For many people it is very exciting to be able to have a bi+ memento. Also, for those of us that are out and wear our badges, we are indirectly raising bi+ awareness. Facebook group and Discord server During Pride we continued to have conversations and facilitate a community space for adults that fall under the bi+ umbrella with a connection to Ireland. We currently have a close Facebook group “Bi+ Ireland Community” and a private Discord server. Please do contact us if you wish to join either.
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 Online Bi+ Ireland Meetup - Music Quiz on Zoom will take place on Saturday 22nd August 2020 at 8pm.
Bi+ Ireland are going to be hosting a music quiz. There will be a variety of questions but for example: the quiz master will play the intro to a song and you must select the right title. For privacy reasons we ask you to fill out this form if you wish to participate. On the day, we will send you an email containing the link and password to join the meetup, if you don’t receive it by midday please pm us. Don’t feel pressure to play, you are free to join just for the chats, or keep an eye here for future non gaming sessions. For the purpose of this event, we will be hosting over Zoom. We will be using a paid version of Zoom so there is end-to-end encryption on the call. A link to the zoom meeting and its password will be sent on the day. You are not required to download Zoom onto any device as you can access the meeting through any web browser. Nor do you have to sign up to zoom. We will be using AhaSlides.com. Each player must have individual access to AhaSlides.com. It does not require an app download or any sign-up. Simply this allows you to select your answers from your device. If multiple people from the same household are participating, you could all, of course, join us on the one video call. Additionally, each player must have access to a device so that they can input their answers using AhaSlides.com. While it is possible to navigate both Zoom and AhaSlides from the same device it is not ideal. To join the zoom meetup please fill out https://forms.gle/3uyxQy1Bjvbfg8898 Like always our meet-ups are open to all adults under the Bi+ Umbrella and their friends, partners, carers etc. Important to Note
 We wanted to give you an idea of what it is we do at Bi+ Ireland and while, yes, this has a lot of details, it is far from a complete look at the work of Bi+ Ireland. We have many quick explanations of Bi+ Ireland, but we wanted a more comprehensive post as well.
Who are we? Bi+ Ireland is an all island wide community organisation, that is run solely by volunteers. Bi+ Ireland is a social and community space for bi+ adults based in, from, or closely connected to Ireland. The bi+ umbrella is inclusive of all non-monosexual orientations including, but not limited to, bisexual, biromantic, pansexual, panromantic, and non-monosexual queer people. What do we do? Bi+ Ireland provides a safe and welcoming space for all adults that fall under the bi+ umbrella - be they bi, pan, queer or any other identity under the bi+ umbrella. Bi+ Ireland aims to create a space where bi+ people can make friends, access peer support and reduce any isolation they may experience. We aim to increase the visibility and presence of bi+ people in Ireland and to create diverse, vibrant and welcoming communities. Bi+ Ireland provides support, community and advocacy for bi+ people throughout the island of Ireland. Both our volunteers and members work to bring about a more inclusive LGBTQIA+ community and a society where all of us are valued equally. Bi+ Ireland helps increase bi+ visibility by hosting bi+ events, providing an online presence and selling badges on our website. How do we do it? At the core of all Bi+ Ireland work two of our main priorities are consensual interactions and inclusivity. We are committed to creating a welcoming, accessible and safer space for all members of the bi+ community, and affirming the many other factors which impact our lives. We want to be radically inclusive and accessible - no if, buts, maybes or lip service. We are aware that this is a complex task, which we'll be working on and improving as long as Bi+ Ireland exists. Accessibility isn't just a wheelchair ramp. That's part of it, yes. But we know that lighting, sound, location, event timing and affordability, as well as many other factors, affect your ability to attend, participate in and enjoy our events. It's really important to us that we do everything we can to account for as many aspects of accessibility as we possibly can. Inclusivity isn't simply about venues and event hosts. We care deeply about ensuring that this community, both online and off, is open to everyone who needs it. That means taking a radical intersectional approach to everything we do, and constantly educating ourselves and reaching out both within our community and into other communities who are often ignored by mainstream organisations. So many of us have faced exclusion in our lives, both as bi+ people and because of the other aspects of our lives. In Bi+ Ireland, we are determined to not repeat that. We are feminist, anti-racist, anti-cisnormative, anti-classist, anti-ableist and we want those values to permeate everything we do. How to join Bi+ Ireland? To be a Bi+ Ireland member you must fulfil these three criteria:
To be a Bi+ Ireland member means to be a part of one of our closed groups and/or attending our events. There is no financial or time commitment required. How much and how you engage in the activities or online platform(s) is completely your choice. What activities and supports happen in Bi+ Ireland? Closed Facebook group Bi+ Ireland Community is a place for us to join one another and have a chat. There is always plenty of peer support and casual conversations. Whether that is our weekly mental health check-ins, the occasional selfie threads, conversations about hobbies or looking for help, the group is a safe place to have many different conversations. Discord Another platform for us to engage in regular conversations with one another. Though Discord has the added bonus of being able to opt in and out of different topics via the channel set up. Online Meet ups This year we finally started having online meetups after hoping to do so for a while now. Since the start of June we have had 4 online zoom video calls and we are enjoying them. We plan to keep online meet ups a regular occurrence in Bi+ Ireland, as they open a door for many more members to attend, especially those who struggle to go to physical events due to barriers such as location and energy availability. We hope to run a variety of events via zoom such as general chats and board games. Physical Meetups Prior to physical social distancing we hosted regular physical meetups. In the past we have hosted events in Dublin, Belfast, Cork and Galway. These events had many different forms, for example, chats in coffee shops, cinema trips, family picnics, variety talent shows and board games. We do hope to return to physical meetups, when it is safe to do so. We Exist Stories With We Exist Stories, Bi+ Ireland invites bi+ people to tell their stories and experiences of being bi+. These stories help illustrate that Bi+ people exist, we may be highly visible or we might not be. But we exist and we are valid. Education Bi+ Ireland have led many educational workshops around topics such as bisexuality 101 and bi erasure. These workshops and talks have been given in third level institutions, workplaces and even to other LGBTQAI+ organisations. Prides and Bi Visibility From June to September, Bi+ Ireland is normally very busy. From June to the end of August there are many prides throughout the island of Ireland. Bi+ Ireland do our best to be involved in as many of these Prides as we can. We know how important bi+ visibility is at Pride events and try to have our banner marching at many prides. Then jump into September where we have International Bi+ Visibility. We always try to mark the occasion in some way. Advocacy Bi+ Ireland regular advocates for bi+ inclusion within LGBTQAI+ services and events. Both our volunteers and members work to bring about a more inclusive LGBTQIA+ community and a society where all of us are valued equally. Bi+ Ireland can be found at several protests throughout any given year, for example at pro choice protests, sex education protests and trans rights protests. How can you support us? Facebook Page Regardless if you are bi+ or not, we would love it if you could give our Facebook page a like. This will help you stay up to date with the work we do. Twitter Page Regardless if you are bi+ or not, we would love it if you could follow our Twitter account. This will help you stay up to date with the work we do. Please note: All pages and supports, even the shop, is run solely by volunteers that work very hard at balancing everything in their life. Although we try to be as responsive as possible, sometimes things take longer and unfortunately occasionally things fall through the cracks. We appreciate patience but do understand if you need to send gentle reminders and we do apologise for this. We do our best to protect our community and as such we have community guidelines we expect anyone who interacts with our platforms or our events, to adhere to and that must be read in advance before requesting joining our closed groups. Our guidelines can be found here http://tinyurl.com/irlbiguidelines Useful links Public Facebook page Bi Ireland https://www.facebook.com/biirelandnetwork/ Public Twitter @irlbi https://twitter.com/irlbi Website http://www.biireland.com/ News and Events Blog http://www.biireland.com/news-and-events We Exist Stories http://www.biireland.com/we-exist-bi-ireland-series.html Shop https://shop.biireland.com/ Closed Facebook group Bi+ Ireland Community https://www.facebook.com/groups/BiIRL/ Closed Discord Server To join message Bi+ Ireland via facebook page or Twitter page Public Calendar of events Not only do we post Bi+ Ireland events here, but also events we think may be relevant to our community. http://www.biireland.com/calendar-of-events.html Public Calendar of events for Google sync Not only do we post Bi+ Ireland events here, but also events we think may be relevant to our community. https://calendar.google.com/calendar/b/1?cid=Z2FqN2FraTd0dm81cXE3dDExY2k4ZnZwdXNAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ Bi+ Ireland are so grateful to have won the Galway Community Pride’s Community Group of the Year Award 2020.
We would like to take this moment to thank Galway Community Pride for all the wonderful work it does each year to bring an amazing programme of events to Galway and for bringing Galway Community Pride to us this year with plenty of virtual events. We would like to also thank every person who voted for us. We truly appreciate it. Finally we would like to thank every member of Bi+ Ireland, past and present, for contributing to the group and helping to make Bi+ Ireland what it is today. We hope to continue to improve and do our best for our community. To check out the video, with the award announcement and our acceptance speech as given by Sharon Nolan please check out the following public facebook post from Galway Community Pride at approximately 11:30 https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=354143935747573 |
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This organisation is run 100% by volunteer coordinators. We welcome donations and promise 100% transparency with our spending. Learn more here.
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Bi+ Ireland is a network of people who fit somewhere under the bi+ umbrella, and who have close ties to Ireland. We are community group run by volunteers. You can reach us at biirelandnetwork@gmail.com.
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