Bisexual Day of Visibility (also called Celebrate Bisexuality Day, Bisexual Pride Day, Bi Visibility Day, CBD, Bisexual Pride and Bi Visibility Day, and Bisexuality+ Day) is generally observed on September 23, although some organizations and websites refer to September as Bisexual Awareness Month.
This day (week, month) is a call to recognize and celebrate bisexual history, bisexual community and culture and all the bisexual people in our lives. Currently, no events are planned in the Carolinas, however, a virtual online celebration is slated for the Facebook community known as Bisexual Plus, that begins at 9 am and continues through 10 p.m.
The roots of Bisexual Day of Awareness can be traced back to 1990, when the oldest known national bisexual organization in the United States, BiNet USA, was founded.
They had their first meeting at the initial National Bisexual Conference in America, held in San Francisco, that same year.
Reportedly, more than 450 people attended from 20 states and five countries and the mayor of San Francisco sent a proclamation “commending the bisexual rights community for its leadership in the cause of social justice.” He declared June 23, 1990, to be Bisexual Pride Day. That date didn’t stick.
First officially observed in 1999 at the International Lesbian and Gay Association Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, Celebrate Bisexuality Day is the brainchild of three bisexual rights activists: Wendy Curry of Maine, Michael Page of Florida, and Gigi Raven Wilbur of Texas.
According to a Wikipedia article, Curry offered this assessment for the current date of celebration:
“We were sitting around at one of the annual bi conventions, venting and someone – I think it was Gigi – said we should have a party. We all loved the great bisexual, Freddie Mercury. His birthday was in September, so why not September? We wanted a weekend day to ensure the most people would do something. Gigi’s birthday was Sept 23rd. It fell on a weekend day, so, poof! We had a day.”
On September 18, 2012, Berkeley, California, became what is thought to be the first city in the U.S. to officially proclaim a day recognizing bisexuals. The Berkeley City Council unanimously and without discussion declared September 23 as Bisexual Pride and Bi Visibility Day.