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Still Complicated > Bi+ community groups

Report Chapters
  1. Acknowledgements
  2. Foreword
  3. Introduction
  4. Methodology
  5. How we define bi+
  6. Demographics
  7. Key findings
  8. Community and belonging
  9. Belonging to the LGBT+ community
  10. Belonging to a bi+ community
  11. Belonging to a ‘straight community’
  12. Summary (Community and belonging)
  13. Bi+ experiences in LGBTI+ services
  14. Biphobia in LGBTI+ spaces
  15. Other barriers to participation in LGBTI+ spaces
  16. Mainstream public services and the bi+ experience
  17. NHS services
  18. Sexual health services
  19. Police services
  20. Religious services
  21. Other services
  22. Summary (Mainstream public services and the bi+ experience)
  23. Bi+ intersectionality
  24. Employment
  25. Covid-19 pandemic and the bi+ experience
  26. Covid-19 related healthcare
  27. Social challenges
  28. Financial hardships
  29. Bi+ community groups
  30. Summary (Covid-19 pandemic and the bi+ experience)
  31. Good practice
  32. Recommendations
  33. Increased knowledge and understanding
  34. Avoiding assumptions and generalising
  35. Dealing with discrimination
  36. Bi+ specific support and inclusion
  37. Increase representation of bi+ people
  38. Resources and further reading
  39. Bibliography
  40. Glossary

Bi+ community groups

The mainly volunteer led bi+ community faced many challenges during the pandemic, because they could not meet in person, because of financial hardship among individuals who supported mostly unfunded groups, and because of the illness and death of volunteers.

Despite these challenges, the already growing online bi+ community has further expanded and solidified, with groups and communities taking advantage of the various, often free, apps and social media platforms available. To this day, a large number of groups and communities are still continuing with events and social spaces either solely online, or with a mix of online and in-person events. Several bi+ and bi-inclusive groups took advantage of Scottish Government funding administered by the Equality Network to access paid Zoom accounts and similar applications to improve connectivity and reduce loneliness. For some people this move online made their communities more accessible in some ways than they had ever been.

“I found online BiCon much more relaxing in a lot of ways as I wasn’t always tired and sore from travel.”

Next page

Summary (Covid-19 pandemic and the bi+ experience)

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