Each year I do a roundup of the year for Bi Community News magazine. Here's 2023's.
Past years: 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017
The 2020s have been a tough time for many people and while a lot of “normal” life has returned in 2023 first a thought for many people for whom it’s still harder than usual thanks to COVID, war and a sadly growing tide of hate speech and hate action.
January
After fourteen years, bi actor Alan Cumming handed his OBE
back to Buckingham Palace, saying it had seemed symbolically important
at the time but the world had moved on and someone getting an award
while being publicly queer no longer held such meaning.
Researchers showed bis are more likely to use cannabis. The researchers found that surprising, but could not clarify whether our health issues lead to use, or use leads to our health issues.
On telly, Our Flag Means Death arrived on the BBC to much acclaim, and Carnival Row came back for a second and as it turned out final season.
And while Scotland’s Holyrood parliament voted overwhelmingly and across most parties to move forward on LGBT equality, the Westminster government overruled them. After a year-long battle, Scotland would back down.
February
Good news in Andorra as the country’s same-sex marriage law came into effect. It was the 33rd country to introduce it. At home the age at which you can marry was raised to 18.
Hands-on research revealed penises are getting bigger.
And actor Rebel Wilson launched a bi-ish dating app, which we’d have to admit has pretty well vanished without trace.
On telly, Star Trek Picard returned as did Vox Machina.
March
March is Bi Health Month and this year’s theme was “beyond visibility“, echoing the messages of September’s Bi Visibility Day.
In politics, the least LGBTphobic candidate won the SNP leadership election to become the new First Minister at Holyrood.
Long-running bi gathering BiCon announced dates for the summer, this time in Nottingham. London’s BiPride festival sought new leadership volunteers.
Researchers wondered whether you could recognise bi men by their voices, and didn’t get the results they expected. They also found bi women are at the greatest risk of heart disease.
Life got worse for bis and other queer people in Uganda. Closer to home the Italian government stopped recognising same-sex couples as the parents of their children.
Our Spring issue came out with delightfully queer pirate drama Our Flag Means Death providing our cover star.
April
America’s CDC had new stats on young bisexuals and there being more of them than ever. President Biden apologised for the ‘Lavender Scare‘ paranoia about gay people in public life 70 years ago; perhaps in 70 years his successor will admit the current discourse around trans people is just as deluded. Biden appointed bi star Lady Gaga to the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Meanwhile in Florida, state government became the most notorious of many state legislatures for whipping up hate with Prides having to cancel or restructure their events.
Here in Europe, Hungary’s government encouraged citizens to report LGBT people. This so the state could harass same-sex couples raising their families, and any families supporting trans people.
BiCon announced its pricing for the summer’s bi gathering, and the Lambda Literary Awards announced their shortlists for their annual LGBT+ book awards.
In pop culture, Batman’s bisexual sidekick Robin reached the end of his story.
May
The big bi news was another bi winner of Eurovision while here in Brexitland, we slumped further down the European league table we topped from 2010 to 2015.
The NHS decided we didn’t need the Mpox vaccine any more, and petitioners tried unsuccessfully to stop the government telling schools to out queer kids to abusive parents.
On TV Single Drunk Female dropped back for a second season, XO, Kitty arrived and the queer version of The Ultimatum was compulsively terrible telly. The bi & gay men equivalent was better.
A dramatisation retold the Amber Heard v Johnny Depp court case.
And like UK governments past, Romania lost a court case about how it treats LGBT people while Taiwan allowed same-sex couples to adopt at last.
June
In the UK June kicks off with Volunteer’s Week. Is it time for you to step up and help other bi people?
In the US it’s “Pride Month” and President Biden held a party. We had good news about HIV rates, and the STI map of Britain.
There was bisexuality in The Witcher, Warrior Nun got rescued from the scrapheap, and Never Have I Ever returned.
Research showed queer kids don’t sleep so well.
Recently the UK implemented a disregard of past convictions for LGBT people who served in the armed forces; Ireland decided to follow suit.
Estonia’s parliament voted to bring in same-sex marriage, and Thailand teetered on the brink of doing so too.
And while the UK’s government still couldn’t find a moral compass in the face of well-funded hate campaigns, Iceland implemented a ban on conversion therapy.
July
June may be Pride season in the US but Prides were in full swing here – ours run from April through to October. In a small but important statement by one of them, Liverpool Pride incorporated Kyiv Pride.
American bi conference Because announced its dates, as did a smaller bi conference for Belgium.
And on TV, Netflix told the story of 80s popstars Wham!
August
Sha’Carri Richardson became the fastest woman in the world.
In TV representation Heartstopper returned, as did podcast themed drama Only Murders In The Building. We got news of another run of Our Flag Means Death, though it is still yet to air.
And the BBC, who are increasingly bad on LGBT representation and reporting, managed to erase the B from a story about a bi woman finding bi representation in the media and realising as a result that she was bi. Well done, Auntie.
September
Another online bi academic conference was held, based out of Canada this time. And Australia had its own, now annual, bi conference too. In the UK, the biggest bi gathering yet happened with London Bi Pride.
In politics, the one out-bi government minister resigned to spend more time losing her seat at the upcoming General Election, while Westminster kicked the can down the road even further on conversion therapy.
It was the 25th Bi Visibility Day. Being on a weekend it got less attention than some recent years, though it got name-checked by the Welsh government. European research from ILGA looked at bi experience across the continent.
On TV, cartoon Disenchanted began its final run, as did Sex Education. The Boys spin-off Generation V began, and we were guaranteed a Happy Ending.
October
Lithuania decided it was time to get rid of its version of Section 28. It was the 35th annual Coming Out Day. And Australia took the first steps to ending blood donation discrimination.
New analysis of the 2021 census showed bi people are less likely to be married. Other research found we’re even underpaid when we get to the top.
TV saw a remake of Interview with the Vampire, Brazilian popster Anita join the cast of Elite, the Fall of the House of Usher and a second and final season of Loki.
November
Janelle Monáe was recipient of the ‘Spirit Of Soul’ award, renamed to respect their gender.
Internationally, Latvia moved to allow same-sex civil partnerships. In research, we learned bis are less likely to be in employment than straight and gay people, and the ONS admitted it had overcounted pansexuals in census reports.
In the House of Lords a bill to ban conversion therapy was introduced, as the government still wouldn’t do it after many years of promising. And we remembered it was 20 years since Section 28 was abolished in Wales and England.
December
We celebrated 25 years since the bi flag was created.
The year wrapped up with some good news: the US Supreme Court refused to quosh a local ban on conversion therapy, a new government in Poland planned partnership recognition, and the EU pushed again on cross-border parenting rights.
We had lower rates of HIV and over on the telly, the Doctor was more obviously bi in Doctor Who than before.
