Celebrate Bisexuality Day is observed on September 23 every year and is also known as Bisexual Pride Day, Bi Visibility Day, and CBD. It’s a day in which people are called to recognize and support bisexual people, as well as a day to celebrate the bisexual community and history.

It’s a day that’s observed by different people in different ways, but some of the more common ways to celebrate it are with parties, concerts, picnics, poetry readings, or teach-ins, among other events.

The History Of Celebrate Bisexuality Day

Celebrate Bisexuality Day was officially started in 1999 by three bisexual rights advocates, but it’s an offshoot from an older bisexual observance day created by BiNet USA in 1990. The first conference of this organization was organized and held in San Francisco that year and it attracted 450+ people from twenty different states and five different countries.

The mayor of San Francisco declared September 23, 1990, as Bisexual Pride Day. Wendy Curry, Michael Page, and Gigi Raven officially observed Bisexuality Day at the International Lesbian And Gay Association Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Currently, many different organizations refer to this observance day as Bisexuality+ Day to include members of the broader bi+ community of people who prefer to use labels such as omnisexual, pansexual, polysexual, or queer to describe their sexual orientation.

Facts About Being Bisexual+

Below are some facts about the bisexual+ community that isn’t generally known by most people. The following bullet points illustrate the point that bisexual people experience higher rates of societal rejection, discrimination, and societal invisibility—sometimes at rates higher than their lesbian and gay peers.

• Almost 60% of bisexual people are exposed to biphobic jokes on the job.
• Over 30% of bisexual people have been sexually harassed on the job due to their sexual orientation.
• Bisexual people are more likely to live on less than $30,000 a year.
• Almost 60% of bisexual women live with mood and anxiety orders—double the number of straight women.
• Approximately 25-30% of Millenials and Generation X are neither completely straight or gay.
• Approximately 40% of bisexual high-school students have considered suicide.
• A third of bisexual high-school students end up attempting suicide.
• Bisexual men and women experience greater rates of domestic violence than their gay or straight peers.
• The bisexual community is one of the most diverse communities around.

Observing Celebrate Bisexuality Day

There is an almost endless array of ways for people to observe and celebrate this observance day. People can choose to use the day for a party, BBQ, or other events; they can attend a teach-in, attend conferences on bisexuality, or use their voice to support and uplift the bisexual community. They can also use the hashtag #CelebrateBisexualityDay to show their support for the community.