natalyad

Complaint to Guardian about article
Dear Reader's Editor,

I would like to raise a formal complaint about Sophie Heawood's article of 2nd April 2015 at http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lostinshowbiz/2015/apr/02/james-franco-gay-up-to-a-point

My complaint is around biphobia in the form of disbelief, mocking and assuming the right of judgement about a person's sexual orientation.

Sophie Heawood in her replies to me on twitter claims she finds it funny that James Franco appears to change what sexual orientation he identifies with. She then goes on to claim that James Franco is chopping and changing his identified sexual orientation to look cool as a celebrity. This "to look cool" accusation is a hugely prevalent form of biphobia and is one which many bi people have experienced as a form of erasure and dismissal.

This ideas that anyone other than an individual gets to judge their own sexual orientation at any given time or that they should have to perform to expectations of that orientation are all forms of biphobia.

Biphobic articles in the media contribute to a devaluing of bisexuality as a valid sexual orientation and increases the lack of safer spaces for bi people to come out to themselves or others. This causes real harm as shown in research about bi people's mental and physical health outcomes.

I'm not the most articulate person to write about this but I can recommend that Sophie Heawood and the editor who approved this biphobic article read:

Bisexual Index's article and FAQ about what biphobia is
http://www.bisexualindex.org.uk/index.php/biphobia
http://www.bisexualindex.org.uk/index.php/Bisexuality

For credible evidenced research of the harm caused by biphobia in society I recommend The Bisexuality Report from respected researchers at the Open University at http://www.open.ac.uk/ccig/files/ccig/The%20BisexualityReport%20Feb.2012.pdf

I will be sending a complaint to the PCC on the grounds of 12i) pejorative reference to an individual's sexual orientation.

I would like a response to this complaint. I think the Guardian owes bi people an apology published prominently in the Guardian and above this article acknowledging the biphobic nature of it and recognition of the harm it causes.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Best regards,

Natalya

Complaint to IPSO (Independent Press Standards Organisation)
I used their online form but I believe the article breaches Clause 12 Discrimination part i.

i) The press must avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to an individual's race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation or to any physical or mental illness or disability.

My extra wording in the ipso form was:

"The entire article is premised on the idea that it is acceptable to judge, mock and make homophobic and biphobic remarks about someone's celebrity. The author accuses the subject of the article, a celebrity James Franco of "calling himself bisexual to look cool" and describes him as a "bollockless bisexual". Judging whether someone is bisexual enough is a well understood and researched form of biphobia.

The whole article is pejorative about the subject's sexuality which is discriminatory in itself. It is a very common experience for bi people like myself to be accused of "only being bi to be cool" as a form of erasure and discrimination. "

No idea if they will take me seriously but...

Over the years activists I know in some bi communities have said again and again "We should do more outreach outside of our comfort zone of our bi community" which is easier said than done when there is a distinct limit in spoons aka energy levels right now.

However, I've been lucky enough to have a few opportunities to do just this in the last year. I have been invited to speak and participate in the Institute of Equality and Diversity Practitioners (IEDP) Working to Make Equality Happen LGBT Seminar in Birmingham on 24th February.

I've spent months trying to get my material right, decide what to say, think about how to present bisexuality (identity, behaviour, feelings/attraction), biphobia, and what people can do about it in an accessible, coherent and constructive way for an audience of people I hope are working in and care about intersectionality within equalities.

My material has been overdue for a little while, being that person I hate who doesn't answer emails or send the damned stuff. So today I dithered about whether to add just-one-more-thing or not and decided to keep it simple and just send it. I'll live with my omissions and errors!

The lovely Ruth at the IEDP who has already replied and says the files all work (Not a given since I've used a mix of Google, Office 2010 and as little Libre Office as possible to construct the documents).

So without further ado if you wish to read them, see my:
Slides
Sort of Script
Resources and links

I will also try and write up how the event goes afterwards and realtime twitter if poss as well.