Post submitted by former Editorial Producer, Print and Digital Media Rokia Hassanein

Bisexual, pansexual, fluid and queer people comprise the largest group in the LGBTQ community. However, bi+ people also experience greater health disparities and a lack of research on those disparities, as well as biphobia in medical settings. 

As we continue to bring attention to these barriers, HRC Foundation is proud to support the Bisexual Resource Center, which founded Bi Health Month, and organizations across the country to observe the seventh annual Bisexual Health Awareness Month this March. 

Bisexual Health Awareness Month is dedicated to raising awareness about the startling social, economic and health disparities facing the bi+ community. These disparities include facing higher rates of mood disorders, substance abuse, eating disorders, cancers and more. 

This year’s theme is “resilience” and focuses on the hardships that bi+ people experience, the impact those hardships have on our well-being and how we grow stronger in working against them together. 

“The bi+ community is indeed resilient in spite of bi+ erasure and biphobia,” said Madeleine Roberts, one of two co-chairs of HRC’s Bi+ Employee Resource Group. “Our community is often mislabeled as lesbian, gay or straight despite our coming out as bi+. This erasure can be especially problematic in a doctor’s office. Bisexual Health Awareness Month is about channeling our resilience to overcome these obstacles to care. As a community, we’re using our voices to raise awareness and advocate for ourselves in medical settings and beyond.”

Studies consistently show that bi+ people are far less likely to disclose their sexual orientation to medical professionals. That’s why HRC Foundation’s “Coming Out to Your Doctor as Bisexual” guide aims to be a resource to help those who are bi+ navigate complicated conversations in a medical setting. 

Health care professionals can make their practices more welcoming and inclusive of their bisexual patients in various ways, including displaying signage in waiting rooms that supports LGBTQ people, avoiding assumptions about gender and sexuality and being well-educated on bi+ health concerns. 

This Bi Health Month, HRC reaffirms our commitment to creating inclusive, welcoming spaces for bi+ people and celebrates their resilience. 

To read more resources and information on HRC’s work with the bisexual community, please visit hrc.org/Bisexual.