ABOVE: Sarah Wissig, founder of The Orlando Bisexual Alliance. (Photo by Jeremy Williams)
ORLANDO | Central Florida activist Sarah Wissig came out of the closet as bisexual 10 years ago and in that time she has become concerned over the lack of bisexual representation within the community.
“There’s very little in the way of community for bisexuals in Orlando,” Wissig says. “I got involved in the LGBTQ community right away when I came out and, no matter where I went or what I did, I seemed to be the only bisexual most of the time and I didn’t know why that was.”
The lack of bisexual representation concerned Wissig but it became all the more surprising to her when she started to look into the statistics of bisexuality as it relates to the rest of the LGBTQ community.
According to studies from both the Williams Institute and the Human Rights Campaign, 50% of the LGBTQ community identify as bisexual.
“We make up half of the community. We’re the majority so I don’t understand why we are so marginalized and invisible,” Wissig says.
That lack of visibility led Wissig to start up a new organization in Central Florida, The Orlando Bisexual Alliance (OBA). Wissig hopes that the new organization can help dispel some of the enduring stereotypes about bisexuals that she has seen perpetrated within the community itself.
“It’s one thing to see it from straight people, but it’s another to see it from your own community,” she says. “I’ve always felt very rooted in the LGBTQ community, but I haven’t always felt included within it.”
One stereotype Wissig would like to discredit right away is that bisexuality isn’t an actual sexual identity.
“Usually the perception with bisexual men is that they’re really gay and usually the perception with bisexual women is that they’re really straight and they’re just experimenting,” Wissig says. “I’ve been an out and proud bisexual woman for a decade and that’s not changing. I’m not just confused.”
According to Wissig, of the $480 million that went to programs and organizations that serve the LGBTQ community in the U.S. between 1970-2010, only $84,000 was given to groups that specifically serve the bisexual community. Wissig says that isn’t near enough for a portion of the community that is facing an array of serious issues including poverty, mental illness, suicidal ideation, substance abuse and domestic violence.
“I want for the bisexual community to be seen, to be validated, to be served and to be celebrated,” she says.
Wissig first hopes to increase the visibility of OBA, and the community as a whole. She has taken steps to have OBA march in the Come Out With Pride parade and will have a booth at the festival.
The OBA holds monthly meetings on the fourth Thursday of each month at The LGBT+ Center in Orlando. The next meeting will be on Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. For more information, search “The Orlando Bisexual Alliance” on Facebook.
