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Invisible Majority: the Disparities Facing Bisexual People and How to Remedy Them

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Invisible Majority: the Disparities Facing Bisexual People and How to Remedy Them INVISIBLE MAJORITY: THE DISPARITIES FACING BISEXUAL PEOPLE AND HOW TO REMEDY THEM September 2016 Author Partners This report was authored by: This report was developed in partnership with: 2 Movement Advancement Project American Foundation for Suicide Prevention The Movement Advancement Project (MAP) is an BiNet USA independent think tank that provides rigorous research, Bisexual Organizing Project (BOP) insight, and analysis that help speed equality for Bi Queer Alliance Chicago LGBT people. MAP works collaboratively with LGBT Bisexual Resource Center (BRC) organizations, advocates and funders, providing Center for Culture, Sexuality, and Spirituality information, analysis and resources that help coordinate Los Angeles Bi Task Force (LABTF) and strengthen efforts for maximum impact. MAP’s policy National Black Justice Coalition research informs the public and policymakers about the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs legal and policy needs of LGBT people and their families. National LGBTQ Task Force For more information, visit www.lgbtmap.org. See page 28 for more information about these organizations. Contact Information MAP thanks the following major* funders, without Movement Advancement Project (MAP) whom this report would not have been possible. 2215 Market Street Denver, CO 80205 Craig Benson 1-844-MAP-8800 David Bohnett Foundation www.lgbtmap.org David Dechman & Michel Mercure David Geffen Foundation Ford Foundation Gill Foundation Esmond Harmsworth Jim Hormel Johnson Family Foundation Andy Lane Jeff Lewy & Ed Eishen Amy Mandel & Katina Rodis Weston Milliken Ineke Mushovic Jay Oppenheimer The Palette Fund Matthew Patsky Mona Pittenger H. van Ameringen Foundation Wild Geese Foundation *Individual and institutional funders at $5,000 or greater TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .....................................................................................................................i INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................1 WHO ARE BISEXUAL PEOPLE? .........................................................................................................2 There are More Bisexual than Lesbian and Gay People ..................................................................................... 2 Bisexual People Are Diverse ..................................................................................................................................................2 Bisexual People Are More Likely to be Married and be Parents ...............................................................................4 Bisexual People Are Most Often in Different-Sex Relationships ..............................................................................4 Bisexual People Face Pervasive Bias in Families, Communities, and Society .............................................. 5 Limited and Flawed Data Collection on Bisexual People .................................................................................. 6 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................................................6 DISPARITIES AND RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................7 Unsafe and Unsupportive Educational Environments ....................................................................................... 7 Risk Behaviors Among Bisexual Youth ..............................................................................................................................7 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................................................8 High Rates of Discrimination in the Workplace .................................................................................................... 10 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................................................11 Difficulty Seeking Immigration Relief ...................................................................................................................... 12 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................................................13 Substantial Mental and Physical Health Disparities ........................................................................................... 13 Mental Health.............................................................................................................................................................................13 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................................................16 Physical Health...........................................................................................................................................................................17 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................................................18 HIV Prevention, Treatment, and Care .................................................................................................................................18 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................................................19 Increased Levels of Violence ....................................................................................................................................... 20 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................................................21 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................22 APPENDIX .........................................................................................................................................23 ENDNOTES ........................................................................................................................................24 PARTNER ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTIONS ....................................................................................28 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Disparities and Recommendations i Despite comprising more than half of the lesbian, Unsafe and Unsupportive Educational gay, and bisexual (LGB) community, bisexual people are Environments. Research finds that LGBT youth and frequently swept into the greater LGB community, their young adults report negative experiences in schools, specific disparities made invisible within data about including higher levels of harassment, discrimination, the LGB community as a whole. This report outlines and violence. In a 2014 survey of more than 10,000 the key areas in which bisexual people face disparities LGBT students, 29% of bisexual youth reported being and highlights recommendations for policymakers, frequently or often verbally harassed. Bisexual youth also communities and service providers. have higher incidents of some specific risk behaviors. Schools must be made safe, supportive environments Who Are Bisexual People? for bisexual students. Bisexual people comprise about half (52%) of LGB High Rates of Discrimination in the Workplace. people in the United States. Research also finds that Bisexual people face harassment and discrimination in a substantial percentage of Americans experience the workplace, which takes a toll on health, well-being, attraction to or have had sexual contact with individuals and earning power. Forty-eight percent of bisexual of more than one gender, even if they don’t identify respondents report an annual family income of less than as bisexual. People of color are more likely than white $30,000, compared to 39% of lesbians, 30% of gay men, people to identify as bisexual; bisexual women of color and 28% of all adults in the United States. States and comprise 36% of bisexual women, compared to 26% of Congress should enact laws prohibiting employment heterosexual women. Bisexual people are more likely to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. SUMMARY EXECUTIVE be parents than gay and lesbian people. Difficulty Seeking Immigration Relief. Bisexual Even as existing research yields important information immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees have unique about bisexual people and their lives, data about bisexual needs and valid claims. But when a bisexual person people remains limited. Very few nationally representative approaches an asylum officer to begin a claim, their surveys ask questions about sexual orientation and small sexual orientation may be viewed more skeptically than sample sizes in the surveys that do ask about sexual if the claimant was gay or lesbian. Immigration lawyers orientation do not allow comparative analyses to be and judges should be prepared to competently serve made among LGB people, so findings are often limited to bisexual immigrants. LGB people as a whole rather than examining lesbian and Substantial Mental and Physical Health Disparities. gay respondents separately from bisexual
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