The spatial visibility of Bivisible Bristol from 2010-2014

BiVisible Bristol founded in 2010 grew out of the previous bisexual group Fluidity and were consistently dedicated to creating spaces for bisexual people across Bristol to socialise and connect with each other. From cafe meetings to club nights, BiVisible Bristol went above and beyond to cater to the diverse needs and interests of its members in the centre of Bristol’s queer scene.

Monthly meetings

BiVisible Bristol established their monthly meetings during this period at Cafe Kino in Stokes Croft. Joanna, an early organiser of BiVisible from 2010-14 explained that the turnout was initially slow in 2010 before it began to grow in 2011 and 2012 and the word quickly spread. She stated how it led to a core group of about 4-5 members who became really close friends with the other members attending on a semi-regular basis. The meeting spot temporarily changed to Hydra Bookshop from 2014 to ensure it was more sensory-friendly. While BiVisible Bristol’s mission was to create a bisexual community and improve bisexual visibility in the city, they also cater to those who are questioning their sexuality, bicurious or in the closet and anxious about coming out for various reasons. Joanna explained “we had the purple teapot for a while as an icon so people knew that it was a BiVisible meeting” to ensure members didn’t have to be out to be welcomed into the group.

Greedy club nights

BiVisible Bristol was far from a one trick pony in the 2010s, initially collaborating with Psychodrama – an alternative and eclectic monthly LGBT club night on Fridays to celebrate the annual bisexual visibility day on 23rd September. This led to the launch of the ‘Greedy’ club night in 2012 at the Queen Shilling pub where the entire venue was loaned to BiVisible once a month on a Tuesday night. BiVisible’s unapologetic reclaiming of biphobic language such as Greedy, as discussed in the December 2012 issue of Bi Community News, extended their public visibility through openly resisting their stigma within Bristol’s queer communities. It received a variable turnout, according to Nate, a BiVisible co-organiser from 2013, leading to Greedy nights lasting for another 4 months. Joanna claimed that “the Queenshilling were particularly supportive in letting BiVisible organise club nights with them for no additional cost”. The venue felt particularly valuable to bisexual members at the time as it curated a private, bisexual-only space within Bristol where they could meet like-minded people while participating in quizzes and dancing, feeling fully comfortable in their sexuality.

 

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‘Good Bi Summer’ at The Phoenix

A highlight of BiVisible Bristol’s social scene was their fundraiser called ‘Good Bi Summer’ at The Phoenix pub in Cabot Circus on 20th September 2014 to also celebrate bi visibility day. The back end space of The Phoenix was loaned to BiVisible for free where they had a barbeque and raffle, encouraging lots of bisexual people and their families to meet and have fun in an accepting environment. It even got nominated and came runner up for the ShoutOut radio awards in February 2015 for ‘Best Event for Bisexual People’. Bi-Visible organisers from this period reminisced of this event as one that was particularly special for BiVisible in improving their public visibility in Bristol and strengthening the community within it.

Location and Accessibility

A clear pattern emerged for BiVisible Bristol during this period of them largely locating their socials in Bristol’s free venues. This was because BiVisible didn’t have a substantial budget of their own as they were fully run by volunteers. However, the spatial visibility of the group was dependent on these venues being as accessible as possible for BiVisible’s diverse group of members. Nate explained that “when dealing with a vulnerable minority, you want to cater to them as much as possible. Some want to be seen out in public with other bisexuals while others were more cautious, so we needed a safe space that also suited people with access needs”.  The continued stigma of bisexuality during this period also impacted BiVisible’s access to certain LGBTQ+ venues. While this was a challenge, it didn’t stop BiVisible from prioritising accessible and central spaces to establish strong public visibility in Bristol.

Despite BiVisible’s financial and accessibility barriers, they went to great lengths during this period to organise consistent meetings at Cafe Kino located in the heart of Bristol and host external events within free and accessible friendly venues such as The Queen Shilling and The Phoenix. Therefore, BiVisible curated short and long term bisexual spaces within Bristol’s city centre and existing LGBTQ+ spaces which brought bisexuals a far greater sense of belonging than they’d found previously.

 

Contributions from oral interviews

Listen below about Joanna discussing how Greedy club nights came about and their value to bisexual people:

Also listen below to Nate discussing the extent of accessibility of Bristol’s venues during the 2010s:

 

Further resources

Reclaiming Greedy article – December 2012 https://bicommunitynews.co.uk/2012/12/29/greedy-for-attention/
Advert for the Good Bi Summer event https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/whats-on/the-pheonix/sat-20-sep-bivisibility-day-awareness-21023#e21023
Stigma of bisexuality Bi Community News article 2014 https://bicommunitynews.co.uk/2014/02/10/bisexual-experiences-bisexual-women/

All of the pictures have been provided to me with consent from the personal archives of BiVisible members – feel free to click on an image to expand it to full view.

Lucy Marshall, 2025