Bi+ Lived Experiences
Dr Duc Dau on the lived experience of bi+ people, increasing visibility, and reducing the high rates of mental illness.
Dr Duc Dau is a researcher and activist, and an Honorary Research Fellow at The University of Western Australia. A lot of her research in literary studies is on queer representation. She is one of the coordinators of UWA BTW (Bi the Way) and Bi+ Community Perth, and a member of the bisexual research group.
In an academic article she co-authoured, called Real, Visible, Here she writes:
The authors of the article run Bisexual+ Community Perth, a grassroots collective that works to increase bisexual+ visibility and community connection in Western Australia. This article begins by providing an evidence-base for bisexual+ activism, much of it based on the poorer mental health outcomes of bisexual+ people and the pervasive invisibility of bisexual+ people in both LGBTIQ+ communities and activism. Drawing on the work of Bisexual+ Community Perth, the article then offers a practical example of community-building as activism. It explores how collective mobilisation, bridge building, and alliances can be leveraged to make a difference in a local context, and discusses some of the challenges faced in sustaining this work. Throughout the article, the lived experiences of Bisexual+ Community Perth members are included to bring a richness to our account of the work, and to increase empathy towards bisexual+ people in general.
3 things you wish everyone knew about bisexuality?
It is legitimate
It is an umbrella term for many ways of not being straight or gay
Bisexuals suffer from high levels of mental distress because of a lack of acceptance
Why are you interested in research on bisexuality?
I am interested in the lived experience of bi+ people and how we might be able to increase visibility and reduce the high rates of mental illness.
What does your research explore?
I'm a literary scholar by training, but am moving increasingly into empirical research as I focus on contemporary society and LGBTIQA+ experience in general and bi+ experience in particular.
I am currently an Honorary Research Fellow at The University of Western Australia and have published in a range of areas, including screen media (queer and interspecies relationships in Doctor Who), Victorian pornography (The Romance of Lust), bisexual activism, and in feminist, queer, and black theologies, especially in the context of the Song of Songs. I also co-run a couple of bi groups, UWA BTW (Bi the Way) and Bi+ Community Perth.
My research is often driven by a desire to recover or forge spaces of acceptance for marginalised and oppressed groups within Christianity.
I have found in my research that very little funding goes towards services for bi people, despite that fact that we make up at least 50% of the LGBTIQA+ community.
How do you define bisexuality?
Attraction to more than one gender.
Anything else you want to share?
There needs to be more bi research, and the rest of the community and service providers should know that there is bi research out there, so they use it to inform the decision-making process.
What bi research would you like people to know about?
Farquhar, Misty and Dau, Duc. Real, Visible, Here: Bisexual+ Visibility in Western Australia. Critical Social Policy 40 (2020): 258-278. See the bibliography for additional bi research.
San Filippo, Maria. The B Word: Bisexuality in Contemporary Film and Television. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2013.
Getting more personal…
Are you bi? Yes.
Does being bisexual change how you approach your work?
Yes. I feel it has made me more open to exploring different points of view.
Can you tell me a bit about your experience?
When did you know you were bi? I only heard of the word bi at university. It changed my life.
Do your friends and family know you are bi? Yes.
Do your colleagues know you are bi? Yes.
When did you come out as bi? At university (undergrad).
Was there any particular reason you came out as bi? It made sense.
Dr Duc Dau’s