Babn.org is the Bay Area Bisexual Network (San Francisco CA)
Title
BABN - Bay Area Bisexual Network
Description
The bisexual community has had a growing presence in the Bay Area since the mid-sixties. Out bisexuals within the Sexual Freedom League; National Sex Forum; San Francisco Sex Information; the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality; the Radical Therapy Collective; the Gay Liberation Front; and the Peace, Civil Rights and Women's movements built the foundations upon which the Bay Area Bisexual Network (BABN), BiPOL, Bi-Friendly; and BiNet USA now stand.
The groundbreaking, volunteer-run San Francisco Bisexual Center opened its doors on Hayes Street in 1976, offering support groups, counseling services, social events and a newsletter, and publicly aligned itself with the gay movement. In March 1983, as the reality of 'gay cancer' dawned, a small band of out bi activists within the lesbian and gay communities founded BiPOL, the first bisexual political action group in the USA. At the forefront of early sex-positive HIV / AIDS awareness and education programs, bi men and women were a driving force in what was to become the San Francisco Model. With the greater stigmatization of bisexuality and the increasing involvement of bi activists in HIV / AIDS prevention work, and bisexual men getting sick and dying the Center was drained of the volunteer energy necessary to keep it open, and shut its doors in 1984.
Founded in 1987, BABN helped fill the vacuum left by the closing of the Bisexual Center. Local activists, including Ann Justi and Dr. Maggi Rubenstein, had attended the East Coast Bisexual Network Conference in 1987. Inspired by what she saw, Ann decided that the Bay Area should have a similar network, and began organizing. For nearly 10 years, BABN coordinated a speaker's bureau, a newsletter, retreats, and monthly cultural and educational forums. BABN’s phone line offered one of very few ways for isolated bisexuals to find and connect with bi community.
