1 of 2 Celebrating Bisexuality, Pansexuality, and Fluidity
Bi Visibility Day—September 23, 2013
Sponsored by the Met o State Universit Gender & Sex alit St dent Ser ices Office Metro Spotlight on Martha Hardy
Reference & Instruction Librarian and Assistant Professor
This year marks the 14th anniversary of Bi Visibility Day (or Celebrate Bisexuality Day) Meet Martha Hardy, a Reference & Instruction
Librarian and Assistant Professor at Metropolitan State University. I decided to interview
Martha for the second issue of “Bye, Bi
Stigma!” because she is such a joy to be
around, has fabulous eyewear, and she is out
and very proud of her queer identity.
shatteringly significant. It changed everything."
To read stories where she could see parts of
her own life mirrored and also discover stories
that were very different from her own, affirmed
her feelings that there are other communities
out there in which she felt a part of. She feels
very strongly that "each of us wants to feel part
of a community, especially those living in the
in-between spaces as bisexual and queer
people."
She also strives to build a library collection that
includes materials relevant to the lives of
bisexual, trans, queer, gay, and lesbian
students and their varied experiences. Martha
tells her story and lives with integrity in every
facet of her life. When asked if she had a
message for anybody struggling with their
sexuality, she replied "Don't let others impose
their language on you and try to find
community."
With the overturn of DOMA and Minnesota's
victory of defeating the marriage amendment,
inclusive language has been an issue of
concern. Martha and her partner volunteered
with Minnesota United for all Families to make
outbound calls during the campaign only to
discover their call scripts excluded language
that could be viewed as affirming other
relationships within the LGBTQ community,
such as bisexual, queer, or polyamorous
relationships. When they asked the campaign
representatives to change the scripts to include
language such as "same-sex" or "same-gender
“Each of us wants to feel relationships" they were denied. They decided
after a lot of consideration, to stay on and help
part of a community, the campaign. She said "If I woke up and the
especially those living in the amendment was passed, I would feel terrible if
in‐between spaces, such as I didn't do anything to prevent it." She
other bisexual friends as
bisexual and queer people.” described
experiencing similar exclusion of their identities
during the campaign and admitted "It was hard.
Martha describes the absolute importance of
books in her self-discovery process. Books like We definitely felt angry."
Songmaster by Orson Scott Card and Bi Any
When inquired about her experiences as a
Other Name edited by Loraine Hutchins and
faculty member at Metropolitan State, she feels
Lani Ka’ahumanu were here earliest
that it is vital for her to "be out as queer and out
experiences with bisexual characters or stories, as bi...and I hope that it is helpful for people
although she discovered later, as an adult, that around me, for students. Not everyone is in a
the author of Songmaster painted a very
place that they can be out." She has had
biphobic and homophobic picture. She
multiple experiences where students have
describes Bi Any Other Name as "…earth
come out to her as bisexual, gay, or lesbian.
Finding a community has been instrumental in
Martha's experiences in the Twin Cities. She
attended the BECAUSE Conference (Bisexual
Empowerment Conference, A Uniting
Supportive Experience) just a few weeks after
moving to Minneapolis and instantly found
community. She described the conference as
"Awesome! Here are 150 people having conversations publicly that I've never had." It was
an "instant community" for her and she is still
close friends with many of the people she met
there.
College was the first place where it became
clear that she was attracted to men and
women. Martha describes growing up in Ohio
without language or visibility of sexualities that
weren't gay, lesbian, or straight. Her earliest
experiences with language we would likely
categorize as bisexual and pansexual today
was in passing. She overheard a friend
mentioning attractions as occurring on an
individual basis, rather than a pre-determined
inclination toward a particular group of people.
In college, she began hearing discussions
about sexual identities, met other bisexual
people, and started to see bisexual topics and
experiences in books and classes.
When asked about Martha's role models, she
described people in the local community who
have done bisexual activism work. Rob
Yaeger, Lou Hoffman, Gary Lingen, Elise
Matheson, Victor Raymond, and Max Gries.
This flyer is available in alternate text format upon request. Contact [email protected] or 651‐793‐1540 (voice). 2 of 2 Shiri Eisner’s Bisexual* Umbrella
How To End Bisexual Erasure
Resources in the Twin Cities

Midwest Bi* Activist
Midwest Bi* Activist is a website dedicated to building and
empowering the Bi* movement. The mission of the website is to
provide resources, inspire dialogue, and build power by, for,
and about Bi* communities.
Website: http://www.midwestbiactivist.org/index.html
Email: [email protected]

Bi Cities
A show by and for the Bisexual community, friends and allies.
Bi Cities has provided monthly interviews with the GLBT
community locally (Minneapolis/St Paul MN) & nationally since
2002.
Website: http://www.bicities.org/

Metropolitan State University—Gender and Sexuality Student
Services Office
Website: Metro State GSSSO Twitter: @MetroGSSSO
Facebook: Metro State Gender & Sexuality Student Services Office
St. Paul Campus, 700 East 7th St., Founders Hall 240C
Phone: (651) 793-1544
Source: h p://itgetsbe eryk.org/tagged/resources This flyer is available in alternate text format upon request. Contact [email protected] or 651‐793‐1540 (voice).