As a black bisexual woman, I've learned there is little more beautiful, powerful, and healing than self-love. Embracing who I am is a radical act, especially when there are still so many persistent myths and misunderstandings about bisexuality, much less the experiences of black bisexual women like me.

While it’s great to see bisexual celebs coming out of the closet—especially bisexual women of color—it’s not enough. Far too often, the “B” in LGBTQ is marginalized, or worse, completely forgotten. Even allies and our own LGBTQ community can sometimes engage in the kind of stereotyping that lends itself to the destructive practice of bi-erasure. Bi-erasure is the assumption that everyone is either straight or gay or lesbian, and it contributes to the marginalization of bisexual people like me.

The ideas that only gay, lesbian, and transgender people would work at an LGBTQ organization and that only straight women marry men are both rooted in bi-erasure. If you see two women holding hands and think, “They must be lesbians,” that’s bi-erasure. Unless you know them personally, it's impossible to know how those women identify. Similarly, if you see a man and woman on a date and immediately assume they're straight, that’s also bi-erasure. Like many other aspects of our identities, you can't know someone’s sexual orientation just by looking. Read more via Self