Do you know anything about who is going to the 2012 LGBT White House Reception this year? As a past attendee in 2011, I know firsthand how exciting this time can be. Travel plans, who to take, what hotel to stay, can I afford a hotel stay! Meeting up with local bi peeps—the list can be endless. 

So I wanted to let folks know a little bit about each person going. Check out their bios and what they are doing for the bi community to move our bi visibility forward! 

Get to Know the  2012 Bisexual Leaders at the Upcoming LGBT White House Reception

Lauren Beach has been proudly out to the world as a bisexually identified progressive bi* and queer activist for the past 10 years. During the past decade, Lauren has held many leadership positions in both university student organizations and in community 501(c)(3) LGB*T*QQIAA nonprofits. Some highlights of her work in bi* communities include serving as Chairperson of the Minnesota bi*sexual non-profit the Bisexual Organizing Project (BOP), helping to organize BOP’s BECAUSE Conference on Bisexuality, and co-founding the University of Minnesota’s Bisexual, Pansexual, Fluid Sexuality Inclusion Project. Much of Lauren’s service to broader queer communities has focused on improving health and wellness in LGB*T*QQIAA populations and on advocating for the inclusion of gender expression and gender identity in university-wide anti-discrimination and inclusion policies. Lauren has developed and given numerous educational workshops about the inclusion of LGB*T*QQIAA individuals and communities in diverse settings including Creating Change, the MBLGTACC, the Minnesota OUT! Campus Conference, Target, the University of Minnesota, Michigan State University, Augsburg College, Americorps, the Point Foundation, and many others. You may have seen Lauren featured as one of the founding voices in Bi Social Network’s “I Am Visible” campaign, where in her posting, “Straight in Disguise or Lesbian in Denial: Reflections on Life and Love from a (Bi)-Sexual Traitor,” she speaks out about the importance of bi* visibility. Recently, Lauren also began developing her own website dedicated to exploring issues of bi*sexual activism, www.midwestbiactivist.org. In addition to her activist pursuits, Lauren is also a NIH and Point Foundation funded candidate in the University of Minnesota’s Joint Degree Program in Law, Health, and the Life Sciences, where she simultaneously pursues a Law Degree and a Ph.D. in Genetics, in the lab of Dr. Louis Mansky.

Lindasusan Ulrich is a writer, musician, and activist dedicated to a vision of radical inclusion in both language and action. She served for eight years as the Communications Manager/Writer for Horizons Foundation (the world’s first LGBT community foundation) and is a former member of the LGBT Advisory Committee of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, where she was the principal author of “Bisexual Invisibility: Impacts and Recommendations.” This report was the first of its kind released by a governmental body in the US, and has since made its way to activists on five continents and inspired a similar report in the UK. 

Lindasusan has led workshops and participated in panels about bi issues, including at the UCSF LGBTQI Health Forum, UC Hastings OUTLAW Conference, and AIDS Health Project. She is a recipient of the Maggi Rubenstein Leadership Award from the Bay Area Bisexual Network.

Lindasusan also brings her passion to a variety of issues beyond the LGBTQ movement, such as embodied spirituality, progressive politics, and the well-being of children in foster care. She received her undergraduate degree in nuclear fusion from MIT, an MA in English from UC Berkeley, and currently attends Starr King School for the Ministry on the path towards becoming a Unitarian Universalist minister. She lives in San Francisco with her wife, fellow bi activist Emily Drennen.

More to come…