(Image Credit:) Wikimedia.com/Fg68at
Unity is a wonderful thing, and in unity there is strength. It enables communities, families, friends, and allies to work for change, social justice, preserve cultures and ways of life, and to fight oppression. Two of the best American examples of unity are those of the African American community when they fought for civil rights, and that of the gay and lesbian communities when they fought for rights after the Stonewall riots. Bisexuals and transgender people were part of that too of course, but were not openly acknowledged except as part of the gay and lesbian communities due to bisexual erasure. While there are always some divisions even in more united communities, a united base is often what pulls a community through and gives them the support to fight.
In recent decades, while it’s true that the gay and lesbian communities have become more fractured, enough momentum was formed in the post stonewall days that certain foundational organizations, such as the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, The National Gay And Lesbian Task Force, and others were able to get funds and get off the ground. People put aside their differences and gave whatever they could to these organizations because they realized it was in their common best interest. And they and others have kept the momentum going to this day, so despite there being areas of fracturing, there is still enough of a foundation of unity that the gay and lesbian communities are able to have some clout, and these organizations often can and do speak effectively for much of the community.
Having said that—after watching and participating in the bisexual community for over 3 years now, I have to come out and ask—why can’t we have this kind of unity? We managed to achieve some in the 1990’s, and when we did, we made some gains, but certainly not enough. And now things seem to be going the other way. When I first came out, I, like many others, asked why the bisexual community couldn’t support itself more and have more of its own space, and why we were so dependent on being included as part of the gay community. Of course there is much that we all have in common, so it’s very important to collaborate with the entire bisexual, lesbian, gay, and transgender (BLGT) community(s) when possible, but why isn’t there more of a bi space? From my observations, it seems to be for two main reasons: 1). Lack of coordination between different leaders and organizations, and 2). Lack of financial support. 
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