IS THE B IN LGBTQI SHINING BRIGHTER THAN EVER BEFORE? DANIELLE MUSTARDE INVESTIGATES

PHOTO SANTIAGO PAGNOTTA

“Being openly bisexual and in a relationship with a heterosexual man has meant that I’ve often felt both within and on the fringes of queer culture simultaneously.”

I wrote that sentence three years ago now, as part of a longer article for DIVA’s Pride issue in 2017. It was spring when I penned it, like it is now, only then I was still living with my boyfriend, Oliver, in a small, terraced house in Sheffield. It’s interesting reading it back now. More so perhaps because today I’m in a long-term relationship with a woman, and have spent much of the last few years immersed in London’s queer community.

Have my feelings on being bi changed in that time? Not drastically. The majority of my family and friends have been more than welcoming of my current relationship and, even those who have struggled in the past seem to have come around to the idea that I am still bisexual/queer/able to fall in love with people of all genders and none – a perk of my particular human makeup that I’m grateful for. I certainly feel a hell of a lot more connected to the community than ever before, but then that’s also to do with living in the capital – and, you know, working for a badass lez/bi magazine.