Pinch me, I amBi!

I started organizing for the queer community in 1990, but it wasn't until I moved to LA and discovered amBi in early 2011 that I ever experienced what it is to be in a bi-specific group. I've known I was bi since before I had a word for it. I identify as part of the LGBTQAI rainbow, but marching in Pride with a gigantic bi flag (as we've done many times, in many locations now) makes me feel more authentically visible than ever before. Being an Organizer in L.A. was incredibly powerful and fulfilling.

I moved to Sacramento in 2015 and felt a real need for bi community here. Unbeknownst to me, an amBi member from San Diego had also moved here only three months earlier and experienced the same need. amBi leadership put us in touch with each other, and amBi Sacramento was born. Just two months in, we have approximately 80 members. Clearly, the other Organizers and I were not the only ones feeling a need. It's inspiring to watch this local community grow from the ground up!

amBi has given me opportunities (preaching a sermon at a UU church on Coming Out Day Sunday; marching in Pride in Melbourne, Australia; attending a Bisexual Leadership Conference) that I could never have imagined in 1990, but most of all what amBi has given me is community. There are people on this planet, bi people and their partners, with whom I have shared brunches, spa days, dinners, parades, pot-lucks, concerts, pub-crawls and so much more. amBi folks know my authentic self, they care for me, they support me, and I do the same for them in return. We are truly a community.

Sometimes I think it's too good to be true. Pinch me, I amBi!

-Kate Harlan
Sacramento Chapter