Bisexual Issues Committee (BIC) leadership changes
BIC wants to thank Dakota Leget for four years of service on BIC, three of which they served as co-chair! Dakota has been an invaluable member of BIC, helping us grow the committee from three members to a whopping ten. We will miss Dakota’s leadership dearly! We are also excited to announce Emily McIltrot is joining Mia Semelman as co-chair. We also want to thank Taylor Michl for their year of service as a student representative. Taylor, you will be missed! We are excited to welcome the following new members: Sam Lawton, new outreach coordinator, and Jacq Mitzner, new student representative. We are filled with warmth having so many fantastic members be part of our team.
We still have an open position for communication coordinator. Interested applicants should email us materials (i.e., a CV and 250-word statement of interest).
The Bisexual Issues Committee would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed to making last year’s symposium such a memorable and impactful experience!
Our annual symposium took place on Friday, August 8, 2025 with the theme “Roadmaps to Bi+ Joy: Advocacy, Activism, and Community Self Care.” The session explored the positive aspects of bi+ identities, highlighting how plurisexual individuals foster joy and wellbeing despite minority stress, and how adverse experiences can be channeled into powerful advocacy and activism.
We were honored to feature incredible presentations from an amazing group of scholars:
- Kayleigh Fenton and Melissa M. Ertl, PhD presented on “Flourishing, Sense of Community, and Social Justice Behavioral Intentions Among Cisgender Bisexual Women”.
- Emily McIltrot presented on “Bisexual+ Women’s Sexual Well-being: A Test and Extension of Objectification Theory”.
- Saskia Jorgensen presented “Understanding and acceptance, no questioning”: A qualitative exploration of social connection in bi+ people.
Their talks were engaging, affirming, and empowering. The vibes in the room were incredibly positive, and many attendees shared how much they appreciated the space to celebrate bi+ joy! We want to extend our deepest appreciation to everyone who attended and helped make the event a success.
APA Division 44 Bisexual Issues Committee Awards
We also want to remind our community about the BIC awards currently available on the APA Division 44 website. Please consider applying for or sharing these opportunities with your networks:
Award Name | Description | Target Applicant |
Bisexual Research Award | Awards up to $1,000 to advance research on the psychology of bisexuality. | Graduate students |
BIC Student Travel Award | Provides $1,000 to defray travel costs for the APA Annual Convention. | Graduate students committed to bi+ issues |
BIC Early Career Psychologist (ECP) Travel Award | Provides $1,000 to support convention attendance and professional engagement. | Psychologists within the first 5 years of their career |
BIC Community Engagement and Advocacy Award | A $1,000 award recognizing impressive contributions to plurisexual well-being (e.g., advocacy, education) beyond traditional scholarly achievements. | Psychologists and psychologists-in-training |
We look forward to seeing you in Washington, DC for our next symposium and fun social!