Gentlemen: Happy Birthday or Anniversary!

HOW IT ALL BEGAN at the BI MEN:

This week is the ANNIVERSARY or BIRTHDAY of our BI Men Network which was founded in February of 1999 at that time on the old ONElist as BI Men USA.

At that time - the "love affair" with the original newsgroups was at its end due to spamming and flaming and over-dominant personalities who often sought to control or run such groups.

The next stage of such open discussion groups were the emailing lists such as ONElist, Topica, and Egroups (since bought out by Yahoo).

These were more popular as they also allowed you to remain relatively anonymous and were lively - but could be moderated and many were well-managed (as the BI Men Network today).

So in the Winter of 1999 about 100 bisexual married and divorced men gathered to launch our BI MEN NETWORK headed by me ("MAC") and a few others. Sadly five years later only a few of the BI Men Founders are still actively with us. A few dozen may be lurking in the shadows today - but only a few remain active. That is why I am happy to welcome the five year overview comments of MARK HOGAN - one of our two top writers here - which will be included on our FOUNDERS PAGE at the website at: http://www.bimen.org/founders.htm

By June 1999 our 100 hardy BI souls had grown like wildfire to over 5,000 and it had quickly turned into a full-time - round-the-clock job for me ("MAC" the Moderator/Founder).

To survive we established LIFETIME MEMBERSHIPS at $99.00 each and many generously paid for such - and even bought them for BI MEN friends and buddies who were either broke - or whose wives would have gone ballistic or both! We were also helped to finish that first year by Dr. Fritz Klein and his AIB (BI Foundation) which gave the BI Men Network a $5,000 grant to continue.

By the end of that year we had moved to Egroups who PAID us to leave ONElist who then ended up merging with Egroups. By 2000 we enjoyed the first of several years funding by the AIB (Bisexual Foundation) which kept us modestly afloat a few years. That funding was not renewed for 2004 - so now we are ONCE AGAIN as in 1999 cast adrift amongst the world's mighty seven seas.

BI MEN NETWORK on our own today!

2004 remained a year of CRISIS for the BI MEN NETWORK - but as the Chinese sagely note a CRISIS is often a dangerous OPPORTUNITY.

The BI MEN NETWORK TODAY now numbers over 1/4 million souls - mostly male and mostly BI See results of our recent paid demographic study - viewed at:

http://www.bimen.org/BiMenMI.htm

We now are on every CONTINENT save Antarctica - but BI MEN PENGUINS is opening soon on the Ross Ice Shelf - in sizable numbers. We are recruiting paid staff for: 1) South Asia; 2) South America; and South Africa at this time. The non-USA BI Men Chapters are at this time the fastest growing. We have a French Language and a Spanish Language Chapter. We will soon have a BI Men Chapter for every sizable nation on earth. Sorry NO BI Men Monaco.

IF you speak another LANGUAGE than English and would like to help please email me - MAC the Moderator/Founder here.

IF you would like to FOUND a BI MEN Chapter for a FAVORED NATION contact me - and see further details below.

Nonetheless we now have 1/4 million active members worldwide. We are by far the largest organization of bisexuals on earth today. The next closest BI grouping has men and women both. We are also one of the largest GLBT associations on earth and one of the few large ones that is a TRULY cohesive NETWORK and that is TRULY worldwide in its actual scope.

Now adrift on the open seas we have been blessed with the help and guidance of a truly outstanding man and amazing soul. LEN ROGERS - Founder of the StoneWall Society. LEN is now blessing us with his MANY YEARS of public relations and sales and marketing experience in the GLBT sector. Look for some truly amazing developments in the year(s) ahead if things happily develop as it appears they will SLOWLY do so with time and lots of very hard work by LEN and MAC.

WHY is BI MEN NETWORK important?

Bisexuals are a very fluid lot - and tend to come and go - and their self-identity can change again and again. The BI Men Network was meant to be - and is a safe harbor and a haven from the storm for all bisexual and BI-curious men. Many members come and go here all the time. That is a main reason our groups are largely open so that our men can come and go freely as they wish.

Many members are just BI-curious and never actually have same-sex with other men. Many had such sex as kids or teenagers and remain BI curious their entire lives. Many enjoy BI and gay porn but DO NOTHING in real life sexually about such prurient interests.

Many men go through a "straight" phase - then a BI phase - and then as perhaps the new Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire settle into a "gay" phase later in life. SO for many people bisexuality is a bridge and not a destination. Frankly we would like to see BISEXUALITY as a destination and a happy one - not one of last resort!

Bisexuals LIKE our other main sexual MINORITIES - gays, lesbians and the "T's" would not for the most part CHOOSE to be as we are. It just happened and that is it. Even with some of its fun and its benefits (as Woody Allen jokes - "Bisexuality doubles your chances for a hot Saturday night date for the rest of your life!") - most bisexuals would rather be or remain heterosexual.

SO our BI MEN members come to our NETWORK mostly out of fear, worry and anxiety and also out of loneliness and a search for some warm companionship.

Our motto since 1999 has been and is:
"YOU ARE NOT ALONE!" and this has been met now with our 250,000+ members and 100+ BI MEN Chapters worldwide.

We provide that safe harbor and haven from the storm for our membership. We strive to EDUCATE our membership and
keep them informed on matters of interest and concern to bisexual and gay males. We are a social and support organization - thus we avoid POLITICS and RELIGION both.

A main goal here is to help our BI men to accept and to love themselves. AND keep them safe from harm - whether it be AIDS, std's, police arrests, muggings or blackmail. We want to help them to BE HAPPY and STAY HAPPY and to help share that greater peace, serenity and acceptance with their own families, friends and colleagues.

IF  you have not recently reviewed our MISSION STATEMENT - please do so - go to:

 http://www.bimen.org/mission.htm .

There you will note that one of our main objectives is to help BI men meet other BI men or meet gay men that are BI-friendly That is why we have NO PERSONALS paid systems here. We have free member Introductions day in and day out and our free CENTRAL TRAVEL DESK to help our members meet new friends here.

We will also continue to have our Annual BI Men Getaway Weekend and Conference (Summer 2004 in New Orleans) and MAC will be going on the road across the USA later this year. Watch for NEWS on this here. MAC will be hosting support groups; hosting no-host cash bars, luncheons and dinners; leading seminars and moderating discussion panels; and meeting the membership one on one across the USA in 2004 (as has been the case in Southern California for many years).

BUT more HELP and more SUPPORT is needed at our BI MEN NETWORK!

SO = CAN YOU HELP & Why Not?

1. Membership Drives: our strength is in our numbers and in going and growing. You can take a few extra minutes every time you are surfing the NET to tell other bisexual, BI-curious and gay men about us.

   POST MESSAGES as:

    FOR A GOOD TIME - check out the free BI MEN NETWORK at  www.bimen.org

    IF half of you did that once a week we would double in a year's time - easily!

2. Spread the word to BI and gay men you meet in person. Just tell them about us and tell them to go to:  www.bimen.org

3. Are you in sales or marketing or do you know VIP's in sales and marketing? Tell them about BISEXUALS - we are the  last major niche in niche marketing - the BI Men are the BIG B in any, all GLBT marketing.

4. Volunteer to HELP MAC - with Membership Drives - or a MODERATOR for a BI Men Chapter - or use any foreign language skills and abilities for us worldwide - or start a support group in your area with Mac. Help MAC on his Road Trip to your area!

5.  Fund a FAVORED NATION Chapter around the World! Donate $20 or $50 or $100 for the NATION(s) of your choice! Be such a Chapter Cofounder with MAC.

6. Donate money $5, $10, $20 or more to the BI MEN NETWORK. Use a credit card - or cash or your checking account.  GO TO:

    http://www.PayPal.com  - send the money
    to the BI MEN NETWORK - c/o MAC at:   txgoodbiguy@msn.com

7. Send a donation - by mail - email MAC for details at: txgoodbiguy@msn.com

HELP IS NEEDED. Now essentially MAC and LEN are keeping this going with a few moderators and seven cash donations this year!  2004 is a YEAR OF CRISIS here at the BI Men and we need your help.  We will make it but why not feel good about YOURSELF and lend a helping hand to US and your brothers here? Help US feel that we are NOT ALONE!

THANK YOU ALL! Happy Anniversary!
EMAIL FOR MAC:  txgoodbiguy@msn.com

Big Hugs & Best Wishes,

Stewart ("Mac") McCloud
Founder & President
BI MEN NETWORK
http://www.bimen.org

---

Other bi-themed essays and articles which may be of interest to you:

Sean and Jennifer Discuss Some of the Issues of Bisexuality in Marriage

Bidentity

Return to "Wednesday's Child" Directory

---

SPONSOR: 3 PILLOWS - the net's best bi mmfsite!!

See our own free exclusive gallery from 3 P at: http://www.bimen.org/pics