Bisexual Women's Writings: "The Fence" Zine and "Bi Lines" in Siren Magazine

The Fence: A New Place of Power for Bisexual Women was a bisexual women's zine published by activist Cheryl Dobinson. Dobinson was heavily involved in the community organizing efforts of both the Toronto Bisexual Network and Bisexual Women of Toronto. The title of the zine refers to a common stereotype that depicts bisexual people as "fence-sitters" who are unable to choose between a gay or straight life.

A description of the zine that appeared in every issue boldly states: "Calling bisexuals ‘fencesitters’ has been a way of marginalizing us, of placing us outside gay/lesbian and straight cultures by saying that we haven’t made a decision about our sexuality. 'The Fence' is all about bisexual women reclaiming this position and speaking from our unique viewpoints that traverse straight and gay/lesbian cultures, but also allow us to have spaces of our own. 'The Fence’ can be a positive and powerful place, and this zine is for the women who have decided to stay there!" Issues of "The Fence" included short articles, poems, rants, personal narratives, stories, fiction, quotes, reviews, comics, drawings, photos, collages and more by bisexual women from across the country.

Cheryl described the zine as her own labour of love, one that she wanted to be meaningful to herself and the other bisexual women in her community. Indeed, it allowed bisexual women to express themselves publicly and gain access to the voices of others, as the large-scale gay publication The Body Politic did not engage very thoroughly with topics of bisexuality or publish the voices of bisexual people.

Siren Magazine, founded in 1995 and dissolved by 2004 was a lesbian community magazine published and distributed in Toronto. Within this magazine, bisexual women also found an avenue through which to elevate their voices in a more widespread queer women's publication. The "Bi Lines" column featured bisexual women's thoughts, rants, opinions, and observations about the state of the bisexual community vis-a-vis the larger LGBTQ+ collective, and amongst themselves. Many of the women who wrote in "Bi Lines" were facilitators or prominent members of BIWOT, for example. This page contains a number of such articles which often tackled issues of gender, race, exclusion, stigma, and bisexual joy.

Through both The Fence and "Bi Lines," bisexual women played an important role in circulating discourses about their identities, placing bisexual people themselves at the forefront of discussions about bisexuality. By publicizing their feelings and experiences through writing, they shaped public narratives around what it meant to be bisexual. During a time of both ongoing bisexual negativity and increasing visibility, bisexual women exerted agency through writing and lending their voices to debates about expanding notions of queerness.