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22 Mich. J. Gender & L. 291 (2015)
Bridging Bisexual Erasure in LGBT-Rights Discourse and Litigation

handle is hein.journals/mjgl22 and id is 301 raw text is: BRIDGING BISEXUAL ERASURE IN LGBT-RIGHTS DISCOURSE AND LITIGATION 1\(ancy C, (-farcus, LL.M, S.J.D.* LGBT rights are at the forefront of current legal news, with 'kay marriage and other gay issues visible beyond dispute in social and legal discourse in the 21st Century. Less visible are the bisexuals who are supposedly encompassed by the umbrella phrase LGBT and by LGBT-rights litigation, but who are often left out ofLGBT- rights discourse entirely. This Article examines the problem of bisex- ual invisibility and erasure within LGBT-rights litigation and legal discourse. The Article surveys the bisexual erasure legal discourse to date, and examines the causes of bisexual erasure and its harmful consequences for bisexuals, the broader LGBT community, andju- risprudential integrity as a whole. This Article contributes to the bisexual erasure discourse through a unique examination of bisexual erasure through a survey of relevant terminology in LGBT-rights cases, including and beyond recent same-sex marriage litigation. The study documents an almost complete systemic erasure of bisexuals in briefings and opinions, including an absence of any mention of bisexuals by majority opinions in cases where the briefings have set a tone of bi erasure by arguing alternatively for 'kay and lesbian rights, gay marriage, or same-sex marriage, while completely omitting reference to bisexuals. In addition to documenting the ab- sence of bisexuals in litigation documents (despite the actualpresence of bisexuals as litigants), this Article compiles anecdotal evidence of bisexual erasure by attorneys, courts, and the media. The time is overdue for more widespread inclusion of bisexual- ity in LGBT-rights discourse and litigation. Increased bisexual in- * Founding Constitutional Law Professor, Assistant Professor of Law, Indiana Tech Law School. B.A., James Madison College at Michigan State University, J.D. Case Western Reserve University School of Law, LL.M. University of Wisconsin Law School, S.J.D. University of Wisconsin Law School. This Article is dedicated to the original bisexual erasure scholars, Professors Ruth Colker, Naomi Mezey, and Kenji Yoshino, who first brought this dialogue to legal academia at the close of the twentieth century; to my original BiLaw co-founders Diana Adams, Toby Adams, Heron Greenesmith, and Ilona Turner; to our fellow BiLawrriors, the members of BiLaw, who are growing in number every day (and please do not hesitate to contact me if you are reading this and would like to get involved); and to the National LGBT Bar Association, which has helped pave the path in recent years toward greater bisexual inclusion in LGBT-rights discourse and litigation, as described in this Article. 291

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