Header photo by Jen Theodore on Unsplash
As a magazine championing bi umbrella, Unicorn did not wish to regurgitate hegemonic Punk – that reifying the manifest of ideals as gatekeepers. Punk is prismatic. It is a judgement, an aesthetic, an artistic genre, a political, cultural and social movement. It is rebellion, a departure from norms, from prescriptive ways of being. It is a refusal to assimilate, request acceptance and mediate the terms. Akin to queerness – radical, not corporate – Punk breathes and lives, yet it has frequently found itself iconised, placed upon an unheralded altar.
Considering this, and all we did and did not desire for this issue, it took the team at Unicorn a moment to settle ourselves, to come upon our rhythms. Whilst honouring our seceded identities as Punk’s present blossoms, we pined to be sensitive and pay homage to the roots of this movement.
By ethos and essence, bis, similar to those aligned with the punk movement, transect multiple communities and cultures. To paraphrase the bi activist Shiri Eisner, it is in our nature as bis to abscind binary, dichotomous thinking. And so, with this issue, we decided we would not simply regurgitate a heteronomy of queercore. Instead, we sparred with the intricate – Punk’s bones, their tendril liberty spikes and slamming transgressions. If of a prescribing disposition, this issue might usurp your staticity of mind on a few affairs. Then again, from a publication embodying the fluid and the changeable – what else could you expect?
Joining Unicorn Magazine as Features Editor in March, I immersed myself in bi and queer culture in a way I had never done before. I lost myself in Rachel Krantz’s nonmonogamy journey, revered Essie Dennis’ strident confidence, and heeded Bee Anderson’s commitment to representation and joy. I am – as a result of committing to this issue, a better creator and a bolder bi. Reading this issue, I hope you realise, if you have not already, the depth of bi culture.
Take the opportunity to liaise with sexuality educator Margo M. Maes as they share their perspective on how chronic pain might assist rather than deter your sex life. Share in Andy Judd’s experience navigating coming out as a bi dad within his marriage. See if you can answer Victoria Goldiee’s imploration: Where are all the queer black lovers?
Unicorn, to me, is a manifestation of how a world freed of monosexism might look – in this, I argue our endeavour – every single issue, every single piece of bi art – is inherently punk, non-conforming, subversive. It reminds those who erase us that we are very much here, encompassing all spheres of life, tapping our revolutionary potential in kaleidoscopic, kyriarchy-crushing ways.
Bis are primed for punking, and here at Unicorn, we are raring to go.
Dive in, Unicorns.
