Call Us Bi, Our Name (CUBIN) is an organisation focusing on bringing visibility to taboo subjects in Malta. In particular, CUBIN is concerned with the visibility of the bi+ community in Malta, but will also tackle issues such as reproductive rights, racism, and other matters which concern Maltese people and people living in Malta.
Erasure, in the context of LGBT+ issues, is a term used to describe the act of discrediting, invalidating or otherwise negating the existence of bi and pan individuals - whether through active suppression or through passivity and omission. We are increasingly hearing more and more about bi erasure and invisibility.
It is the lack of representation in the media, it is every person who is told to pick a side, it is every time someone is told their sexual orientation isn’t real. It is every time someone is called straight when they are in a heteronormative relationship and gay/lesbian when they are in a homosexual facing relationship. It is every time people keep ping-ponging between these binaries, completely forgetting that there are other options in this complex world.
There is only one solution to this problem: SAY THE WORD. Say it so that it becomes normalised, and becomes considered as a possibility just as much as straight and gay orientations. Hence our new punny name: Call Us Bi, Our Name.
But what does the word erasure really mean to us at CUBIN? We believe that erasure need not specifically refer only to the invisibility of the bi+ community. We erase so many other things, stick our heads in the sand and pretend they don’t exist. We pretend that in western countries, sexism is no longer an issue. We pretend that here in Malta, abortion doesn’t exist and so the pro-choice debate is a non-issue. We erase religious, racial and other ethnic minorities from our media, our stories, our news, unless it is to portray them in a negative light.
CUBIN is an anti-erasure organisation, and we are determined to bring to light all of the issues which are often ignored in Malta.