Panel 1
Text: A friend is crushing on someone of a gender they’re not used to.
(Two friends talking. Person 1 is looking concerned at Person 2, who is very upset.)
Person 2: I don’t know what this means about my identity!
Panel 2
Text: Trying to be helpful, you say:
Person 1: (Patting Person 2 on the shoulder) Don’t worry! Everyone’s a little bi.
Panel 3
Person 2: (Cringing)
Panel 4
(Person 2 storms off the panel)
Person 1: Did I say something wrong?
Panel 5
(Person 1 talking to Madeleine, the comic artist, at a table at a bar)
Madeleine: Well, you kinda used a loaded phrase there. It’s been used to invalidate a lot of my queer friends’ identities.
Panel 6
Text: For instance, gay and lesbian identities…
(Close up of my lesbian friend Liz talking. Behind her are three panels about her discontent with her toxic boyfriend.)
Liz (Text): Dismissing my attraction to women as “a little bisexual” gave me an excuse to stay in a toxic relationship with one of the few men I’ve found attractive.
(Flashback to femme Liz silently cuddling with boyfriend, who’s chatting with other guys. A woman walks by and Liz is sweating and trying not to look at her.)
Liz (Text): It’s the reason it took me 24 years to realize I’m a lesbian.
(Zoom into Liz’s sweaty, stressed-out face)
Liz (thought bubble): I can still be straight. This is fine.
Liz (text): I choose to identify as a lesbian because those are the healthiest relationships in my life.
(Image shows Liz laughing with a bunch of queer female friends)
Liz: Who wants to shave my head?
(All the friends raise their hands)
Panel 7
Text: Or trans and non-binary identities…
(Close up of my non-binary friend Mel talking.)
Mel (Text): The lesbian community has a history of policing sexuality…
(A cis lesbian with a Womyn Born Womyn shirt runs a ticket booth. Mel and a trans girlfriend approach her holding hands).
Trans Lesbian: We’d like two tickets to the Lesbionic Rugby Tournament please.
Mel (Text): …if it doesn’t look like their idea of a girl having a crush on a girl.
(Ticket Booth Lesbian starts malfunctioning like a robot. Steam comes out of her ears. There are equations behind her like Lesbian = Vagina, the quadratic formula, and the female symbol with a question mark)
Ticket Booth Lesbian: Does not compute.
Mel (Text): It ends up isolating a lot of trans and non-binary women.
(Ticket Booth Lesbian returns to normal and awkwardly pats couple on their heads)
Ticket Booth Lesbian: Well, I guess everyone’s a little bisexual.
(Lesbian couple internally screaming)
Panel 8
(Close up of Madeleine talking)
Madeleine: Or even bi and pan identities… I’m bi, and don’t like the phrase.
Madeleine (Text): Bisexuality is its own orientation. Bi/pan/polygender people share certain experiences that others don’t have.
(A person screams “Pick a side!” at Madeleine, who is wearing a Bi Pride shirt. Madeleine is falling over from the sheer volume)
Madeleine (Text): We need to be able to find each other to discuss our experiences.
(Madeleine looks past a bunch of undefined people to see another person with a Bi Pride shirt being told to pick a side in the distance)
Madeleine (Text): We can’t do that if suddenly everyone is bi.
(Same shot as before, but now the undefined people are wearing bi shirts as well and forming a wall blocking Madeleine from seeing the person who is suffering from anti-bi stigma in the distance.)
Panel 9
(Closeup on Person 1)
Person 1: Okay, I guess that makes sense. But how do I support my friend, who’s still scared that they won’t fit into any of those identities?
Panel 10
(Person 1 exiting the bar to find Person 2 outside)
Madeleine: Well, ultimately, it’s not your place to find a label for your friend. But you can make an effort to support them, however they choose to identify.
Panel 11
Text: That’s what your friend needs to know.
(Person 2 sitting with Person 1 on the stairs, having a genuine conversation)
