Well, like I said, this essay represents nothing more and nothing less than my own experience and perspective. So, everything should be taken in that light. This is how I feel about queer experience. It's not necessarily how anyone else does or should feel about theirs.

With that disclaimer out of the way, what I meant by that is certainly not ... walking up to every new person I meet and going "Hi, I'm Stacy and I'm bisexual!" What I did mean was that, for me, I often feel like straight is the default setting in our culture. Someone is straight until proved otherwise. So, in situations where either this assumption comes up about me specifically, or people are talking about some topic and I feel that my perspective as a bi person is going unrepresented, then yes, I do feel the need to speak up. I feel the need to speak not out of a desire for self-segregation, but because in so many situations if I don't, I feel that my very existence will be erased or ignored. I speak up because if I speak up enough, and others do as well, it might be noticed that we are here. We have a voice. We're not "those gay people out there somewhere," we are friends, neighbors, family. If I keep speaking, one day I hope that people in general won't find it so scary and "other." I speak so that maybe the next generation of queer kids won't have to write that sentence.

:-)