We Need to Democratize the Policy Process

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

By Casey Renée Lopez
September 22, 2025

The invisibility of bisexual people within public policy, a phenomenon known as bi-erasure, highlights a critical failure of public administration to serve all citizens fairly. It’s not a simple oversight; it’s a deeply ingrained systemic issue rooted in societal biases like biphobia and monosexism. This phenomenon underscores the tension between creating broad universal policies and the need to address the diverse contextual lived experiences of minority groups.

When policies overlook bisexual people, the consequences can be severe and tangible. Despite demographic data suggesting that the bisexual population may be the largest single group within the LGBTQIA+ community, their needs are consistently marginalized in policy discussions that often focus on gay men and lesbian women. This erasure has a direct impact on their safety and well-being. For instance, bisexual individuals face a heightened vulnerability to both interpersonal and systemic violence. Data from the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) reveal that approximately 61 percent of bisexual women have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime, a rate significantly higher than for both heterosexual and lesbian women. Bisexual men also report higher rates of IPV and sexual violence compared to their heterosexual and gay counterparts. Beyond physical harm, bi-erasure contributes to widespread discrimination across various sectors including employment, housing, healthcare and education. It also leads to significant mental and physical health disparities. Studies consistently show that bisexual people report higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicidality compared to their straight, gay and lesbian peers. These mental health disparities can be understood through the minority stress model, which suggests that the chronic stress from stigma, prejudice and having to conceal one’s identity leads directly to these adverse health outcomes. Ultimately, this reality fundamentally undermines the core principles of public administration, making it impossible to truly serve everyone equitably.

Effective public policy must navigate a crucial distinction between two types of elements: those that are universally applicable and those that are deeply tied to specific contexts. Some policy principles are relatively universal. For example, the demand for non-discrimination laws is a solid foundation that can be applied across different contexts to fight injustice based on sexual orientation. Similarly, the need for accurate and disaggregated data collection is an essential and non-negotiable step for effective governance. Public administration relies heavily on data to identify problems, allocate resources and measure success, making the practice of including standardized options for sexual orientation on surveys and forms crucial. Without this granular data, resources are wasted on interventions that “miss the mark.” The need for comprehensive and ongoing training for public servants is also a universal requirement for an equitable public service. On the other hand, some policy elements are more complex and cannot be applied uniformly across the policy landscape.

Intersectionality is a perfect example, as an individual’s experiences aren’t just a simple sum of their identities; they are profoundly shaped by how those identities, like race, gender and class, interact. A policy designed for a white, cisgender bisexual person may be completely ineffective for a low-income bisexual woman of color who faces a unique combination of challenges. The social and political environment also plays a huge role. According to the theory of the social construction of target populations, bisexual individuals are often cast as “deviant” and politically weak, making it harder for their issues to get the policy attention they deserve. Lastly, the actions of street-level bureaucrats, such as social workers or police officers, are also crucial. Their personal biases and local institutional culture can perpetuate harm and inequity, regardless of official policy.

To address these challenges, public administration must adopt a comprehensive and rational strategy. First, it must adopt an intersectional approach as a foundational principle of policy design, moving beyond a generic idea of “equity” to create policies that specifically address the overlapping forms of oppression experienced by different communities. Second, we must commit to evidence-based contextualization by mandating and funding research that focuses specifically on these communities and ensures the data is disaggregated to reveal specific disparities. Third, we must empower and train public servants by providing mandatory, regular training that goes beyond simple awareness to offer practical skills for culturally competent and affirming communication. Finally, and most importantly, we need to democratize the policy process itself, which means actively including bisexual individuals and their organizations in every stage of policy development. By grounding policy decisions in lived experience rather than abstract theory, we can begin to fulfill the promise of public service for all citizens.

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Author: Casey Renée Lopez is a Ph.D. student in Public Policy at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. They hold two Master of Arts degrees in Interdisciplinary Studies and European History, respectively. They also teach in the English Department at Brightpoint Community College in Midlothian, Virginia. In the classroom, they enjoy introducing their students to literary works that highlight social policy and environmental issues. As a student, they are primarily interested in violence intervention policy research related to transgender people and other marginalized groups. Through transdisciplinary work, they aim to contribute to the development of more research on social equity as it pertains to the transgender community in and around the Richmond, Virginia, metropolitan area.

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