Bisexual erasure. “When bisexuality is ignored, discriminated against, demonized, or rendered invisible by both the heterosexual world and the lesbian and gay communities. Often, the entire sexual orientation is branded as invalid, immoral, or irrelevant.”
- Assuming that two women together are lesbians, two men together are gay, or a man and a woman together are straight
- In most scientific studies, bisexuality is lumped in under “gay” or “lesbian” identities
- Many LGBTQ+ organizations don’t offer programming for bisexuals
- Questioning someone’s bisexuality if they haven’t had sex with both men and women.
- “I’m not interested in dating you because you’ve only dated men.” (Implying that I’m actually straight)
- “Bi women are more likely to leave you for a straight relationship.”
- “He’s only ever dated men, so he’s obviously gay.”
- “There’s no point in coming out as Bi if you never plan to leave your current relationship. You just want attention.”
what are the consequences?
- Bi erasure leads to bi phobia (discrimination, anger, blame, and hypersexualization).
- Bi people have *significantly* higher health risks than any other sexual identity group, including alarmingly high rates of depression and suicide.
- Bi women experience much higher rates of domestic violence.
- In the ‘80s and ‘90s bi people were blamed for spreading HIV. and we are still blamed for the spread of other STI’s.
- If you want to help, here’s what you can do:
- Check your own biases When someone says something shitty about bisexuality, correct them—even if a bisexual person isn’t present
- Ask your local LGBTQ+ orgs to offer bi/Pan programs
- Donate time or money to bi-specific organizations.
- Resources: Bisexual Resource Center (BiResource.org) Bi Plus Organizing US (@BiPlusOrgUS) Bi Pride UK (BiPrideUK.org) BiPhoria! (biphoria.org.uk) American Institute of Bisexuality (bisexuality.org) “Greedy: Notes from a Bisexual Who Wants Too Much” by Jen Winston “Look Both Ways: Bisexual Politics” by Jennifer Baumgardner “Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body” by Roxane Gay
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