It used to not bother me when I saw a random post on Facebook about history being made by a gay couple or a lesbian couple kissing in some public fashion. I used to get excited about shipping gay couples with my friend. I used to assume that every tv character that ended up in a m/f relationship was straight. I never realized that I was contributing to the erasure of my own sexuality. Since deciding to be more involved with the LGBTQ+ community I'm noticing these things more. Now it bothers me when I see a story about the "first gay kiss" of whatever. Because how do I know that both people involved are gay? My friend started watching a show and she was trying to get me to watch it. One of her arguments was that the show "has a really cute gay couple". So, being a little bit wiser now, I asked her if she was sure the couple was gay. She replied with "oh yeah, actually one is bi." Well then why did you call them gay??? People, this is bi erasure! Every time you see a same-sex couple and automatically assume they're gay/lesbian, that is bi erasure. Every time you see a m/f couple and automatically assume they're straight, that is bi erasure. Every time someone (real or fictional) dates someone of the same gender and you say they're "at least bi", you are perpetuating the idea that bisexuality is half gay and can't be a whole identity and that is bi erasure. Bi erasure is everywhere, especially in subtle forms like blanketing everything LGBTQ+ with the term "gay" or assuming someone's sexuality based on the assumed gender of their parter. Bi erasure hurts everyone in the bi community and we don't deserve that. We deserve to be acknowledged for who we are. Bisexual.
