Bisexuality is a term used to describe a person who has the potential to be physically, romantically, and/or emotionally attracted to people of more than one gender, not necessarily at the same time, in the same way, or to the same degree. Per GLAAD, the “bi” in bisexual refers to genders the same as and different from one’s own gender. This doesn’t mean just men and women.
Despite comprising more than half of the lesbian, gay, and bisexual community, bisexual people tend to feel misunderstood and isolated because of the hyper-sexualization in media. In addition to that, people cast bisexuality as a phase, or something that people do to draw attention, or to cover-up being gay or lesbian. The Los Angeles Times reported that bisexual people “avoided coming out because they didn’t want to deal with misconceptions that bisexuals were indecisive or incapable of monogamy — stereotypes that exist among straights, gays, and lesbians alike.” Multiple research studies have shown that people who are bisexual are more likely to binge drink, engage in self-harm, and have suicidal thoughts than gay, lesbian, or straight people.
Bi-erasure and Bicurious
According to GLAAD, there is a term called “bi-erasure,” which is “a pervasive problem in which the existence or legitimacy of bisexuality (either in general or in regard to an individual) is questioned or denied outright.” Being bisexual doesn’t mean they must have had any sexual experience in order to identify as such. Some people use the words bisexual and bi to describe the community, with others may use bi+, which is intended to be inclusive of those who call themselves bisexual, pansexual, fluid, queer, and other words that describe people who have the potential to be attracted to more than one gender. Those who are exploring whether or not they are attracted to people of the same gender or of other genders might use the term “bicurious.”
See below which celebrities identify as bisexual.
