Phobia of Bisexuality and Its Outcomes

Even with the increased awareness of the LGBTQ community, bisexuals are still seen as “confused”, “experimenting”, or even not real at all. Many even see their sexuality as a threat to their own sexuality and identity. This, unfortunately, is a problem within the community as well as without. This sadly causes what is known as “double discrimination” for this already discriminated against set of minorities. As mentioned, bisexuals face this same discrimination from their own community: the LGTBQ community. One of the problems that occurs because of biphobia in the community is bisexual people are being forced into the labels of “straight” or “gay”, and if they do not accept those labels then they might get labeled as “tricking the other side” or “seeking attention”. This was especially forced when they were in a relationship with someone. If a bisexual man is with a man, he is gay. If he is with a woman, then he is straight. This almost cancels out their true sexuality.

Many people do not accept bisexuality as real. It is unfortunate, but it is true. They also see it as threatening: that it might “trick” them into being gay. One study done developed a grid to determine the attitude people have of bisexual men and women. Data was based on an assessment of agree or disagree statements. The results showed that across all cases it was seen that being bisexual as a woman was more acceptable than being bisexual as a man (Dodge), since bisexual women are often hypersexualized and seen more as just going through a phase (Allen). It also showed that men were found to be less accepting of bisexuality than women were, as it was seen as a threat to their masculinity. Many of these men thought bisexual men were out to “make them gay”, or that bisexual women may not be as attracted to them as they were to other women.

Often times, bisexuals are not even seen as valid. They need to “pick a side”. A study done on men coming out as bisexual showed that many men were called “confused”, “insecure”, “on the fence”, and “a gay man not ready to come out”. This is unfortunately a common reaction to these men coming out. Many of these men feel frustrated with these statements because they have been told that all women are “a little bi”, but that men are either straight or gay and that is it. There can be no in between for a man.

Cultural studies doctor Dr. H. Sharif “Herukhuti” Williams suggested that this prejudice towards bisexuality comes from the gay liberation movement. When the movement happened, gays and lesbians appealed to the straight community by saying they were just like them, but only they were attracted to the different sex. As the liberation gained momentum, many straights, gays, and lesbians started to believe that was the only difference. This, however, leads to bisexuals being left in the middle and being left known as “confused”. Dr. H. Sharif “Herukhuti” Williams believes that bisexual men are seen as gay the same way as the ‘one-drop rule’ applies to African Americans being black. The ‘one-drop rule’ made it where if any person had one drop of African blood in their body, they were considered black for legal purposes. Many bisexual men feel this is the same way their sexuality is seen; if they are at all attracted to men, then they are automatically gay (Allen). The stereotypical idea of a bisexual man is often a “gay man in denial,” but the stereotypical perception of a bisexual woman is a “heterosexual in disguise”. Another problem that they face is that often bisexuals are seen as “sluttier” because they have “more options in dating.”

As mentioned in the beginning, bisexuals are often discriminated against in their own community and consequently shut out. One study used a “Biphobia Scale” to show this in more depth. They used the scale to assess the negative connotations of bisexuality. This scale showed that biphobia was prevalent in both the heterosexual and homosexual communities. In another study, 60 bisexual men and women were questioned on their perception of their sexuality inside the LGBTQ community and how this affected their participation in the community. Those who were active in the community said that they often kept their sexuality hidden in fear of being rejected, tormented, or isolated. The others in the study said they did not feel like being active in the community for fear of being unwelcomed (McLean).

Another study took two groups of lesbians and gay people. In one group, they asked the participants what their attitudes were towards bisexuals. They reported the bisexuals as more instability, irresponsible in their sexual endeavors, and having more interpersonal hostility. In the other group, they asked what the participants’ thought of the bisexuals’ attraction to others. They found that they thought they were more attracted to men than to women, and this may be why lesbians have more negative attitudes of bisexuals. One study showed that lesbians thought more negatively of bisexuals than gay men did, because they think bisexuality is centered towards sleeping with men. There is a term, “androcentric desire hypothesis”: the hypothesis that bisexuals are seen as being more attracted to men than to women. Sadly, bisexual women have it much harder than bisexual men in this sense, because quite a few lesbians see them as liars, untrustworthy, and sleeping with the other side. Many researchers hypothesis that this is why bisexuality is seen as less inside the community. They think bisexuality is not “gay enough”.

It could be speculated, that some of the biphobia from within the community stems from the desire to be accepted by the heterosexual community and in doing so they will shun people in their own community to gain stature. One study showed that bisexuals actually make up 52% of the LGBTQ population, but that they are still seen as one of the minorities inside of the community. This may be due to the fact that they don’t feel able, allowed, or comfortable with coming out. Or that the prevalence of the “it’s just a phase” or “you’re just gay” culture causes many of them to not have to opportunity to explore or question their sexuality in the first place - causing them to think that they are just attracted to the “opposite” gender.

Biphobia plays a role in one’s own relationships. As mentioned before, if a bisexual man is in a relationship with a man, he “must be” gay. However, if he is with a woman, then he “must be” straight or in denial. This pushes those labels even further on this group. Another problem with this in relationships is that bisexuals are often accused of cheating at a higher rate. Another issue is that they are even accused of being more attracted to the other gender than the gender that their partner is. An example of this would be a bisexual man dating a woman, and her telling him, “but you’re actually gay”, “I know you like guys more”, etc.… Finally, they are also seen as giving their partners STDs at a higher rate than heterosexuals. Which is not accurate.

Being shut out of their own community makes bisexuals feel invalidated. It is not fair. It actually seems worse because bisexual people have some of the worst mental health inside of the community and an increasingly greater risk of domestic violence, in part because of these attitudes.

People in the LGBTQ community are already in the “outskirts’ and face a lot of discrimination and interpersonal tension because of people’s views of who they are. So, the fact that even within the community, there are those who are being shunned by the ones that should be lifting them up is, in reality, quite tragic. For anyone in the community who is shunned for who they are, in this case bisexual people, it has a widespread effect on their mental health, how they are viewed and treated, and finally how they fit into the world. This easily explains why they might have the worst mental health inside the LGTBQ community.

People are misinformed because of the culture of homophobia, biphobia, etc... It is taught to us from a young age, even if it wasn’t meant to. We see it in our media, the roles pushed on us, and in the way people talk about the community – those inside and outside of it. We see it in our day to day lives. It is sadly internalized in us. Engrained to think that couples are either “gay” or “straight’. Not anywhere else on the spectrum.

There has been progress and awareness of differentiating identities in the LGBTQ community. However, this has not stopped the bigotry and discrimination that bisexuals face on a day to day basis. Some great things to do to raise awareness would be to speak positively of diversity inside and out of the community. Another great thing would be to combat negative stereotypes. Standing up to those that discourage or discriminate against bisexuals would be another start to bridging the gap between the “us versus them” mentality and facing our own prejudices. It is not just a matter of misinformation, but of that and willful bigotry. To combat this, we have to fight it both with information and taking a stand against those who are knowingly choosing to take those actions.

It is important to bridge the gap of those inside and outside of the community: to help spread awareness that sexuality and gender are a spectrum that includes bisexuality, among every other sexuality. It is no “us against them”, it is just people. There is a long way to go before we can accept that on a broader social scale, but in the end that is what it comes down to: facing those prejudices head on.