Bisexuals face discrimination not only from heterosexuals, but also from members within the LGBTQ community. The discrimination often doesn’t come from a bad place, but rather an uninformed place. As a self-proclaimed bisexual, I can dispel a few myths about bisexuality and hopefully erase some of the ignorance.
Myth #1 Bisexuals are Confused
Bisexuals are confused about a lot of things. They’re confused about taxes and the meaning of life or maybe some math problems, but they tend to have a pretty good grasp on their sexuality. So yeah, bisexuals are confused, but no more confused than anyone else.
Myth #2 Bisexuality is Inherently Transphobic
Within the LGTBQ community, there is a lot of anti-bisexual sentiment because people think the term bisexual promotes the gender binary. At first glance, it seems the word bisexual in and of itself does promote the existence of only two genders when there is in fact far more than that. Besides males and females, there are also intersex genderqueer, transgender, and gender fluid individuals as well as many more. “Bi” tends to be understood as meaning “two,” but when it comes to bisexuality, the term actually implies being attracted to both people of the same gender as you and people of different genders from yours. Bisexuals are not discriminatory towards people outside of the gender binary. Recently, the term pansexual has been ascribed to people who are attracted to all genders, but bisexual works equally as well to describe the sexual orientation of such people.
Myth #3 Bisexuals are More Apt to Cheat on Their Partners
Just because there’s more fish in the sea doesn’t mean you’re gonna have any more desire for those fish. Bisexuals are not less faithful than anyone else of any other sexual orientation. They’re normal people. Sexual orientation has no effect on a person’s feelings of monogamy.
Myth #4 Bisexuals are More Provocative
Being attracted to all genders does not mean you’re attracted to all people. Don’t flatter yourself by assuming your bisexual friend must have a crush on you. I’ve definitely been in a situation in which a friend of mine thought I liked her as more than a friend when she found out I’m also attracted to girls, and that just isn’t the case. There is also a common misconception that bisexuals like threesomes; also totally untrue. As previously stated, having more options to choose from doesn’t mean bisexuals are going to chase after everyone and anyone. Of course there are plenty of provocative bisexuals, but no more than there are provocative heterosexuals, homosexuals, omnisexuals, pansexuals, or any other sexuals.
Myth #5 Bisexuality is Just a Phase
A lot of people who are confused about their sexuality label themselves as bisexual while they’re trying to sort things out and then later come out as whatever they actually are. This does not mean bisexuality is a phase, just that a lot of people go through a phase of claiming to be bisexual when they actually don’t know what they are. People who are confident in their bisexuality are not merely going through a phase. One does not change from bisexual to homosexual when they date someone of the same sex, nor do they turn into a heterosexual when they date someone of another sex.