Bisexuality has been documented for a long time. However, due to intense societal scrutiny, it has rarely been embraced in many cultures. Bisexual people make up about 50 percent of the LGB community yet bisexuality is often dismissed and ignored by history, a phenomenon also known as bi-erasure.
Here are six influential members of U.S. history who you may have not known were bisexual.
- Virginia Woolf
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Virginia Woolf was an English 20th century author and essayist who gained popularity for using a stream of consciousness storytelling in her novels. Woolf married her husband Leonard Woolf and together created the publishing house Hogarth Press. Nevertheless, Woolf also wrote many ~romantic~ letters to Vita Sackville-West, a poet ten years Woolf’s junior. Her satirical novel Orlando was based on her relationship with Sackville-West and the pair maintained a long relationship, exchanging letters for many years.
- David Bowie
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David Bowie was an English singer-songwriter whose music and fashion sense had an enormous impact on pop culture. Over the years, Bowie has made conflicting remarks regarding his sexuality. However, in a 2002 interview with Blender, Bowie confirms his bisexuality and explained his previous statements, “I had no problem with people knowing I was bisexual… I knew what I wanted to be, which was a songwriter and a performer, and I felt that [bisexuality] became my headline… America is a very puritanical place, and I think it stood in the way of so much I wanted to do.”
- Alice Walker
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Alice Walker is an American author and activist. Walker won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel The Color Purple and has used her voice to fight for civil rights and gender equality. Walker has been in relationships with both men and women. She was first married to Melvyn R. Leventhal (and were the first legally married interracial couple in Mississippi!) and years later, entered a relationship with singer Tracy Chapman.
- Eleanor Roosevelt
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Eleanor Roosevelt was a political figure and activist while serving as First Lady to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, focusing on advancing civil rights and racial prejudices. While serving as FDR’s political advisor, Roosevelt met esteemed journalist Lorena Hickok and the two soon began a relationship. Roosevelt penned thousands of letters to Hickok and the pair even had a special saying for one another, “I love you and I adore you.” If that’s not gay romance, I honestly don’t know what is.
- Freddie Mercury
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Freddie Mercury, the lead vocalist of the mega-famous British rock band Queen, redefined rock music with his amazing voice and stage presence. Mercury has had long-term relationships with men and women. Mercury was first in a relationship with Mary Austin, the inspiration of his hit song “Love of my Life.” Years later, Mercury dated Jim Hutton until his death in 1991. Mercury posthumously experiences bisexual erasure by mainstream media, often perceived as gay rather than bisexual.
- Frida Kahlo
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Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter known for her self-portraits and incorporating visual symbolism into her artwork. She began painting while recovering after a serious bus accident which caused debilitating pain throughout her life. Kahlo married and had a tumultuous relationship with fellow painter Diego Rivera, twenty years her senior. Kahlo has had extramarital affairs with women and is considered an icon for both the LGBTQ+ and feminist movements.
Although we as a society have made great strides toward equality, bisexual people still commonly experience biphobia and bi-erasure. If you would like to learn more about the bisexual+ movement in the United States, you can read more about it here.