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Biphobia - Blog Posts
I read Bi: The Hidden Culture, History, and Science of Bisexuality by Julia Shaw and I was shocked at how much more severe the issue of biphobia and bimisogyny is than most people, even within the bisexual community, even realize. I’ve posted links to the relevant quotes from this book and organized them under these broad points:
bi men are targeted by both homophobia and biphobia; biphobia bi men experience is a materially distinct oppression than homophobia;
bi women are targeted by both lesbophobia and biphobia; bimisogyny, the intersection of misogyny and biphobia, is a materially distinct oppression from lesbophobia;
bisexuals of color, disabled bisexuals, and trans/nb bisexuals experience profound erasure from bi representation and scholarship, and access to necessary resources;
bi people experience "double discrimination"/biphobia from the straight and gay communities; bi ppl are at risk of discrimination for bisexuality specifically;
This biphobic discrimination in the gay community goes back decades;
the terminology used to describe gay rights is often exclusive of us to a damaging degree. this means in addition to specific biphobic struggles, bisexuals often must face generalized homophobia without the "buffer" of acceptance in the larger LGBT+ community and with some enhanced difficulties acquiring LGBT+ resources; and finally,
positive aspects of bisexuality and bi identity/nuance corner.
The most important information I found is that bi+ people have a higher rate of mental health issues, suicidal and self-harm issues, addiction, isolation, rape, IPV, stalking, abuse, and are less likely to be out as bisexual or to have strong connections to the larger LGBT+ community to act as a buffer against discrimination, as opposed to lesbians and gay men. They are also erased and denied access to LGBT+ spaces, resources, and legal protections. As opposed to gay men and lesbians, the particularities of the bisexual experience includes 1) experiencing double discrimination, 2) less likely to be out, resulting in mental health issues 3) bisexuals are more isolated on average than LG people, and 4) bisexuals struggle with internalized biphobia. I've broken down these arguments and sourced further information on the material affects of biphobia here on my Wordpress blog, since Tumblr won't let me post the full quote all at once, but you can find the quotes with the specific research and studies I'm basing these claims on in my tag for this book or under my general book quotes link, #education multiplies power
the other bi butches i know do not include it in their bios, and as for myself i tend to lock my accounts if possible. one of my mutuals on twitter (probably yours too, i’d imagine) works way too hard to defend us and it’s really frustrating to witness because people refuse to even read/listen.
I wish people talked about how alienating it is to be butch and bisexual.
Almost everyone acts as if it's only lesbians who can be butches and even the lesbians who know that butch is not exclusive to them don't bother educating fellow lesbians. It's up to us and when we do try to educate others, we get harassed by terfs and exclusionists saying that we are "stealing lesbian culture" as if bisexuals weren't right beside yall helping build butch femme culture.
Heck even the butch bisexuals who are vocally active in the butch side of the internet don't call themselves bisexual and butch proudly in fear of getting harassed for being openly themselves. It's so fucking sad. I wish we had more solidarity. From lesbians, other queer people and especially other bisexuals. I wish I wasn't made to feel so isolated from the community that is supposed to be accepting of me.
because biphobes love to lie. if they didn’t then their vile hatred would not seem justified (because it isn’t).
and maybe a hot take, but i think if it came right down to it these people would rather erase ivy’s existence as a character entirely than let her be bisexual instead of lesbian. i’m not claiming it for sure but it absolutely wouldn’t surprise me if it became an “if i can’t have you, then no one can” type of situation.
unrelated to her specifically but i have sometimes seen lesbians willing to sabotage themselves just to take bi sapphics with them. it might lead to lesbophobia & general misogyny being the end result eventually but at least biphobia was the primary objective. /s
Why are people lying on Tee Franklin (the writer of Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour) saying that she's transphobic, hates lesbians, etc. when that is nowhere near true? Like, y'all hate the fact she said that in HER STORY Ivy is bisexual so much to the point where y'all making up blatant lies about that woman and spreading them around so people can see that shit and send her hate?
And don't think I do see the fact that it's a bunch a white people doing that shit. Like it's constant and very much giving thinly veiled racism, ableism and blatant biphobia, biphobia that y'all try to cover up by calling people lesbophobic.
If you don't like her comic then by all means don't fucking read it but lying on somebody's name simply because you don't like a story she wrote is disgusting as hell. Find the nearest chair and sit your entitled asses down. Y'all really turned this fandom into a hell hole. My goodness, take that shit elsewhere.
i feel like i never really see affirmation anymore for bisexuals who don’t have a preference, for bisexuals whose fluidity is constantly changing, for bisexuals who simply do not want or care about categorizing their attraction to every gender. as a bisexual i hate getting asked “what do you prefer?” because it forces me to simplify my complex relationship with my sexuality. it’s also a biphobe’s insidious way of asking “so are you actually straight or actually gay?” people can also use whatever label they identify with, but when you try to push the “bi means gender plays a factor into your attraction/you have a preference” definition, you are a part of the problem. you’re making people who identify as bi hyperanalyze their own sexuality. bisexuals do not need to think about who they prefer. i’m just tired of seeing every single post on social media about bi people being in relationship to preferences.
preferences are just not something i think about. i know i love everyone and that’s all i need to know. and i want this to be affirmation to anyone who is bisexual. you are not some meter in a scale. you don’t have to make a bar graph to explain your attraction to different genders. you can love everyone point blank full stop. your experiences will always be more important than having to define yourself. just live your bisexual life and keep being perfect 💗💜💙
I actually don’t think posts about how bi women need to shut up about their relationships in lgbt spaces can ever be lighthearted or acceptable and I think any attempt to paint them as such fundamentally misunderstands the purpose of the lgbt community at its core (:
bi femmes with this attitude are so badass and i love you all
~ sincerely, a bi butch
im a bisexual FEMME and im not going to apologize for using a "lesbian exclusive term". I bet u don't remember when we were included in the les community before the separatist movement. it's our birthright as sapphics. I'm not going to say sorry and I'm not going to stop. end this biphobic rhetoric. WE BELONG HERE AND WE ARE NOT LEAVING.
gotta highlight the ones that infuriate me the most from what i’ve seen:
remaining ignorant about bi discourse
only speaking on biphobia when bi people use terms or speak in ways you don’t like
if you are unaware of bi discourse you are biphobic
if you are unaware of the major ways the media and certain prominent gay creators and activists are biphobic you are biphobic
biphobia isn’t just really overt stereotypes and hatred like “bis need to pick a side” ‘bisexuality isn’t real" “bi women are disgusting because they’ve slept with men” “i’d never date a bi person”
it’s also remaining silent about bi issues
remaining ignorant about bi discourse
remaining silent when biphobia happens
speaking in ways that indirectly erase bi people
speaking in ways that imply bi people are more privileged or powerful than gay people
remaining silent when bi erasure and biphobia happens in the media
only speaking on biphobia when bi people use terms or speak in ways you don’t like
speaking with authority on biphobia when you are not bi
denying the importance of bi spaces and bi community
remaining silent on the higher levels of substance abuse, unemployment, mental disability, abuse and sexual assault of bi people, esp bi women
ignoring the unique aspects of the bi experience
etc
if you have never blogged/reblogged about biphobia except to call out bi people you are biphobic
if you have never spoken about biphobia other than to critique bi people’s discourse you are biphobic
if you are unaware of bi discourse you are biphobic
if you think bi people’s experiences are not unique or important you are biphobic
if you are unaware of the major ways the media and certain prominent gay creators and activists are biphobic you are biphobic
if you ignore the ways in which gay people have shut bi people out of their communities and erased bi people and undermined bi solidarity you are biphobic
and even if you are multisexual and you do these things; it can be internalized: you still are biphobic
it’s not always about what you do, it’s also about what you don’t do
bi people have suffered and died due to biphobia in the gay community and you don’t care
that makes you biphobic
One of my posts about last year's Poison Ivy bi erasure debacle got a like again, and man...
You cannot convince me that fandoms don't have a problem with bisexual people, when the response to a prominent bisexual character seemingly having their bisexuality erased by a new writer calling her a lesbian was calls for celebration, and telling upset bisexual fans to get over it, or trying to gaslight them with claims that "Ivy was never bisexual in the main continuity" despite evidence to the contrary.
Like, fandom has had a biphobia problem for a long time, but I think that incident was probably the most blatant example of it I've ever seen.
Feeling salty today 💖💜💙
i feel like if you want to have solidarity with bisexuals you should think about which experiences you consider gay/lesbian exclusive & whether that’s really the case. like. looking visibly gay or being gnc or having a complex relationship with gender bc of your sexuality or experiencing homophobia or having your experiences “stolen” by being in the closet or having your sexuality be a major influence on your life or wanting to look a certain way for men/women bc you’re mlm/wlw etc., ive seen many gay men & lesbians reblogging bi & gay solidarity posts who treated those things like exclusively gay/lesbian experiences when they’re very obviously not
all in all though I'm very proud of bisexuals especially bi women for speaking out against biphobia and not allowing ourselves to be silenced these past several years, these spaces are obviously still pretty hostile sometimes but I think we've made a lot of progress and changed a lot of people's minds.
