The Prejudice of the Prejudiced Against
Biphobia within the LGBTQ+ community
The B has been a part of the LGBTQ+ acronym since the 1980s. However, those individuals have been forgotten for being ‘not here, nor there’. The bisexuals, according to the Williams Institute, are the single largest group within the LGBTQ+ community. Nonetheless, the group still faces hostility.
Bisexuals have their sexuality often seen as being “greedy” or simply a stepping stone on the way to identifying as gay, and is also often fetishized. Bisexuals are not seen as truly gay, or gay enough, for a gay relationship. If they are in a heterosexual relationship, they ‘went back to being straight’. When men are bisexual they are ‘just gay’, and when women are bisexual they are ‘trying it out’. This narrative is deeply offensive, stereotypical, stigmatizing, but this is a popular belief and continues to be perpetuated.
Many bisexuals can “pass” as heterosexual, so their safety is not automatically threatened because of their identity. Causing anxiety from lesbian and gay people that this sexual identity doesn’t belong in the community. As a result, many bisexuals still feel invisible within the queer community. Support provided by the LGBT community, those system tags help many in the community, might not be as available for bisexual people. Bisexuals are often excluded or invisible in LGBT spaces and conversations about LGBT issues. Bisexuals are assumed at times to be straight or gay based on the gender of the person they are currently dating.
Biphobia or bisexual erasure is the pervasive attitude that bisexuality isn’t real or makes a person less LGBT. Mia Fisher (she/her), a sophomore fashion and merchandising major as well as Sydney Townsend (she/her), a senior fashion design major, shared their experiences encountering biphobia.
Mia said “I dated this girl and she felt like it was just a test, and I hate that. I hate that a lot! ‘You’re just going to go back to being straight’ like that is not a thing!” and “when it comes to being bi or pan, they just think it is because you are more promiscuous, which is completely wrong.” She also added, “I feel like I am being belittled in my queerness, and that I am not valid.”. Sydney Shared her experience with biphobia, she described it as “ not feeling like you have a place in either [heterosexual] or [LGBTQ+ community]”. When asked about any experiences with fetishization Sydney says “All the time. That is probably the most annoying part of being bi. I have had many encounters where I was fetishized when going out with my girlfriend.”. Sydney’s thought about the myths surrounding the bisexual identity was “Someone at one point thought these stereotypes were right, but they are not!” She also added “[bisexuality] is a real identity and a lot of people identify as that”.
Being partnered with a heterosexual person doesn’t make a bisexual less queer. Biphobia in LGBT spaces forces bisexuals back into the closet within the very community that’s supposed to be the most welcoming.. Biphobia is prejudice, fear, or hatred directed towards bisexual people. It can include making jokes or comments based on myths and stereotypes that seek to undermine the legitimacy of bisexual identity. Biphobia occurs both within and outside of the LGBT community, and it is a real problem that must be tackled.
Sources
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-45580578 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/authors?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0164430 https://www.hrc.org/resources/bisexual-faq https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/a28197447/bisexuality-and-lgbtq-pride/ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232835557_Speaking_Out_Loud_About_Bisexuality_ Biphobia_in_the_Gay_and_Lesbian_Community
