Bisexual issues

Terms used to help explain bisexual experiences:

M-spec: identities on the multisexual spectrum
i.e. bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, polysexual

Monosexual: someone that has attraction to one binary gender
i.e. lesbian, gay, or straight people

sga: same gender attracted/attraction
i.e. lesbian, gay, bisexual, or m-spec people

Note: These terms are to be used to identify specific experiences of bisexuals in comparison to other sexual orientations. These terms are NOT to be used in offensive or inaccurate ways, such as wrongly claiming homosexual people have it easier than bisexuals.

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Higher instances of suicidality

Bisexual individuals have a higher risk of suicide compared to our monosexual counterparts (APA, 2020).

Higher rates of substance abuse

Bisexual people have higher instances of substance abuse than our monosexual (lesbian, gay, and straight) counterparts (APA, 2020).

less funding

Bisexuals received less than 1% of funding. Funding did not increase over the next 2 years (Global Philanthropy Project, 2019)..

higher poverty

Bisexual people are more likely to live on less than $30,000 (USD) annually compared to our monosexual counterparts (Movement Advancement Project, 2016).

intimate partner violence (IPV)

Bisexual people face higher rates of partner violence than our monosexual counterparts (Movement Advancement Project, 2016).

higher instances of sexual assault

Bisexual people are more likely to report being sexually assaulted compared to our monosexual counterparts (Movement Advancement Project, 2016).

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Important Concepts

Biphobia

The fear, hatred of, or discomfort with bisexuals, sometimes manifesting in discrimination, isolation, harassment, or violence;
Examples: inaccurate stereotypes - including associations with infidelity, promiscuity, and transmission of sexually transmitted diseases.

Homophobia

The fear, hatred of, or discomfort with people who are attracted to members of the same gender sometimes manifesting in discrimination, isolation, harassment, or violence.

Monosexism

The belief that heterosexuality or homosexuality are more legitimate than bisexuality; A prejudice against bisexuality.
Example: someone believes bisexuality is a stepping stone to being homosexual or a phase, which assumes the person is heterosexual.
In other words, it is believing you can not be attracted to more than one gender.

Heteronormativity

The normalization of heterosexuality, marginalizing everything outside the ideals of heterosexuality, monogamy, and gender conformity.
Many bisexuals feel the need to adhere to heteronormativity at times and commonly stay closeted, deny their bisexuality, or ignore same-gender attractions due to the toxicity of learned heteronormativity

Double Discrimination

Experiencing discrimination from both heterosexual and homosexual individuals.
Not only do we usually lack support from outside of the community, we also struggle within the LGBT community for support.

Intersectionality

Approximately 40% of black LGBT youth identify as bisexual (Human Rights Campaign, 2019).
Approximately one-third of transgender individuals identify with a multisexual orientation (Movement Advancement Project, 2017).
It is important to think of many aspects of people's identities in order to have a more accurate picture of their experiences or struggles.
Ex: A white LGBT woman has two identities (woman & LGBT) may highly affect her life. However, a black LGBT woman has three identities that may highly affect her life.

Specific Issues

References

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please use the reference doc to navigate thru the articles!

• Google Drive

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