Biphobia

Let's start with direct facts. Biphobia is not as new as we think. It comes in so many forms which can sometimes make it difficult to spot right at the moment. It is said that (this fact may be outdated) that the calls about biphobia in the helplines for the LGBTQ+ community are increasing. It can be as direct as insults or as subtle as small but still hurtful comments.

A woman that I talk to gave me permission to tell her story. She recently came out as bisexual and ever since she did, her father keeps marking everything she does wrong and blames her sexuality on this. I saw a video very recently of a straight man talking about how the Marvel Universe is serving the bisexual community this year because of all the beautiful actors and actresses that they show. The thing is, as a Marvel fan who is attracted to men and women (or people who identify as men or women and non-binary people) I think the guy was not completely right. This comment amplifies the stigma that bisexual people are attracted to every men and every women which is not true. We also have a type.

The media doesn't help either. It's not rare that we are described as confused people that simply can't decide to whom they are attracted to. They can sometimes use the stigma that says it changes depending on the partner you have. Also, it is extremely difficult to find a movie with Bi characters. This adds up with visibility issues that the whole community lives. It is no secret that the lack of representation is very well there in anything mediatic for many oppressed communities.

The society itself is one of the biggest issues. I feel like if I start dating a straight man and tell him I'm bisexual, there would be a lot of chances he would say: "Oh so you're down for a threesome." This comment is awful by itself but why I'm expecting it, it's because it seems to be the norm. Another one which would be said more by lesbians is that they would never date a bisexual woman because they can cheat on with another men since this attraction is still there. We are not more or less prone to cheat on our partners than anyone else.

People will also simply deny the existence of bisexual people because "it's enough to have gays, lesbians and trans. We don't need more" or just call them allies when they are members and deserve their own part in the LGBTQ+ community.

I truly consider myself lucky that to the people I came out reacted quite well in the majority. I did get some pretty hard and mean comments but nothing I knew I couldn't talk back since they were made by people I know pretty well so it was easy for me to say something back. There are still family members that are completely unaware of this. I decided to not tell them because part of me is scared of the backlash they will give me since they are more conservative. As for my friends, they all know and all reacted pretty well which was to be expected.

I would like to add a small detail concerning celebrity crush. You can perfectly find an actor or actress gorgeous without being bisexual. Of course, it's not rare to see those people have a crush on both of them. I don't think this is something that can 100% define your sexual orientation but this is only my opinion. You also can't assume someone's sexuality base on this. I can give an example with some of mine. My biggest girl crush are the singer Kirstin Maldonado and actress Elizabeth Olsen. The men are actor Sebastian Stan and singer Avi Kaplan. Sometimes I'm more towards the women and sometimes the men. I actually don't really care about their gender I hope it makes sense. There are so many celebrities that it can look like everyone's type can be satisfied.

I surely always do hope that any type of discrimination will stop one day but I'm clearly aware that biphobia, ableism, racism and many others might be there for a while. You can always defend those communities which is always much appreciated.