"Being bisexual doubles your chance of a date on Saturday
night." Woody Allen. 4
"A homosexual or bisexual individual may experience conflict
with a homophobic society; however, such conflict is not a symptom of
dysfunction in the individual. The APA Board recognized that a
significant portion of homosexual and bisexual people were clearly
satisfied with their sexual orientation and showed no signs of
psychopathology." Fact Sheet, Homosexual and Bisexual Issues,
American Psychiatric Association. 5
"Bisexual by definition means promiscuous, having
relations with both male and female. We are going to give that a Federal
preferred protected status under this legislation. I think that is a serious
mistake."
Senator Don Nickles (R-OK). 7
Overview:
Bisexuality may be a difficult topic to comprehend. Many of
us are taught to look at almost everything in the universe as a duality:
male and female, light and dark, hot an cold, moral and immoral, etc. This
is also seen with human sexual orientation. Most view it as
existing in two forms:
heterosexuality and homosexuality. But human sexuality is a little more complex
than that. One cannot squeeze the full range of human sexual feelings and behaviors into
only two classifications.
A minimum of three is really needed to represent human sexual
attractions and activities: heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual.
Some have suggested a minimum of five.
Depending upon who is writing or talking, "bisexuality"
may be defined in many different ways. Some important ones are
described below:
Most people use the term "sexual orientation" to refer to sexual
feelings. Heterosexual, homosexual
and bisexual is a part of what people are. Thus, bisexuality is sexual
orientation in which an individual feels
sexual attraction towards both men and women, although not necessarily to
the same degree. This is the meaning given to bisexuality by most mental health
professionals, religious liberals, secularists, and persons of minority
sexual orientations.
Conservative Christians and their faith groups often assign
different meanings and definitions to many religious and human sexuality
terms. This makes dialogue and debate very difficult. They typically
refer to heterosexuality, homosexuality and
bisexuality as descriptions of people's behavior. Thus, bisexuality becomes a
"lifestyle" in which an individual engages in sexual behavior
with both men and women.
Others restrict the term bisexual to a person who not only has feelings
of attraction to both men and women, but for whom "bisexuality
is [also] an important part of their experience or identity."
1
Still others define bisexuality as either feelings of sexual
attraction, or sexual behavior towards, both men and women. 2
According to the Soc.bi newsgroup, some suggest "that
the word 'bisexual' should be limited to describing behavior, and the
word 'bi' could be used for describing identity."
Some persons who are sexually attracted to both men and women
feel more strongly attracted to one gender than the other. Further, they may
identify themselves as homosexual or heterosexual, depending upon their
prime attraction. So, a bisexual who feels more attracted to members of
the same sex might identify themselves as gay or lesbian rather than
bisexual. Others, attracted to members of the opposite sex might view
themselves as heterosexual.
In an attempt to codify sexual attraction for the two genders, human
sexuality researcher Alfred Kinsey developed a seven level rating scale in
which "0" meant purely heterosexual and "6" meant purely homosexual. The
vast majority of adults rate themselves as a "0." A gay and lesbian
minority identify themselves as a "6". A small minority are bisexual (ratings 1 to 5). Of these, only a very small minority
are attracted to both men and women equally and identify themselves with
a "3" rating. 3
W.H. Masters and V.E. Johnson used the
term "ambisexual" in their books Human Sexual Response and
Homosexuality in Perspective, to refer to a person who is
sexually attracted to both men and women to the same degree. The term
does not seem to be commonly used. Most persons with equal feelings of
attraction are referred to as bisexual.
Bisexuality, in terms of feelings of sexual attraction:
To many gays, lesbians, bisexuals, physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists,
human sexuality researchers, religious liberals, and some others, the term "sexual
orientation" normally defines which gender(s) an individual is sexually
attracted to:
A heterosexual is attracted to persons of the opposite gender only;
A homosexual, to the same gender;
A bisexual to both genders, although not necessarily to the same
degree.
They believe that all three sexual orientations are normal and natural
for at least a minority of the population. An adult's orientation is not
consciously chosen. It is not changeable through prayer, therapy, surgical
intervention, etc.
Bisexuality describes how people feel, not necessarily how
they act:
A person can feel attractions to both men and women, decide to remain
celibate, and still be considered a bisexual by themselves and others.
A bisexual might make a conscious decision to confine their sexual activity to
person(s) of one gender and still be considered a bisexual by themselves and
others.
Sponsored link:
Bisexuality viewed as behavior:
To some conservative Christians, sexual orientation is an umbrella
term that includes both many forms of sexual behavior: homosexuality,
bisexuality, bestiality, necrophilia, abusive pedophilia, etc. They believe
that any human rights legislation that prohibits discrimination on the basis
of sexual orientation will promote homosexuality and bisexuality. It will
also decriminalize child sexual abuse and other violent activities. To our
knowledge, has such an inclusive definition for the term "sexual orientation."
To most conservative Christians, and others, bisexuals are individuals who choose to enter into sexually active
relationships with persons of both genders. They teach that most, perhaps
all, bisexuals can
convert to heterosexuality through reparative therapy
and prayer.
To Don Nickels (quoted above), who defines bisexuality in terms of behavior,
it makes sense to regard all bisexuals as promiscuous. To him, a person must
have engaged in sexual behavior with at least two people in order to be called a
bisexual: one or more males and one or more females. Since at least one of these
must have happened outside of marriage, then every bisexual person must have met
Nickels' definition of promiscuity.
Most conservative Christians rarely refer to bisexuality. They prefer to deal with only
two forms of behavior: homosexuality and heterosexuality. They regard a
bisexual:
Who has decided to become celibate to be a person who has left the "gay
lifestyle," and become an "ex-gay."
Who had decided to be sexually active only with person(s) of the same
gender to be a homosexual.
Who had decided to be sexually active in the future only with
person(s) of the
opposite gender to be a heterosexual who have left the "gay
lifestyle."
In recent years, conservative Christians have funded publicity
campaigns in an attempt to convince gays and lesbians to enter reparative
therapy, to leave the "gay lifestyle" and become
"ex-gay." Many of their success stories are actually bisexuals
who have made a conscious decision to remain celibate or to confine
relationships only with the opposite gender. Others success stories are
based on homosexuals who have decided to remain celibate. The main message
of their advertisements, that homosexuals can become heterosexuals, is
probably impossible for anyone to achieve, or
nearly so.
Definitions of "bisexuality" -- a summary
With these differences in the definitions of "bisexual" and
"bisexuality," chaos reigns. Dialog is very difficult.
Debates can be unproductive. We recommend that people first decide on a common
definition of these terms before proceeding with any discussion.
As is our custom, we will use
the definitions adopted by a consensus of physical and mental health
professionals throughout the rest of this essay. That is, we will refer to
bisexuality as a sexual orientation -- a feeling of attraction for both men and
women, although not necessarily to the same degree. This applies whether the individual is sexually active or not;
a celibate bisexual is still a bisexual.
Misunderstandings, sweeping generalizations and stereotyping of bisexuals:
Misinformation abounds on any topic that involves human sexuality. However,
it seems to be particularly prevalent in data related to homosexuality and
bisexuality:
Everyone is bisexual: This does not appear to be true. Kinsey
found that only a very small minority of adults identify
themselves as bisexual on his 7 level rating scale. His team found that most
people were rated at either 0 (purely heterosexual; attracted only to
members of the opposite gender) or 6 (purely homosexual; attracted only
to members of the same sex.) 3
Only about 2% of the adult population is bisexual: This depends
upon your definition of the term "bisexual". "Research
carried out at the Harvard School of Public Health, USA in 1994 found that
20.8% of the men and 17.8% of the women studied admitted to same-sex sexual
attraction/behavior at some time in their lives." Quoted
in Ref. 2No data is available that predicts the percentage
of the population who consider themselves to be bisexual, but have not
acted on those feelings.
Nobody is bisexual: Prior to the mid-1880s, many gays and
lesbians believed that there were only two sexual orientations:
homosexual or heterosexual. One was either sexually attracted to the
same sex or to the opposite sex. They regarded bisexuals as if they were
really homosexuals who were not ready to come out of the closet. Since
then, the vast majority of homosexuals and gay-positive groups have
accepted bisexuality as a separate, legitimate sexual orientation. In
reality, there are
individuals who have identified themselves as bisexual throughout their entire
adult life and who have had fulfilling sexual relationships with both men
and women during their adult life. .
Bisexuality is just a phase: For some it may be. For example,
many
gay males attempt to avoid society's homophobia by attempting to
develop a sexual relationship with a woman. A few even go so far as
marrying. But such
relationships are generally very short term; the individual remain homosexual.
However, other individuals sincerely regard themselves to be permanently bisexual
throughout their adult life.
Bisexuals are only satisfied if they have sexual partners of both
genders: No. Bisexuals are attracted to both genders, but do not
necessarily act on their feelings of attraction.
Bisexuals spread AIDS: Some believe that "bisexuals choose
to be perverse, they spread the HIV virus with their indiscriminate sex
lives, and they make a mockery of things such as marriage and the
family." This is true, for some bisexuals. However, it is also true
of some heterosexuals and
homosexuals. In Africa, HIV is most commonly
spread through heterosexual intercourse. In North America, it is
spread most commonly through anal intercourse and the sharing of dirty intravenous needles -- practices done by persons of all sexual orientations. The
solutions to the AIDS problem involves celibacy, or monogamy, and safer
sex techniques. This is the "ABC" approach of Abstain from sex,
or Be faithful and wear a Condom.
Bisexuals are equally attracted to both genders: Some believe
that to be a bisexual, one must be sexually attracted to men and women
equally.This is definitely
not true. In the Kinsey scale described above, a person who is equally
attracted to both men and women are a "3." Kinsey found many bisexuals who
identify themselves as a 1, 2 (i.e. mainly attracted to members of the
opposite gender), or a 4 or 5 (i.e. mainly attracted to members of the
same gender). Many individuals, although attracted
to both man and women, have a real preference.
Bisexuals are incapable of being monogamous: Many bisexuals have
proven that this stereotype is wrong. A heterosexual male might be attracted to a
substantial percentage of the approximately 1.5 billion adult women in the
world. And yet, they are quite capable of committing themselves to a single
partner. Similarly, a bisexual person might be attracted to a substantial
percentage of the
approximately 3 billion adult men and women in the world. Yet they are also capable of committing to single partner.
Senator Don Nickles' comment above is incorrect by the
most common meaning of the term "bisexual;" bisexuals may be celibate or
monogamous; they may have few partners, or be promiscuous.
Bisexuals alternate genders in their relationships: The
author was told by a sincere person who regarded themselves as knowledgeable
about bisexuality, that if a bisexual person ends a relationship with a
man, their next sexual partner will be a woman -- and vice versa. There
appears to be no basis for such a belief.
Bisexuals have the same problems as gays and lesbians: Not
necessarily. Bisexuals who admit or act on their attraction to members of
the same sex will be at the same risk as gays and lesbians of being victims of: gay bashing, being
discriminated against in hiring, being firing from their job, being refused
accommodation, losing custody of their children, etc. But there are many other factors to consider:
A bisexual who keeps their attraction to the same sex a secret can
pass in society as a heterosexual and not be at risk of homophobia.
Some openly bisexual individuals are also subjected to prejudice from
the lesbian/gay community. However, this prejudice is dissipating as
more gay/lesbian groups have evolved to become gay/lesbian/bisexual groups.
"...dealing with the emotion of SOs [Significant
Others] who we deeply love yet who cannot understand our attraction to
both sexes."
Having to deal with the myths and misunderstanding of the public
towards bisexuality. 2,6
Bisexuals "...possesses a generally
indiscriminate sexual desire toward persons of both sexes:" This is
a quotation from America, the national Roman Catholic weekly. 9
They define bisexuals in this way, but do not enlarge on their
definition later in the article. In fact, they only refer to bisexuals
once in the entire article. It is not precisely clear what the authors
meant by "indiscriminate" desire. However, all adults, including
those with a bisexual orientation are known to be attracted to only some
persons and not to others. They may discriminate in terms of the age,
physical attractiveness, body style, etc. The authors may be expressing
the belief that a bisexual is equally attracted to both men and women.
This is a well known fallacy.
BiNetUSA is a organization that promotes equal rights for
bisexuals. It has been active since 1988. See: http://www.binetusa.org/
bi.org serves "the worldwide bisexual community by
providing a free Internet presence for bisexual individuals, groups and
non-profit organisations...there is a large set of pages detailing
resources..." Their web site has over 3,000 unique hyperlinks. See:
http://bi.org/
The American Institute of Bisexuality (AIB) hosts
Bisexual.org.
Their web site hosts web sites of other bisexual groups. They handle "Bi-ographies
Personal Ads." See: http://www.bisexual.org/
Copyright � 2001 to 2008 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2001-JAN-19
Latest update: 2008-JUL-15
Author: B.A. Robinson
