Bisexuality

That girl is bisexual? Nah she's just a whore. That guy is bisexual? Nah he's just confused.

Those filthy bisexuals, sleeping with everyone, denying their real sexuality, compromising our concrete view of how things ought to be. How DARE they.

Sound familiar?

Unfortunately, even sometimes among gays and lesbians, there is horrible intolerance and ignorance. And it is shockingly pervasive.

Firstly, I'd like to point out that (cue sass) that crap ain't none of your goddamn business. Who really cares? If someone wants to identify as bisexual, let them. Members of the LGBT community especially, considering many of the struggles we go through, should understand the pain when people deny that your sexuality is even real.

Furthermore, bisexuality definitely IS real, and to understand it we have to pull our minds away from the gender binary. Some people can like men and women (or those fabulous people in between), because they are attracted to people regardless of gender. Bisexuality can often be synonymous with pansexuality, the potential for attraction to certain people of any gender. Bisexuals and pansexuals AREN'T attracted to EVERYONE, just as I'm not attracted to every man I see (think of how exhausting that would be). But to put a limit on the amount of genders you should be attracted to is, to me, the most absurd concept.

Sexuality is a complex and beautiful thing, and we should accept and respect that. It is never black and white, but a diverse spectrum, and everyone's is different (which is actually what the rainbow flag means, FYI). Some people don't even want to put labels on their sexuality so as not to limit themselves to what society expects of that label.

Then there's the "bisexuals", with emphasis on the quotation marks. For a while I told myself that I must be bisexual until I accepted that the way I feel about women is nowhere near as strong as the way I feel about men, thus ultimately identifying myself as gay. But every case is different. When someone tells you they are bi, don't dismiss it. Don't tell them they're confused because it might be a sure thing. And don't, for goodness' sake, pressure them into thinking they have to label themselves as anything. People who aren't straight often really struggle with it, and they need time to sort it out by themselves. Only that person is witness to the true complexities of their own sexual orientation, and only they can choose to define it. For some people, sexual orientation can even be a fluid thing that changes naturally over time. 

As a wise young girl in a racist taco ad once said, "Por que no los dos?" 

Why restrict love to the confines of either one gender or the other?

Why make assumptions based on a simple word one uses to define this key, integral and undeniably natural part of themselves?

They say that love is blind. Why can't it be blind to gender?

Love the bisexuals - love any orientation - and you will restore my faith in humanity.

Thanks for reading. Feel welcome to leave comments, whether it agrees with or challenges me! And have the best day/night/whatever ever!