Why Don’t The Bi People Just Come Out Already? An Open Letter To Dan Savage.

Dear Dan Savage,

It pains me to say this. I like you. I don’t think you’re perfect, or have any obligation to be. I don’t think you have a responsibility to be an official representative of everyone with a smidge of queerness in the world. I don’t agree with everything you say- not a bit!- but overall you seem like a decent enough sort. That, and you’re clever, funny, and I think that, overall, you do a lot of good. Also, your podcast keeps me entertained long enough to get a bunch of housework done every week. Me and my laundry say thanks for that, by the way.

It pains me to say it, of course, because as someone with a tendency to run his mouth on things (something I can well identify with), when you get things wrong it can be.. shall we say spectacular? But I appreciate that you don’t silence dissent, that you acknowledge that you piss people off, and that most weeks you even run some of those pissed-off voices on your show. Good job with that, by the way.

Dan, if you’re reading this? I’ve got a bone to pick with you today. This is where I’ll become one of those hordes of angry bisexuals that you keep hearing from. I’d appreciate if you hear me out, though, before dismissing me as just another carrier of the Angry Bisexualist Gene. I mean, after all the time I’ve spent hearing you out, it’s the least you can do. Also? Dude, you know how many SuperQueer™ Points I’ve just lost by admitting that I have your podcast queued up on my iTunes. And that I still use iTunes (I’m lazy, okay?). I’ll never hear the end of this one.

The other week, you were talking about bisexuality. As you do. By the way? Thanks for changing your mind on the whole business of the existence of male bisexuality. And thanks for having bi people of all sorts of genders on the show- both to talk about bi things and to discuss entirely different topics. Huzzah for being fully-rounded people who aren’t just showing up as tokens to talk about one small aspect of ourselves!

But while we do exist now, however, it seems that we- The Bisexuals- are still letting the side down. One of the arguments that you’ve been making lately is based on quoting stats that indicate that bi people are significantly less likely than lesbian or gay people to be fully out. I’m not sure what the exact numbers are (or where you got them), but I gather that it’s something along the lines of 4/5 of L and G people being out, as opposed to only 1/5 of the Bs.

According to you, this means that bi people have an increased responsibility, as a group and as individuals, to come out already. Lesbian and gay people are out, so why not us? If LG people can, as you would say, pussy up and deal with the consequences of coming out, then bi people need to get off our collective asses and do the same thing. I’ve heard you (briefly) acknowledge that bi people can be on the receiving end of hassle from LG as well as straight people. But the solution is the same- bi people need to come out, so that our voices can be heard and we can be represented.

Here’s where things get complicated. I don’t deny that coming out is one of the most powerful tools we have. I’ve been openly bi for almost half my life (a terrifying thought). I can’t imagine what my life would be like if I wasn’t out- I’d be missing many of the people I call family, I wouldn’t have had the chance to learn half as much as I have, and I wouldn’t have been able to do my bit for The Cause. That, and I’m quite frankly useless at lying, so I doubt I’d have managed to be closeted very long.

I also think that, when it comes to being out, bi people are in a unique position to challenge the idea that there’s anything even faintly superior about heterosexuality. If I fall in love with a woman, it’s not because of any lack of socially-more-acceptable options. It’s not that I can’t help it. It’s that love (and sex, and relationships, and all of it) is awesome, regardless of the gender(s) of the people involved. None of this “we can’t help it” crap. I could help it if I wanted to, and I wouldn’t change what I am for the world. I bet we can agree that that’s pretty damn powerful.

So yes. On one level, we do need more bi people to come out already. We need more queer people of all kinds to come out already.

Where you and I disagree is on how to make that happen.

Here’s the thing. When you say that bi people need to come out already, it feels like that statement comes with an underlying assumption that we’re some kind of monolith. Like we’re a united group of people who have made the decision to hide 4/5 of our orientations from the wider world.

Dan, you know better than that. You’ve said yourself that one of the things you appreciate so much about the LGBTQ community these days is how much we disagree with each other. We’re a big, diverse group of people from every background in the world with feck-all in common aside from a shared exclusion, and the more successful we are in fighting that the less we’ll feel like we need to put forward a united front.

Y’know what’s telling, though? That in one group within our umbrella, being out is no longer the preserve of hardheaded loudmouths like you and me with more stubbornness than sense. But in another? It seems like the vast majority of people simply aren’t taking that step.

You could say that that’s because us Bs prefer to retreat into comfortable assumed heterosexuality. I think that that’s a lazy answer, though. It’s based on a few stereotypes about bi people that, in all honesty, bug the hell out of me- the idea that bi people somehow choose who we love, and the idea that we’re duplicitous, dishonest people.

Dan, you’ve fallen in love. You even went and married someone you were in love with. And you listen to phone calls and read letters every day (or however often you do that- I ain’t policing your schedule) from people who do profoundly stupid-ass things for love. Or lust. Or infatuation. Do you really think that 4/5 of bi people are simply immune to the universal human tendency to be blithering idiots when we’re head over heels? Come on. Bi people are the same as anyone else. We fall in love, lust and infatuation with people, and we have precisely the same ability (or likelihood) as anyone else to deny or suppress that.

Instead of making this all about bi people, let’s see if there isn’t somewhere else we can go to see why bi people are a hell of a lot less likely than their lesbian and gay counterparts to be out.

There are more L&G people out these days than even a short few years ago. Is that because the gay and lesbian Borg decided collectively to come out? Or is it because many thousands of people worked their butts off to make spaces for them to come out to? We’ve been reaching out for years, building communities, creating visibility, letting people know that they’re not alone and that there are people who will love and appreciate them for who they are, and give them the support they need if they do end up turfed out of their homes, families and communities. Things aren’t perfect yet, but for many they’re a lot better than they were. Not because queer people are intrinsically stronger, as individuals, than we used to be. Because some of us were able to help make things just a little better for some of the rest of us, and we kept chipping away, bit by bit.

Come Out To Where?

Dan, when you talk to queer kids from crappy homophobic communities, there’s a thing that you always tell them to do: work your ass off to get out of there. Get thee to a college or a big city where you can find a community of people who’ll love and support you as you are. Make your own damn family. Because you know as well as I do that coming out isn’t something that can happen on its own. We need somewhere- some community, some people who love us- to come out into, especially if we are to stay out.

There’s a piece of research just out that’s important here, on attitudes to bisexuality among people of different orientations. Here’s some key quotes- emphasis is mine.:

[R]espondents were generally negative in terms of their attitudes toward bisexual men and women, with almost 15 percent of the sample in disagreement that bisexuality is a legitimate sexual orientation… Of note, respondents who identified as gay or lesbian responded significantly less positively toward bisexuality than those identifying as bisexual, indicating that even within the sexual minority community, bisexuals face profound stigma. In addition, these findings indicate that male bisexuals likely suffer more stigma than female bisexuals.

Dr. Friedman explains that when a bisexual person perceives that his or her sexual orientation is not recognized by peers, it can cause the person to feel socially isolated and unable to talk openly with friends, family and school mates.

“Having hard data to back up why a bisexual person might feel the need to be secretive about sexual orientation, something that can lead to higher depression and many other negative health outcomes, is very useful to people trying to fight stigma and marginalization,” said Dr. Friedman.

And that’s not all. This factsheet from Rainbow Health Ontario has links to oodles of studies from the US and Canada showing that, while L&G people have worse mental health and are more likely to be victims of abuse then their straight counterparts, bi people fare even worse than L&G folks. And when it comes to what our communities could do about that? I’ll let them tell you- again, emphases are mine:

Research on LGBT populations has found that a sense of community belonging can
buffer the effects of minority stress… Due to biphobia and monosexism, bisexuals
may lack access to community support. Research in both Canada and the US has
found that bisexuals feel marginalized by heterosexual, lesbian, and gay
communities. Bisexual-specific support, which has been found to reduce the effects
of biphobia, is particularly lacking.

Owch.

And there, you see, is the problem. It’s one thing to tell people that they should, if it’s at all feasible, come out. It’s another thing entirely to do that when research shows clearly that the very communities that give lesbian and gay people a place to come out to and the support they need? Not only don’t do that for bi people- but can actively marginalise them. Speaking as someone who has been openly bi for half my life, and who has been facilitating bi safer spaces for several years now? The story I hear time and again- one of the many stories that breaks my heart every time I hear it, over and over again- is from people who, despite being part of queer communities, never had a space where they felt safe being themselves.

You could say that bi people should “just” go make our own communities. I’m sure you see as well why a minority within a minority reinventing the wheel feels a little.. Well, it feels a little People’s Front of Judea to me, if you know what I mean. There’s already a B in LGBT (and a T as well, but that’s a whole other conversation for a whole other day). And you know as well as I do that the lines between LG and B are not always clear-cut, often blurry, and occasionally subject to change without notice. Given that we live in a world that’s often hostile to all of us queers, the least that we can do is be a little kind to each other.

So yes, encourage bi people to come out. Let’s all do that! And in the meantime, let’s make sure that when bi people do come out, that our communities- which were built by bi (and trans) people as much as by lesbians and gay men- provide more than a literally half-hearted welcome to them.

And while we’re at it? When bi people come out, we need to believe them.

I know you are, but what are you really?

I know what you’re going to say. I’ve heard it many times before. You’re going to say that of course you accept that bi people exist. But that if someone comes out as bi at a younger age, there’s no way to know that they won’t be one of the many people who use the identity as a transitional one, and will come out as gay eventually.

On one level, you’re right. There’s no way to know that.

There’s also no way to know that the teenager coming out as gay won’t amend that to bi a few months or years down the line. Maybe that seems less common from a gay perspective, but as someone who spends a lot of time talking to bi people about their stories? It’s very common. And people do it for exactly the same reasons that people that they transition through a bi identity to gay- because they’re still working things out for themselves. Or because they feel like it’s a safer space to be. Or because for a while it seemed like the truth.

For me- because for a little while, I was one of those people- it felt like all of those reasons and more. I was a scared, confused kid (who isn’t?) who dearly wanted to feel secure about something (who doesn’t?). I came out as bi, then started calling myself gay. After a while, I realised that wasn’t right, returned to bi, and have been there (with a side order of queer) ever since. I could talk about my reasons and how it felt all day, but for the moment let’s just stick with this: I, and many bi people I know, stopped over in gayville on our ways to our identities. And before you ask, I’m talking about people of all sorts of genders here, not just women.

Like I said, though, that’s a topic that could go on all day, so let’s go back to the big topic: getting the bi people out already.

One of the profoundly annoying things about being out as a bi person, you see, is the way you keep on having to defend yourself. And not just in the ordinary way that all of us queer folks have to defend ourselves from the homophobes of the world who figure we’re all a bunch of filthy sinners (blah blah blah ad nauseum). As a bi person, you don’t just have to defend being queer and also a decent human being. You have to deal with the fact that, unless you give sufficient proof, nobody will believe you

Me, I have it easy. I can provide references for ex-partners of all sorts of genders who would be only too happy to verify that I did, in fact, fancy the pants off them. I also give talks, run workshops and write articles about bisexuality. Google my name, and it’s right there in the first couple of results. I still find it harder to be openly bi than openly queer. People stillwith the absolute best of intentions, assume I’m gay all the time. If I sometimes have a hard time being out, how much trickier must it be for people who don’t get to say things like “Sorry I can’t make it to [event], I’m just giving a talk on bi awareness this evening”?

This isn’t because anyone has something against bi people or is trying deliberately to erase us. It’s just that, in people’s minds, queer=gay and evidence to the contrary simply slides by. Remember last week, when Tom Daley and Maria Bello both came out as being in same-sex relationships? Remember how both of them mentioned things about different-sex attraction (crushes, partners), and both of them ended up reported as coming out as ‘gay’? If an article in the New York Times, or a YouTube video by an Olympic athlete, talking about fancying people of different genders isn’t enough for people to assume non-monsexuality, then what on Earth is?

Again, you don’t just have to believe me. A couple of Canadian researchers, Milaine Alarie & Stéphanie Gaudet, published a brilliant article this year. It’s called “I Don’t Know If She Is Bisexual or If She Just Wants to Get Attention”: Analyzing the Various Mechanisms Through Which Emerging Adults Invisibilize Bisexuality“. It’s worth reading the lot, but in short, there are four mechanisms they highlight: “(1) ignoring bisexuality, (2) depicting bisexuality as temporary, (3) making it almost impossible to be a ‘real’ bisexual, and (4) devaluing bisexuality”.

Dan, it’s not just that people aren’t taken seriously when they come out- which is, in itself, a major disincentive to going through the whole damn thing again and again. It’s that there are multiple ways in which coming out and being out is made more difficult for bi people than our lesbian and gay counterparts, how both the orientation itself and our right to it are questioned, and how even clear statements indicating attraction to multiple genders are sometimes ignored entirely.

Listen, you and me both agree that the world is a better place when people of all orientations (even straight people!) are able to be out and open about who they are and who they love and fancy. You’ve worked your ass off for decades making it easier for lesbian and gay people to take that step. All I’m really asking is that you understand that, just like for lesbian and gay folks, the reasons that bi people are able to come out are as much to do with everyone else- be they straight, gay, asexual, or even other bisexuals- as the person making that decision. All I’m asking is that, as well as encouraging bi people to come out already, you encourage gay people to lay off the biphobia in queer spaces, and everyone to quit questioning our right to exist.

It’s the least you can do.

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Why Don’t The Bi People Just Come Out Already? An Open Letter To Dan Savage.
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50 thoughts on “Why Don’t The Bi People Just Come Out Already? An Open Letter To Dan Savage.

  1. 3

    Try being a pansexual transguy — twice as much stigma and assumptions. Pretty much every new person I meet just assumes I’m a butch dyke (a year into transition and post-top surgery). That’s not who I am already! Don’t you hate when people make assumptions based on their narrow views and perceptions? The amount of discrimination that comes from within the LGBTQ community against anything but the L & B is ridiculous.

        1. I’d figured that was what you meant 🙂

          And yeah- honestly I felt bad for not mentioning more T stuff in this, because bi erasure and ciscentricism are so intertwined and such issues in L&G communities that I hate talking about one without also standing there with a great big sign saying AND ALSO THIS TOO YOU CAN’T IGNORE IT SERIOUSLY.

  2. 5

    What you write has a good deal of force. One possibly serious thing almost nobody from either side seems to address is the need of many Ls, Gs or even LGs combined for some queer spaces to be same-sexer- exclusive or at least same-sexer-prioritized. That used to be about as taken as a given as the need for women-only or women-prioritized spaces, but the concept seems to have gotten lost or even to have become viewed as distasteful.

  3. 6

    I enjoyed reading this – this guy – who I’ve never heard of before reading about him in blogs like yours – is simply a self-righteous asshole and as a bisexual myself, I sure as hell don’t want to hear anything he has to say about something that I’m sure I know more about than he does.

    It just makes me insane when non-bisexuals feel they know what’s best for us…

  4. 7

    Excellent post, as usual.

    I remember back in the 90s reading some rather misogynistic screeds written by Dan Savage. Then came the cissexism. Then came the biphobia. Then came the wretched comments against asexual people.

    At this point, I think it’s safe to dismiss Dan as an arrogant, over-privileged bag of excrement. Sadly, he has a tried and true talent for saying hateful things while passing off such malignant words off as “humor” or “telling it like it is”. I suspect he either revels in this warped aspect of his public persona or perhaps, even sees it as part of his bad boy charm.

    Sadly, the media (and society in general) tends to favor whomever is willing to build upon the social hierarchy, placing a limited few a the top of the pyramid while shitting upon everyone else. Dan Savage seems to be an apt person to partake in this endeavor. If you’ve got to include queer people at the table these days, why not limit that influence to as few letters of the queer alphabet as possible?

    Dan Savage, you are a credit to the privileged white males before you. Keep up the good work.

    1. 7.1

      Dude, it’s not the 90s anymore. Try reading anything the guy has written in the last year about bi/trans/asexual people. I’m not saying he’s perfect or agreeing with everything he says, but it’s really lazy to assume that someone who has been writing almost daily for as long as Dan has hasn’t changed any in twenty years. Hell, in his most recent book he apologizes to bisexuals at length for things he has said in the past.

      I don’t care if you dislike him/don’t want to forgive him for his past. It does, however, seem a little bit pointless to argue with a present-day public figure about views he denounced and apologized for years ago.

      1. Many of his comments which have negatively impacted people who are not cis, white, allosexual, monosexual gay men are recent. He has abused his power as a well known gay writer/speaker for so long that I’m not willing to give him a pass for (supposedly) changing his hateful opinions during the past year. Is this change sincere? Does he really care about the people he has publicly shat upon for so long? Or is it merely a calculated attempt to hide from public pressure which has tarnished his image in queer communities? I make no apologies for failing to trust someone whose blatant, hypocritical bigotry has spanned decades.

        And quite frankly, having been a target of many of the prejudices promulgated by the likes of this public figure, I have little feeling for the man outside of mistrust, loathing, and contempt.

        1. I didn’t mean to suggest that all the changes happened this year… It’s been a more gradual evolution. I’ve been a regular reader/listener for three years, and while he occasionally says something I disagree with, he has largely been respectful. His biggest problem is that he often gets snarky and defensive when criticized, and that is not appropriate in most cases.

          I, personally, trust that he is making an effort to change because he brings people on his podcast who disagree with him and let’s them call him out. But like I said, feel however you want about the guy. I understand if you are hurt. I just don’t think it makes much sense to just assume that everything he does forever is just as bad as the things that initially hurt you.

  5. 9

    I see it all the time on Tumblr: People who say things like “my family is so open-minded about homosexuality and yet they hate bisexuals, or say there is no such thing as a bisexual.” Yes, it is true that it’s much easier for most gay people to come out these days than it is for many bisexuals.
    It’s also relevant to note that many older bisexuals will say that they were out when they were young and got forced back into the closest as their life progressed – do you ever hear that happening to a gay person?

    1. 9.2

      Yep. It’s hard to stay out as a bi person, especially if you’re in a monogamous (or monogamish, even) LTR. Which, of course, many people are. I think that’s a thing monosexual people don’t get- if you’re straight or gay and in a relationship, then the assumptions people make about your orientation just by watching you live your life are going to be accurate. Being out as bi- even if people believe you- takes a lot more active effort.

  6. Mat
    10

    I am a bi guy who has been out since 17. In my 30’s I went through the worst struggle as I was out as bi but have been mainly sexually active with the opposite gender. It was painful to have explain that 80% of my sexual activity was with the opposite gender and the moment I date a guy openly all of my past relationships were completely illegitimate or “poof” they never happened at all – I was a liar. Being this is online what gay men considered a “phase” was me having sex with 23 different women. Hahahaha after this I decided firmly to date other bisexual men and women. Because although I could potentially fall for another gay man I really don’t think I could deal with having a horde of gay men tell me that my past loving relationships with women were a phase – frankly it is just to fucking painful.

    1. 10.2

      I know exactly what you mean. I’m now in my mid 50’s and have only been out for 15 years. But even so, I’m in the south. I learned hard and fast that gay is one thing, bi is something completely different. I was so astounded and naive to hear things like I didn’t really exist, or I was fence sitting, going through a phase, afraid to come out as gay coming from people who I thought were my allies. It’s bad enough to catch all the shit from the straight community about how sick, twisted and fucking perverted you are, but jeeeis. I so wasn’t prepared for that aspect. I’d already been divorced twice so I decided that I could no longer get involved with anyone but another bisexual and was very upfront about it.
      Worked out good though, I ended up marrying a bi gal and we’re going on 13 years……

  7. 11

    I agree, and Dan can be all over the board on how attitudes and statements on this (and many other things), but it just sounds like you’re saying “it’s harder for bisexuals to come out” – which I agree in some ways, but that doesn’t seem to contradict the needed step of more bisexual people coming out.
    Am I missing something here?
    (Bisexual male here.)

    1. 11.1

      No, you’re not missing anything!

      I absolutely agree that more bi people coming out is important. I just think that, on a large-scale level, it’s not going to happen until LGBTQ communities start to be genuinely inclusive and welcoming to bi people, and until people actually start believing people who come out as bi.

  8. 13

    Ah, the joys of being bi. Girls feel it’s okay to grab at me regardless of my boyfriend and guys disregard my girlfriend because she doesn’t have a penis.

    My ex bf was also bi. We completely accepted this about one another! However, associates treated me like I was in denial and was just a fag hag or a gay man’s beard. I got so sick of everyone telling me guys can’t be bi that the last time a guy told me my BF was gay, I just slapped him in the face. It’s not my proudest moment, but why is okay to deny a person their sexual identity?! It’s not. And they should be ashamed.

    I think the biggest problem is not “coming out,” because trust me, I’m out! My family, friends, and lovers know. Everyone knows.

    The problem is lack of recognition. I’m tired of other people refuting and dictating their interpretation of my sexual orientation.

    1. 13.1

      I love this:
      _”I think the biggest problem is not “coming out,” because trust me, I’m out! My family, friends, and lovers know. Everyone knows.

      The problem is lack of recognition. I’m tired of other people refuting and dictating their interpretation of my sexual orientation.”_

      Coming out takes two people- one person to come out, and the other person to accept that information and acknowledge it.

      1. First of all, everyone who is engaged enough in this struggle to have taken time to write comments down above and below — you all completely rock. I’m a 43 year old bi male who is out, but struggles pretty much down the line with so many of the visibility and hostility issues enumerated on this scroll. But I definitely have not been as active in the online support space as some of you folks seem to be — and that’s (just one!) of my New Year’s Resolutions! But bravo, for real.

        Aoife — to your last point here and picking up on something you said in an earlier thread: “Coming out takes two people- one person to come out, and the other person to accept that information and acknowledge it”

        The brass tacts facts are that we can only control one side of this equations. We can’t control the acceptance or belief (God help us all through this existential crisis of being or not being!!) in who and what we are. I believe firmly that we’ve got to just keep coming out in hordes, hard core, just keep fighting to find the ways to navigate the awkwardness of stepping into a space that doesn’t really fully exist yet — and the very process of doing that — becoming visible — will eventually make that space exist, and therein create the acceptance and acknowledgement of which you speak.

        I think the history of the mainstream gay rights movement (and the T movement in its nascent stage) has born that out. If we’re waiting for that other side to be ready or willing or to ‘get’ us before or in order for us to step into that space, I feel certain we’ll be waiting forever! And I say this as much to myself as to anyone else — I think those who have come before us in this struggle and those who will come after expect and have a right to expect more from all of us living and struggling and aspiring in the present and dynamic moment where we’ve got an enormous opportunity to take bisexuality and bi-visibility into the big time.

  9. 14

    Thank you thank you thank you. I’m a bisexual woman who’s married to a straight man. He knows I’m bi and has no issues with it. However, I feel like the wider LGBTQ community sees me as another hetero woman looking for attention.

    So, no, I’m not openly bi. My close friends know, but now that I’m older and raising kids, it’s not worth the heartache for me to advocate my ass off that yes, I am real. I’m not a fucking unicorn. And that I deserve the same respect that my L&G counterparts enjoy in the LGBTQ community.

    1. 14.1

      My story too. THANK YOU. I’ve known I was bi since I was in 7th grade. I never felt ashamed of it. In fact I felt like it was a secret gift — that I have the ability to look past gender, age, race, etc. and fall for the PERSON inside, regardless of what the trimming looks like.

  10. 16

    Excellent post, thank you!
    A well known writer recently said, “There are 7 billion people on this planet, which means there are 7 billion ways to express human sexuality”. Whether it’s a phase we go through, a journey, or a firm decision from an early age, it is our own to make.

    I am glad that the LGBQT community has progressed to the state it is in. There are MANY more safe places for people to express their sexuality if it differs from those who would suppress them, and that is great. I would hope that things would progress to the point that no matter what gender a person is, the ONLY things that matter are “Do you feel safe?” and “Are you happy?”

    I’m a bi woman married to a man who has “played around” with a guy or two. Hubby doesn’t identify as bisexual, though. And that’s fine. I do get a sense that when a bisexual is in a “straight” relationship, those around them feel comfortable, because it’s “normal”. And if they were in a homosexual one, people would have SOME clue how to respond to it also. But telling them that you just like to love who you love, and oddly, their heads explode.

    I find that the BDSM community is actually rather accepting of bisexuality, as is the science fiction/fantasy communities. Or maybe it’s just where I live. So glad for that!

  11. 18

    Reblogged this on Finding the Secret Places and commented:

    This is an article that is sorely needed. I myself am only partially out, and luckily it’s to a group of friends who react like this: “you’re bi? Cool, are you free to hang out Friday?” Unfortunately not everyone has such a group to go to and they deserve that.

  12. 22

    Thanks, but one thing you didn’t really go into in regards to bi-sexuality is that there are different levels of it. I’m 27, and gun to my head I’d either identify as mostly straight or bi-curious. I don’t really find male faces too attractive, but I love looking at a cock and hard abs. The thing is, though I’d like to explore a bit more, the costs and risks to explore a bit more, there’s really no need to put myself through the process when there’s a good chance that it never really becomes a factor in my life.

  13. 24

    Thank you. I come out again and again and if that’s supposed to be all it takes, I must be doing it wrong — because people (well, to be fair, usually cis straight white men…) don’t believe me. I did my part; now it’s everyone else’s turn to start taking it seriously.

  14. 26

    […] “And there, you see, is the problem. It’s one thing to tell people that they should, if it’s at all feasible, come out. It’s another thing entirely to do that when research shows clearly that the very communities that give lesbian and gay people a place to come out to and the support they need? Not only don’t do that for bi people- but can actively marginalise them. Speaking as someone who has been openly bi for half my life, and who has been facilitating bi safer spaces for several years now? The story I hear time and again- one of the many stories that breaks my heart every time I hear it, over and over again- is from people who, despite being part of queer communities, never had a space where they felt safe being themselves.” Why Don’t the Bi People Just Come Out Already? An Open Letter to Dan Savage – Consider t… […]

  15. 28

    Well for many of us straight men out there looking for a good woman to settle down with which it is the reason why many of us can’t find a good one since many of the women today are certainly Gay And Bi. And guess what, we’re Not To Blame Either.

    1. 28.1

      Steve, you do realise that women’s sexuality is quite gobstoppingly Not About Whether Or Not You Can Get Laid?

      Also, you do realise that homosexuality and bisexuality are not, in fact, recent inventions (in any sense other than the linguistic)?

      And finally, do you by any chance realise that bi women generally do, in fact, fancy men?

  16. 29

    I have to disagree with certain points, but i also agree.. I came out as bi when i was 18, now i identify mostly as gay, but i was definetively bi-sexual in the past..
    You cannot expect to find your community, if you dont allowmyour community to find you, welcome you, and see your face, and thus embrace you.
    If you remain hidden, you wont be found.. But if you step out, you are allowing your family to find you.. Complicated issue, yes..
    But I personally say to people with excuse after excuse, even up to their 50th year, just get out of tye freaking closet, start hanging with lgbt-community, and stop licking the balls of straight people who will never wccept you fully anyways..
    Just take the plunge, scary a it might be, and fly.. I have also found a lot of the closet cases,mwhether bi or gay, saying that they hate the gay lifestyle, or wish they werent gay..
    Well.. Goodbye to you, im not gonna hang out with you if you dont appreciate my lifestyle, and dont find anything great about beng gay.. Personally i would rather be gay than straight any day, and wouldnt trade it for the world, so i find it exhausting to be around such people..

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