bisexuality-biphobia-picYesterday kicked off Bisexual Awareness Week, and it made me ruminate on how far I’ve come since I penned the poem, “Bye Bi Curious”. It was published in an anthology created by students of the late great June Jordan‘s Poetry for the People course at U.C. Berkeley. Jordan — an openly bisexual, Caribbean- American poet, essayist and activist – was inspirational; my bitterness, was not.

Yes, I was one of those queer folks who dated lots of bisexual women and often felt burned by the experience. You know, the typical, “they all end up straight in the end” complaints. But really, people end up with who they end up with, and who was I to complain when, technically, as someone who’s enjoyed lots of sex with men as well as women, I’m bisexual myself. Not only that, it makes sense that an intersex person like me–who has identified, and has been identified, as both a man and a woman–would gravitate to people who appreciate both of these genders. Indeed, were it not for bi folks, my 20’s and 30’s would have been a lot less fulfilling, romantically and sexually speaking.

Today, I see that all those bisexually infused romances were perfectly natural, and, well… perfect. Even though my partner now is technically pansexual since she started dating me (meaning: not limited in sexual choice with regard to biological sex, gender, or gender identity), before that she too was bisexual (just slightly, but still). I’ve heard a lot of intersex people share the same about their partners, revealing the intimate — and I do mean “intimate” — connections between our communities. Case in point, pansexuality is often included under the bisexual umbrella since it turns out that, once they’ve cross paths with hot non-binary peeps, lots of bi folks find they’re more pan than they realized.

Truth is, bisexuals have long been lovers of us gender non-conforming folks, since their love is not constricted by binary, heteronormative expectations, and they’ve been stigmatized for the very same reason, just like intersex people are. So don’t believe the biphobic hype. This week, and all, let’s acknowledge the beauty and power of the people who love who they love, regardless of binary “norms”. Bisexuality is badass, and I for one am grateful for it, and for all the brave bisexuals I’ve been lucky to know.

P.S. Please share this reading list of bisexual young adult books with any young people you know who are struggling because their love isn’t constricted by society’s binary norms.

#Bisexual Awareness Week

 

1 Comment

  1. GARY on September 21, 2016 at 2:56 am

    Honestly Honesty is the Best way to live, with this Screwed up World the Smart way to go is Keep your life behind closed doors are private, and until Everyone minds there Own Business there will always be problems

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