View source for Biphobia

{{Short description|Aversion to bisexual people}}
[[File:Social Stigma and Discrimination against Bisexuals.jpg|thumb|An illustration of examples of various [[social stigma|stigma]] against bisexuals]]
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'''Biphobia''' or '''monosexism''' is aversion to [[bisexuality]] or people who are perceived as being bisexual. Biphobic prejudice commonly presents as denial that bisexuality is a genuine sexual orientation, negative [[LGBT stereotypes|stereotypes]] about people who are bisexual (such as the beliefs that they are [[Promiscuity|promiscuous]] or dishonest), or [[bisexual erasure]].<ref name="Yoshino 2000"/> 

The hatred of bisexual women is referred to as bimisogyny'''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Festival |first=Leeds LGBT+ Literature |date=2021-09-23 |title=Bimisogyny and What it Means |url=https://www.leedslgbtbooks.com/post/bimisogyny-and-what-it-means |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=mysite |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Pallotta-Chiarolli |first=Maria |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wDa6CwAAQBAJ |title=Women in Relationships with Bisexual Men: Bi Men By Women |date=2016-03-08 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-7391-3459-7 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Flood |first1=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PWMHCgAAQBAJ |title=Engaging Men in Building Gender Equality |last2=Howson |first2=Richard |date=2015-06-18 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-7895-1 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=McAllum |first=Mary-Anne |date=2014-01-01 |title="Bisexuality Is Just Semantics…": Young Bisexual Women's Experiences in New Zealand Secondary Schools |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/15299716.2014.872467 |journal=Journal of Bisexuality |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=75–93 |doi=10.1080/15299716.2014.872467 |s2cid=144498576 |issn=1529-9716|url-access=subscription }}</ref>''' or less commonly bisexism.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Weiss |first=Jillian T. |date=2004-01-15 |title=GL vs. BT: The Archaeology of Biphobia and Transphobia within the U.S. Gay and Lesbian Community |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=1649428 |journal=Journal of Bisexuality|language=en |location=Rochester, NY|ssrn=1649428 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sung |first=Mi Ra |date=2014-12-01 |title=Stress and Resilience: The Negative and Positive Aspects of Being an Asian American Lesbian or Bisexual Woman |url=https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/3171 |journal=Doctoral Dissertations}}</ref>

== Etymology and usage ==
''Biphobia'' is a [[blend word|portmanteau]] patterned on the term ''homophobia''. It derives from the Latin prefix bi-(meaning "two, double") and the root ''-phobia'' (from the {{langx|el|φόβος}}, ''phóbos'', "fear") found in ''homophobia''. Along with ''[[transphobia]]'' and ''homophobia'', it is one of a family of terms used to describe [[Bigotry|intolerance]] and discrimination against [[LGBTQ]] people. The [[Adjective|adjectival]] form ''biphobic'' describes things or qualities related to biphobia, and the less-common noun ''biphobe'' is a label for people thought to harbor biphobia.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Eliason, MJ|title=The prevalence and nature of biphobia in heterosexual undergraduate students|journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior|volume=26|issue=3|year=1997|pages=317–26|pmid=9146816|doi=10.1023/A:1024527032040|s2cid=30800831}}</ref>

The term ''biphobia'' was first<ref>{{Cite book|title=Bisexuality: Identities, Politics, and Theories|last=Monro|first=Surya|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2015|isbn=9781137007308|location=Basingstoke|pages=23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rewire.news/article/2018/04/25/know-biphobia-harmful-know-whats-behind/|title=We Know Biphobia Is Harmful. But Do We Know What's Behind It?|last=Greenesmith|first=Heron|date=April 25, 2018|website=Rewire.News|access-date=October 22, 2019}}</ref> introduced in 1992 by researcher Kathleen Bennett to mean "prejudice against bisexuality"<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Closer to Home: Bisexuality and Feminism|last=Weise|first=Elizabeth Reba|publisher=Seal Press|year=1992|isbn=1-878067-17-6|location=Seattle|pages=[https://archive.org/details/closertohomebise00weis/page/207 207]|url=https://archive.org/details/closertohomebise00weis/page/207}}</ref> and "the denigration of bisexuality as a life-choice."<ref name=":1" /> It has subsequently been defined as "any portrayal or discourse denigrating or criticizing men or women on the sole ground of their belonging to this [bisexual] socio-sexual identity, or refusing them the right to claim it."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Welzer-Lang|first=Daniel|date=October 11, 2008|title=Speaking Out Loud About Bisexuality: Biphobia in the Gay and Lesbian Community|journal=Journal of Bisexuality|volume=8|issue=1–2|pages=82|doi=10.1080/15299710802142259|s2cid=144416441}}</ref>

== Forms ==
=== Denial and erasure ===
{{Main|Bisexual erasure}}
Biphobia can lead people to deny that bisexuality is real, asserting that people who ''identify'' as bisexual are not ''genuinely'' bisexual, or that the phenomenon is far less common than they claim. One form of this denial is based on the [[heterosexist]] view that heterosexuality is the only true or natural sexual orientation. Thus anything that deviates from that is instead either a psychological pathology or an example of anti-social behavior.

Another form of denial stems from [[Binary thinking|binary]] views of sexuality: that people are assumed [[Monosexuality|monosexual]], i.e. homosexual ([[gay men|gay]]/[[lesbian]]) or heterosexual ([[Heterosexuality|straight]]). Throughout the 1980s, modern research on sexuality was dominated by the idea that heterosexuality and homosexuality were the only legitimate orientations, dismissing bisexuality as "secondary homosexuality".<ref name="ProQuest">{{Cite book|title = Managing Heterosexism and Biphobia: A Revealing Black Bisexual Male Perspective|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5iayOla-7qcC&pg=PR3|date = 2008-01-01|isbn = 9780549622482}}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>  In that model, bisexuals are presumed to be either [[The closet|closeted]] lesbian/gay people wishing to appear heterosexual,<ref>Michael Musto, April 7, 2009. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090410164203/http://blogs.villagevoice.com/dailymusto/archives/2009/04/ever_meet_a_rea.php Ever Meet a Real Bisexual?] , ''The Village Voice''</ref> or individuals (of "either" orientation) experimenting with sexuality outside of their "normal" interest.<ref name="bisexual erasure">{{cite journal |last=Yoshino |first=Kenji |author-link=Kenji Yoshino |title=The Epistemic Contract of Bisexual Erasure |journal=[[Stanford Law Review]] |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=353–461 |publisher=[[Stanford Law School]] |date=January 2000 |url=http://www.kenjiyoshino.com/articles/epistemiccontract.pdf |doi=10.2307/1229482 |jstor=1229482 |archive-date=2019-04-03 |access-date=2010-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403043549/http://www.kenjiyoshino.com/articles/epistemiccontract.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Aphorism|Maxims]] such as "people are either gay, straight, or lying" embody this [[dichotomous]] view of sexual orientation.<ref name="Dworkin" />

Some people accept the theoretical existence of bisexuality but define it narrowly, as being only the equal sexual attraction towards both men and women.<ref name="Dworkin">{{cite journal |author=Dworkin, SH |title=Treating the bisexual client|journal=Journal of Clinical Psychology|volume=57|issue=5|year=2001|pages=671–80 | pmid=11304706 |doi=10.1002/jclp.1036}}</ref> Thus the many bisexual individuals with unequal attractions are instead categorized as either homosexual or heterosexual. Others acknowledge the existence of bisexuality in women, but deny that men can be bisexual.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/do-bisexual-men-really-exist/|title=Do Bisexual Men Really Exist?|access-date=2017-02-12|language=en|archive-date=2018-07-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731093349/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/do-bisexual-men-really-exist/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some denial asserts that bisexual behavior or identity is merely a social trend – as exemplified by "[[bisexual chic]]" or [[gender bending]] – and not an intrinsic personality trait.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ka'ahumanu|first1=Lani|last2=Yaeger|first2=Rob|title=Biphobia|url=https://lgbt.ucsd.edu/education/biphobia.html|website=LGBT Resource Center UC San Diego|publisher=UC San Diego|access-date=September 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920010304/http://lgbt.ucsd.edu/education/biphobia.html|archive-date=September 20, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Same-gender sexual activity is dismissed as merely a substitute for sex with members of the opposite sex, or as a more accessible source of [[sexual gratification]]. [[Situational homosexuality]] in [[Sex segregation|sex-segregated]] environments is presented as an example of this behavior.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dictionary.apa.org/situational-homosexuality |title=Situational Homosexuality |website=American Psychological Association |access-date=April 13, 2021}}</ref>

Biphobia is common from the heterosexual community, but is frequently exhibited by gay and lesbian people as well,<ref>{{cite journal| last1 = Matsick| first1 = Jes L.| last2 = Rubin| first2 = Jennifer D| date = June 2018| title = Bisexual prejudice among lesbian and gay people: Examining the roles of gender and perceived sexual orientation.| url = https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fsgd0000283| journal = Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity| volume = 5| issue = 2| pages = 143–155| doi = 10.1037/sgd0000283| url-access = subscription}}</ref> usually with the notion that bisexuals are able to escape oppression from heterosexuals by conforming to social expectations of opposite-gender sex and romance. This leaves some that identify as bisexual to be perceived as "not enough of either" or "not real".<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Compulsory Bisexuality?: The Challenges of Modern Sexual Fluidity|journal = Journal of Bisexuality|date = 2009-11-13|issn = 1529-9716|pages = 431–449|volume = 9|issue = 3–4|doi = 10.1080/15299710903316661|first = Breanne|last = Fahs|doi-access = free}}</ref> An Australian study conducted by Roffee and Waling in 2016 established that bisexual people faced microaggressions, bullying, and other anti-social behaviors from people within the lesbian and gay community.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Roffee|first1=James A.|last2=Waling|first2=Andrea|s2cid=151493252|title=Rethinking microaggressions and anti-social behaviour against LGBTIQ+ youth|journal=Safer Communities|date=2016-10-10|volume=15|issue=4|pages=190–201|doi=10.1108/SC-02-2016-0004}}</ref>

[[Bisexual erasure]] (also referred to as ''bisexual invisibility'') is a phenomenon that tends to omit, falsify, or re-explain evidence of [[bisexuality]] in [[history]], [[academia]], the [[news media]], and other [[primary source]]s,<ref>[https://queersunited.blogspot.com/2008/05/word-of-gay-bisexual-erasure.html Word Of The Gay: BisexualErasure] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20110827174305/http://queersunited.blogspot.com/2008/05/word-of-gay-bisexual-erasure.html |date=2011-08-27 }} May 16, 2008 "Queers United"</ref><ref>[http://ronsuresha.com/?p=1018 The B Word] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20210619042517/http://ronsuresha.com?p=1018 |date=2021-06-19 }} Suresha, Ron. "The B Word," Options (Rhode Island), November 2004</ref> sometimes to the point of denying that bisexuality exists.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hutchins |first=Loraine |author-link=Loraine Hutchins |title=Sexual Prejudice: The erasure of bisexuals in academia and the media |work=[[American Sexuality magazine|American Sexuality]] |volume=3 |issue=4 |publisher=[[National Sexuality Resource Center]] |year=2005 |url=http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/MagArticle.cfm?Article=475&PageID=0 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071216065035/http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/MagArticle.cfm?Article=475&PageID=0 |archive-date=2007-12-16 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/MagArticle.cfm?Article=475&PageID=0 | title = Sexual Prejudice—The erasure of bisexuals in academia and the media | access-date = 2007-07-19 | last = Hutchins | first = Loraine | author-link = Loraine Hutchins | work = American Sexuality Magazine | publisher = National Sexuality Resource Center, San Francisco State University | location = San Francisco, CA | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071216065035/http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/MagArticle.cfm?Article=475&PageID=0 | archive-date = 2007-12-16}}</ref>

[[Kenji Yoshino]] (2000) writes that there are three concepts that cause invisibility within bisexuality: "The three invisibilities can be seen as nested within each other; the first affects straights, gays, and bisexuals; the second affects only gays and bisexuals; and the third affects only bisexuals."<ref name="Yoshino 2000">{{cite journal |last1=Yoshino |first1=Kenji |author-link=Kenji Yoshino |title=The Epistemic Contract of Bisexual Erasure |date=2000 |volume=52 |issue=2 |journal=Stanford Law Review |pages=353–461 |doi=10.2307/1229482 |jstor=1229482 |url=https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5389&context=fss_papers |access-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-date=February 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201091614/https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5389&context=fss_papers |url-status=live }}</ref> Forms of social standards and expectations, religion, and integrating the same-sex attraction aspect of bisexuality with homosexuality contribute to invisibility.<ref name="Yoshino 2000"/>

==== Allegations that bisexual men are homophobic ====
One cause of biphobia in the gay male community is that there is an identity political tradition to assume that acceptance of male homosexuality is linked to the belief that men's sexuality is specialized. This causes many members of the gay male community to assume that the very idea that men can be bisexual is homophobic to gay men. A number of bisexual men feel that such attitudes force them to keep their bisexuality in the closet and that it is even more oppressive than traditional [[heteronormativity]]. These men argue that the gay male community has something to learn about respect for the individual from the lesbian community, in which there is not a strong tradition to assume links between notions about the origins of sexual preferences and the acceptance thereof. These views are also supported by some gay men who do not like anal sex (sides, as opposed to both tops and bottoms) and report that they feel bullied by other gay men's assumption that their dislike for anal sex is "homophobic" and want more respect for the individuality in which a gay man who does not hate himself may simply not like anal sex and instead prefer other sex acts such as mutual fellatio and mutual male masturbation.<ref>Bi Men: Coming Out Every Which Way, Ron Jackson Suresha, Pete Chvany – 2013</ref><ref>Social Work Practice with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People, Gerald P. Mallon—2017</ref>

====Claims of bisexuals adapting to heteronormativity====
Some forms of prejudice against bisexuals are claims that bisexuality is an attempt in persecuted homosexuals to adapt to heteronormative societies by adopting a bisexual identity. Such claims are criticized by bisexuals and researchers studying the situation of bisexuals for falsely assuming that same-sex relationships would somehow escape persecution in heteronormative cultures by simply identifying as bisexual instead of homosexual. These researchers cite that all countries with laws against sex between people of the same sex give the same punishment regardless of what sexual orientation the people found guilty identify as, that any countries where same-sex marriage is illegal never allow marriages between people of the same sex no matter if they identify as bisexual instead of homosexual, and that laws against "gay" male blood donors invariably prohibit any man who had sex with other men from donating blood no matter if he identifies as homosexual or as bisexual. The conclusion made by these researchers is that since there is no societal benefit in identifying as bisexual instead of identifying as homosexual, the claim that bisexuals are homosexuals trying to adapt to a heteronormative society is simply false and biphobic and causes bisexuals to suffer a two-way discrimination from both LGBTQ society and heteronormative society that is worse than the one-way discrimination from heteronormative society that is faced by homosexuals. It is also argued that such two-way discrimination causes many bisexuals to hide their bisexuality to an even greater extent than homosexuals hide their sexuality, leading to underestimations of the prevalence of bisexuality especially in men for whom such assumptions of "really being completely gay" are the most rampant.<ref>Fritz Klein, Karen Yescavage, Jonathan Alexander (2012) "Bisexuality and Transgenderism: InterSEXions of the Others"</ref><ref>Abbie E. Goldberg (2016) "The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies"</ref>

In the book ''Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution'',<ref name="Eisner">{{cite book |last1=Eisner |first1=Shiri |title=Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution |date=2013 |publisher=Seal Press |isbn=978-1580054751 |pages=345 |edition=English |url=https://b-ok.cc/book/2478792/7463e6?dsource=recommend |access-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-date=April 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415224604/https://b-ok.cc/book/2478792/7463e6?dsource=recommend |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Shiri Eisner]] (2013) mentions Miguel Obradors-Campos' argument that bisexual individuals endure stigma by heterosexuals as well as gay and lesbian individuals. Eisner (2013) also writes, "some forms of biphobic stigma frequently observed in gay and lesbian communities: that bisexuals are privileged, that bisexuals will ultimately choose heterosexual relationships and lifestyles, that bisexual women are reinforcing patriarchy, that bisexuality is not a political identity, that bisexual women carry HIV to lesbian communities, and so on."<ref name="Eisner"/>

=== Negative stereotypes ===
Many stereotypes about people who identify as bisexual stem from denial or bisexual erasure. Because their orientation is not recognized as valid, they are stereotyped as confused, indecisive, insecure, experimenting, or "just going through a phase".<ref>[http://www.bisexualindex.org.uk/index.php/Main/ItsJustAPhase "It's Just A Phase" Is Just A Phrase] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118203829/http://www.bisexualindex.org.uk/index.php/Main/ItsJustAPhase |date=2018-11-18 }}, The Bisexual Index</ref>

The association of bisexuality with promiscuity stems from a variety of negative stereotypes targeting bisexuals as mentally or socially unstable people for whom sexual relations only with men, only with women, or only with one person at a time is not enough. These stereotypes may result from cultural assumptions that "men and women are so different that desire for one is an entirely different beast from desire for the other" ("a defining feature of [[heterosexism]]"), and that "verbalizing a sexual desire inevitably leads to attempts to satisfy that desire."<ref>[http://www.pepperminty.com/writing/bis-and-slut-myth.pdf "Bisexuals and the Slut Myth"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510125627/http://www.pepperminty.com/writing/bis-and-slut-myth.pdf |date=2023-05-10 }}, presented at the 9th [[International Conference on Bisexuality]]</ref>

As a result, bisexuals may bear a [[Stigma (sociological theory)|social stigma]] from accusations of cheating on or betraying their partners, leading a [[double life]], being "on the [[Down-low (sexual slang)|down-low]]", and spreading [[sexually transmitted disease]]s such as [[HIV]]/[[AIDS]]. This presumed behavior is further generalized as dishonesty, secrecy, and deception. Bisexuals can be characterized as being "slutty", "easy", indiscriminate, and [[Hypersexuality|nymphomaniacs]]. Furthermore, they are strongly associated with [[polyamory]], [[Swinging (sexual practice)|swinging]], and [[polygamy]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=GLAAD: Cultural Interest Media |url=http://www.glaad.org/programs/cim/birepresentations.php |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060419203924/http://www.glaad.org/programs/cim/birepresentations.php |archivedate=April 19, 2006 |website=[[GLAAD]]}}</ref> the last being an established heterosexual tradition sanctioned by some religions and legal in several countries. This is despite the fact that bisexual people are as capable of monogamy or [[serial monogamy]] as homosexuals or heterosexuals.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vrangalova |first=Zhana |date=September 27, 2014 |title=Are Bisexuals Really Less Monogamous Than Everyone Else? |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/strictly-casual/201409/are-bisexuals-really-less-monogamous-everyone-else |access-date=February 12, 2017 |website=[[Psychology Today]] |language=en |archive-date=February 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214075543/https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/strictly-casual/201409/are-bisexuals-really-less-monogamous-everyone-else |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Tensions with pansexuals ====
{{See also|Pansexuality#Tensions with bisexuals}}
Bisexuals frequently struggle with myths and misconceptions about the definition of bisexuality, such as the idea that bisexuality conforms to the gender binary (thereby excluding attraction to nonbinary individuals), or excludes attraction to trans people in general. This sometimes creates tension between bisexuals and pansexuals, as pansexuals often see themselves as being more inclusive to a wider array of genders.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dodd |first=S. J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tm4yEAAAQBAJ |title=The Routledge International Handbook of Social Work and Sexualities |date=2021-07-19 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-40861-4 |language=en}}</ref> A 2022 study by the ''[[Journal of Bisexuality]]'' suggested that the majority of women who identify as pansexual or queer defined bisexuality as limited to attraction to cisgender men and women and critiqued bisexuality as reinforcing the traditional gender binary. However, bisexual women defined bisexuality as attraction to two or more, or  "similar or dissimilar" genders, described bisexuality as inclusive of attractions to all genders, and reported negative psychological outcomes as a result of the debate around bisexual gender inclusivity.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cipriano |first1=Allison E. |last2=Nguyen |first2=Daniel |last3=Holland |first3=Kathryn J. |date=2022-10-02 |title="Bisexuality Isn't Exclusionary": A Qualitative Examination of Bisexual Definitions and Gender Inclusivity Concerns among Plurisexual Women |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15299716.2022.2060892 |journal=Journal of Bisexuality |language=en |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=557–579 |doi=10.1080/15299716.2022.2060892 |issn=1529-9716|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

A 2017 study published in the ''[[Journal of Bisexuality]]'' found that when bisexuals and pansexuals described gender and defined bisexuality, "there were no differences in how pansexual and bisexual people ... discussed sex or gender", and that the findings "do not support the stereotype that bisexual people endorse a binary view of gender while pansexual people do not."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Flanders |first=Corey E. |date=January–March 2017 |title=Defining Bisexuality: Young Bisexual and Pansexual People's Voices |journal=Journal of Bisexuality |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=39–57 |doi=10.1080/15299716.2016.1227016 |s2cid=151944900}}</ref>

Definitions of bisexuality are historically transcendent of sex and gender, with authors such as Janet Bode, who published ''View From Another Closet: Exploring Bisexuality in Women'' in 1976, noting, "Being bisexual does not mean they have sexual relations with both sexes but that they are capable of meaningful and intimate involvement with a person regardless of gender."<ref>{{cite book |last=Bode |first=Janet |date=1976 |title=View From Another Closet: Exploring Bisexuality in Women |url=https://archive.org/details/viewfromanotherc0000bode/ |publisher=Hawthorn Books |page=176 |isbn=9780801583131}}</ref> 

This sentiment was echoed throughout the early bisexual community and touched on by bisexual activist [[Lani Ka'ahumanu]], who wrote in the 1987 article ''The Bisexual Community: Are We Visible Yet?'', "I am bisexual because I am drawn to particular people regardless of gender. It
doesn’t make me wishy-washy, confused, untrustworthy, or more sexually liberated. It makes
me a bisexual."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ka{{okina}}ahumanu |first=Lani |date=1987 |title=The Bisexual Community: Are We Visible Yet? |url=https://www.lanikaahumanu.com/OUT%20OUTRAGED.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719162134/https://www.lanikaahumanu.com/OUT%20OUTRAGED.pdf |archive-date=July 19, 2022}}</ref> 

Opposition to the pansexual label as distinct or separate from bisexuality, in particular due to ahistorical and biphobic implications, is also touched upon by Ka'ahumanu in the 25th anniversary edition of ''Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ka{{okina}}ahumanu |first1=Lani |last2=Hutchins |first2=Loraine |date=2015 |title=Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qt2WCgAAQBAJ |publisher=Riverdale Avenue Books LLC |page=13-15 |isbn=978-1626011984}}</ref>
== Effects ==
The mental and sexual health effects of biphobia on bisexual people are numerous. One study showed that bisexuals are often trapped in between the binaries of heterosexuality and homosexuality, creating a form of invalidation around their sexual identity. This often leads to recognized indicators of mental health issues such as low self-esteem and self-worth. These indicators and pressures to "choose" a [[sexual identity]] can, in many cases, lead to [[depression (mood)|depression]] as they may feel they live in a culture that does not recognize their existence.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Individual and Social Factors Related to Mental Health Concerns among Bisexual Men in the Midwestern United States|journal = Journal of Bisexuality|date = 2012-01-01|issn = 1529-9716|pmc = 3383005|pmid = 22745591|pages = 223–245|volume = 12|issue = 2|first1 = Brian|last1 = Dodge|first2 = Phillip W.|last2 = Schnarrs|first3 = Michael|last3 = Reece|first4 = Omar|last4 = Martinez|first5 = Gabriel|last5 = Goncalves|first6 = David|last6 = Malebranche|first7 = Barbara|last7 = Van Der Pol|first8 = Ryan|last8 = Nix|first9 = J. Dennis|last9 = Fortenberry|doi=10.1080/15299716.2012.674862}}</ref>

While doing research on women at high risk of HIV infection, one study, from the ''Journal of Bisexuality,'' concluded that bisexual women in the high-risk cohort studied were more likely to engage in various high-risk behaviors and were at a higher risk of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Sexual and drug-use risk factors for HIV and STDs: a comparison of women with and without bisexual experiences.|journal = American Journal of Public Health|pages = 1841–1846|volume = 89|issue = 12|doi = 10.2105/ajph.89.12.1841|pmid = 10589313|first1 = V|last1 = Gonzales|first2 = K M|last2 = Washienko|first3 = M R|last3 = Krone|first4 = L I|last4 = Chapman|first5 = E M|last5 = Arredondo|first6 = H J|last6 = Huckeba|first7 = A|last7 = Downer|pmc = 1509027|year = 1999}}</ref> These behaviors have been attributed to the unlikeliness of bisexuals discussing their sexuality and proper protection with health professionals for fear of judgement or discrimination, causing them to become undereducated on the issue(s).<ref>{{Cite journal|url = http://www.lgbthealtheducation.org/wp-content/uploads/12-054_LGBTHealtharticle_v3_07-09-12.pdf|title = Improving the Health Care of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People: Understanding and Eliminating Health Disparities|last1 = Makadon MD|first1 = Harvey J|date = 2012-07-09|journal = Fenway Institute|last2 = Ard MD, MPH|first2 = Kevin L|publisher = U.S. Department of Health and Human Services|access-date = 2015-10-09|archive-date = 2018-08-20|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180820115858/http://www.lgbthealtheducation.org/wp-content/uploads/12-054_LGBTHealtharticle_v3_07-09-12.pdf|url-status = dead}}</ref>
In the book, ''Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution'',<ref name="Eisner"/> [[Shiri Eisner]] (2013) discusses the suicidality statistics amongst bisexual identifying individuals as compared to heterosexuals, gays, and lesbians. Eisner (2013) referred to a Canadian study that found bisexual women had higher rates of suicidality as compared to heterosexual and lesbian women; the study also found that bisexual men also had increased rates of suicidality as compared to heterosexual and gay men.<ref name="Eisner"/>

Bisexual-identified people may face disparities in harsher degrees than their gay and lesbian peers. In the U.S. in particular, for example, they may face:

* Lower success rates for refugee applications; may also be the case [[LGBT refugees and asylum seekers in Canada#Applying as a bisexual refugee or asylum seeker|in Canada]] and Australia<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rehaag |first1=Sean |s2cid=55379531 |title=Bisexuals need not apply: a comparative appraisal of refugee law and policy in Canada, the United States, and Australia |journal=The International Journal of Human Rights |date=2009 |volume=13 |issue=2–3 |pages=415–436 |doi=10.1080/13642980902758226|hdl=10315/8022 |url=https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2209&context=scholarly_works |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
* Higher levels of [[Domestic violence in same-sex relationships#Bisexual|intimate partner violence]]<ref>Mikel L. Walters, Jieru Chen, and Matthew J. Breiding, "[https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_sofindings.pdf The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2010 Findings on Victimization by Sexual Orientation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131116171750/http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_sofindings.pdf |date=2013-11-16 }}" (Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, January 2013).</ref>
* Higher likelihood of youth risk behavior amongst high school students<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kann |first1=Laura |last2=Olsen |first2=Emily O'Malley |last3=McManus |first3=Tim |last4=Harris |first4=William A. |last5=Shanklin |first5=Shari L. |last6=Flint |first6=Katherine H. |last7=Queen |first7=Barbara |last8=Lowry |first8=Richard |last9=Chyen |first9=David |last10=Whittle |first10=Lisa |last11=Thornton |first11=Jemekia |last12=Lim |first12=Connie |last13=Yamakawa |first13=Yoshimi |last14=Brener |first14=Nancy |last15=Zaza |first15=Stephanie |title=Sexual Identity, Sex of Sexual Contacts, and Health-Related Behaviors Among Students in Grades 9–12 — United States and Selected Sites, 2015 |journal=MMWR. Surveillance Summaries |date=2016 |volume=65 |issue=9 |pages=1–202 |doi=10.15585/mmwr.ss6509a1|pmid=27513843 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
* Higher likelihood of anxiety and mood disorders amongst bisexual women and men who report having sex with both sexes<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bostwick |first1=Wendy B. |last2=Boyd |first2=Carol J. |last3=Hughes |first3=Tonda L. |last4=McCabe |first4=Sean Esteban |title=Dimensions of Sexual Orientation and the Prevalence of Mood and Anxiety Disorders in the United States |journal=American Journal of Public Health |date=2010 |volume=100 |issue=3 |pages=468–475 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.2008.152942|pmid=19696380 |pmc=2820045}}</ref>
* Higher likelihood of living on less than $30,000 a year<ref name=":0">"[http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2013/06/SDT_LGBT-Americans_06-2013.pdf A Survey of LGBT Americans: The LGBT Population and Its Sub-Groups] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926204948/http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2013/06/SDT_LGBT-Americans_06-2013.pdf |date=2018-09-26 }}" (Pew Research Center, June 13, 2013).</ref>
* Lower levels of reporting feeling "very accepted" in the workplace<ref name=":0" />
* Lower likelihood of being out to the important people in their lives<ref name=":0" />
* "Bisexuals report higher rates of hypertension, poor or fair physical health, smoking, and risky drinking than heterosexuals or lesbians/gays"<ref name="Eisner"/>
* "Bisexual women in relationships with monosexual partners have an increased rate of domestic violence compared to women in other demographic categories"<ref name="Eisner"/>
* "Many, if not most, bisexual people do not come out to their healthcare providers. This means they are getting incomplete information (for example, about safer sex practices)"<ref name="Eisner"/>
* "Bisexual women were more likely to be current smokers and acute drinkers"<ref name="Eisner"/>
* Higher risk of self harm, and suicidal ideation or attempts<ref name="cancer-center-bi-health-risks">{{cite web |url=https://cancer-network.org/cancer-information/bisexuals-and-cancer/bisexuals-and-health-risks/ |website=[[National LGBT Cancer Network]] |title=Bisexuals and Health Risks |date=11 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205214120/https://cancer-network.org/cancer-information/bisexuals-and-cancer/bisexuals-and-health-risks/ |archive-date=5 December 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* Feeling shame or discomfort with their sexual orientation or not feeling ready to be "out" to loved ones

== Intersectional perspectives ==

=== Intersections with feminism ===
Feminist positions on bisexuality range greatly, from acceptance of bisexuality as a feminist issue to rejection of bisexuality as a reactionary and anti-feminist [[Backlash (sociology)|backlash]] to [[lesbian feminism]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilkinson |first1=Sue |editor1-first=Lynne |editor1-last=Harne |others=Elaine Miller |title=All the Rage: Reasserting Radical Lesbian Feminism |year= 1996|publisher= [[Teachers College, Columbia University|Teacher's College Press]]|location= New York City|isbn= 978-0-807-76285-1 |oclc= 35202923|pages=75–89 |chapter=Bisexuality as Backlash }}<!--|access-date=October 4, 2012 --></ref>

A bisexual woman filed a lawsuit against the lesbian feminist magazine ''[[Common Lives/Lesbian Lives]]'', alleging discrimination against bisexuals when her submission was not published.<ref name="sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu">{{Cite web|url=http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/iwa/findingaids/html/CommonlIves.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150821003341/http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/iwa/findingaids/html/CommonlIves.html|url-status=dead|title=Common Lives/Lesbian Lives Records, Iowa Women's Archives, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa|archivedate=August 21, 2015}}</ref>

A widely studied example of lesbian-bisexual conflict within feminism was the Northampton Pride March during the years between 1989 and 1993, where many feminists involved debated over whether bisexuals should be included and whether or not bisexuality was compatible with feminism. Common lesbian-feminist critiques leveled at bisexuality were that bisexuality was [[Antifeminism|anti-feminist]], that bisexuality was a form of [[false consciousness]], and that bisexual women who pursue relationships with men were "deluded and desperate". However, tensions between bisexual feminists and lesbian feminists have eased since the 1990s, as bisexual women have become more accepted within the feminist community.<ref>{{cite book |title= Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer Culture|last= Gerstner|first= David A.|year= 2006|publisher= [[Routledge]]|location= United Kingdom|isbn= 978-0-415-30651-5|pages= 82–3|access-date=October 3, 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XS_SnVPixE8C&pg=PA82}}</ref>

Nevertheless, some lesbian feminists such as [[Julie Bindel]] are still critical of bisexuality. Bindel has described female bisexuality as a "fashionable trend" being promoted due to "sexual hedonism" and broached the question of whether bisexuality even exists.<ref name="Bindel">{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julie-bindel/where-is-the-politics-in-_b_1589435.html |title=Where's the Politics in Sex? |work=[[The Huffington Post]] |access-date=2012-10-03 |first=Julie |last=Bindel |date=June 12, 2012 |archive-date=2018-11-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118213306/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/julie-bindel/where-is-the-politics-in-_b_1589435.html |url-status=live }}</ref> She has also made [[tongue-in-cheek]] comparisons of bisexuals to [[Animal fancy|cat fanciers]] and [[Satanism|devil worshippers]].<ref name="guardian.co.uk">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/nov/08/lesbianism |title=It's not me. It's you |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=2012-10-03 |location=London |first=Julie |last=Bindel |date=November 8, 2008 |archive-date=2021-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213155452/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/nov/08/lesbianism |url-status=live }}</ref>

Lesbian feminist [[Sheila Jeffreys]] writes in ''The Lesbian Heresy'' (1993) that while many feminists are comfortable working alongside gay men, they are uncomfortable interacting with bisexual men. Jeffreys states that while gay men are unlikely to [[Sexual harassment|sexually harass]] women, bisexual men are just as likely to be bothersome to women as heterosexual men.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Lesbian Heresy|last= Jeffreys|first= Sheila|year= 1993|publisher= Spinifex Press Pty Ltf|location= [[Melbourne]], [[Australia]] |isbn= 978-1-875559-17-6|page= 124|access-date=October 4, 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0FFWxDu9gn0C&pg=PA124}}</ref>

[[Donna Haraway]] was the inspiration and genesis for [[cyberfeminism]] with her 1985 essay "A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century" which was reprinted in ''Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature'' (1991). Haraway's essay states that the cyborg "has no truck with bisexuality, pre-oedipal symbiosis, unalienated labor, or other seductions to organic wholeness through a final appropriation of all powers of the parts into a higher unity."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.egs.edu/faculty/donna-haraway/articles/donna-haraway-a-cyborg-manifesto/ |title=Donna Haraway – A Cyborg Manifesto |publisher=Egs.edu |access-date=2015-09-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922114218/http://www.egs.edu/faculty/donna-haraway/articles/donna-haraway-a-cyborg-manifesto/ |archive-date=2013-09-22 }}</ref>

=== Intersections with gender ===
==== Men ====
Studies indicate that preferences against dating bisexual men are stronger than against bisexual women, even amongst bisexual women.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ess |first1=Mackenzie |last2=Burke |first2=Sara E. |last3=LaFrance |first3=Marianne |date=2023-07-03 |title=Gendered Anti-Bisexual Bias: Heterosexual, Bisexual, and Gay/Lesbian People's Willingness to Date Sexual Orientation Ingroup and Outgroup Members |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |volume=70 |issue=8 |pages=1461–1478 |doi=10.1080/00918369.2022.2030618 |issn=1540-3602 |pmid=35112988}}</ref>

=== Intersections with race ===
While the general bisexual population as a whole faces biphobia, this oppression is also aggravated by other factors such as race. In a study conducted by Grady L. Garner Jr. titled ''Managing Heterosexism and Biphobia: A Revealing Black Bisexual Male Perspective'', the author interviews 14 self-identified black bisexual men to examine how they cope with heterosexism and biphobia in order to formulate coping strategies. Data from the interviews revealed that 33% of the participants reported heterosexism and biphobia experiences, while 67% did not. He explains that the internalization of negative sociocultural messages, reactions, and attitudes can be incredibly distressing as bisexual black males attempted to translate or transform these negative experiences into positive bisexual identity sustaining ones.<ref name="books.google.com">{{Cite book|title = Managing Heterosexism and Biphobia: A Revealing Black Bisexual Male Perspective|url = https://www.bookdepository.com/Managing-Heterosexism-Biphobia-Revealing-Black-Bisexual-Male-Perspective-Grady-L-Jr-Garner/9781243513434|date = 2011-09-02|isbn = 9781243513434|first = Grady L.|last = Garner | publisher=BiblioBazaar }}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|LGBTQ}}
* {{Annotated link|Gold star gay}}
* [[International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia]]
* {{Section link|List of phobias|Cultural prejudices and discrimination}}
* [[Victimization of bisexual women]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* [[Marjorie Garber|Garber, Marjorie]] (1995). ''Bisexuality and the Eroticism of Everyday Life'', pp.&nbsp;20–21, 28, 39.
* Fraser, M., ''Identity Without Selfhood: Simone de Beauvoir and Bisexuality'', Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press 1999. p.&nbsp;124–140.
* {{cite web|last1=Rankin|first1=Sam|last2=Morton|first2=James|last3=Bell|first3=Matthew|title=Complicated? Bisexual people's experiences of and ideas for improving services|url=http://www.equality-network.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Complicated-Bisexual-Report.pdf|website=[[Equality Network]]|date=May 2015}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110204071248/http://www.xtra.ca/public/viewstory.aspx?AFF_TYPE=3&STORY_ID=1901&PUB_TEMPLATE_ID=2 The fencesitters? Suspicions still haunt the bi/homo divide] – article in Xtra, Gay & Lesbian news site, 2006

== External links ==
* [http://www.bialogue.org/Pages/InfoPackets/MentalHealth.html Bialogue/GLAAD Bisexuality Packet for Mental Health Professionals]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080905175619/http://marksimpson.com/pages/journalism/curiouser.html Curiouser and curiouser] by [[Mark Simpson (journalist)|Mark Simpson]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100701174350/http://out.ucr.edu/pdf/BiBasics.pdf Bisexuality Basics, UC Riverside LGBT Resource Center, Riverside, CA]

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