What Is Bi-Erasure?

Since there was no one in my community I could turn to about my new found identity, I turned to the internet. I was expecting a support system, but was faced with nothing but hostility from all sides. A large portion of the LGBTQ community deems bisexuality as an illegitimate identity, like an excuse to still partially belong to the straight community. The straight community uses it as an excuse to hypersexualize bi-women and ridicule bi-men. As a 15 year old, I had seen or heard nothing about bisexuality accepting it, only pages upon pages of hate comments. I was embarrassed. I didn’t want people to think of me as a slut, or just a confused teenage girl, so I didn’t say

Bisexual. Gay. Lesbian. These are all words that in today’s society are becoming more and more common to hear. Although just a few years ago hearing these words might have shocked some and angered many, they are becoming a part of today’s norm. People are broadening their views on sexuality and the possibilities open to them. Being bisexual, gay, or lesbian is slowly becoming accepted. On television a few years ago, a comedic sitcom Ellen attempted to make gays even more accepted by casting the main character as a gay woman. Sadly, Ellen failed because viewers weren’t ready for gays to be seen in a comfortable TV setting. The idea was too new and the show was before

Connor Manning addresses some of the more common stereotypes bisexuals experience such as people not accepting your sexuality unless you have had sexual experiences with multiple genders, that bisexuals are more likely to cheat on a partner, bisexuals are greedy, that sexuality is black and white between homosexuality and heterosexuality (Manning). Within media representation of bisexuals is scarce. When there are bisexuals in media, writers often either rely heavily on stereotypes instead of developing an interesting and complex character, like Alice in The L Word (Schrag and Dabis), or they use bisexuality as a plot point and gloss over it for the rest of the show, like Reagan in New Girl (Meriwether). If bisexuals were portrayed more

Bisexuality is often is disregarded by America 's monosexual society. There is an underlying layer of bierasure that has been happening for decades, and no one, but those affected, notices because that is the point. Bierasure is the removal of bisexual representation throughout all platforms. When information and awareness is removed, misrepresentation beings to arise. For bisexuality, the myths made up about it are endless and only add to the generally biphobic nation that is America. Biphobia is the hate or discrimination against bisexuals or bisexuality in general. Much like homophobia, hate and

This idea has trickled through the LGBTQ community through the years and as Carrie Wofford explains in Outweek magazine in 1991, it seems that for some members of the LGBTQ community, bisexuality does not exist and, “they say people [who call themselves bisexual] are just afraid to come out [as gay]” (33). Biphobia is real within the community even today. As seen in multiple recent studies towards bisexual discrimination, it seems that although heterosexuals are more likely to express their biphobia, “[the] discrimination from the lesbian and gay community, was statistically significantly higher,” than it was expected to be (Allen). However, that is not to say that all people have these feelings. Support for the LGBTQ community within the entertainment industry has been progressing slowly over time .

Consider the frustrations of bisexual and/or transgender individuals when the LGBTQ community’s experiences are defined largely by the experiences of gay and lesbian individuals (LGBT Advisory Committee, 2011). Self-identified bisexuals make up the largest single population within the LGBTQ community in the U.S. (Egan, Edelman, & Sherrill, 2008; Herbenick et al., 2010; Mosher, Chandra, & Jones, 2005). However, both research on the LGBTQ community and funding for LGBTQ organizations tend to focus exclusively on gay and lesbian individuals, rendering bisexual individuals invisible and sidelining or eclipsing their particular needs (Miller, André, Ebin, & Bessonova, 2007). This invisibility has serious consequences for bisexual individuals’ sense of belonging within the LGBTQ community (LGBT Advisory Committee,

Did you know that more transgender people are killed due to hate crimes ever year than all the other major targets combined including blacks, Jews, Hispanics, lesbians, and gay men? Or did you know that gay teens are 8.4 times more likely to report having attempted suicide and 5.9 times more likely to report high levels of depression compared with peers from families that reported no or low levels of family rejection? What does that tell us about our society? Personally I believe that we in society are afraid of change and things that we cannot control or understand. When things are different we tent to judge and try not to fully understand. The biggest controversy in our society today is sexual orientation of individuals, which can mean

Heterosexism still continues today, for example, there has been several extremist who take this ides too far. They have been cases of murder, generated by this hatred. In addition, some schools have placed policies on gay or lesbian couples who hold hands or kiss in public; while different sex couples do not that have this

Nowadays, one does not tend to get suprised when they see a lesbian or gay couples walking down the street holding hands. In fact, I personally have seen so many couples of various genders combonations out in public together. Some may not be fond of this trend, so they tend to genderize individuals and it makes me think. Why do people judge other based off of their appearance? Are they not aware of gender binary? What influenced their judgement? All of these questions lead up to the idea of the issue of genderizing in the United States. There are many judged couples, and also some individuals. Although many may unintentionally only see two genders, they need to be aware of what gender binary really is. There is clearly more than meets the

The stigma that those in the community are viewed as “child molesters” and inherently predatory only manages to perpetuate negative stereotypes. Instead of attempting to classify and treat homosexuality as a mental disorder, what should be focused on is the effect such a stigmatization could have on the patient. In fact, LGBT+ youth are at a much higher risk of suicide, depression, and anxiety. According to a study entitled: Sex of Sexual Contacts, and Health-Risk Behaviors Among Students in Grades 9-12: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, 80% more of those who experience same sex attraction and 100% more of bisexual people have attempted suicide when compared to heterosexuals. This ostracization is often looked over and instead placed on the individual's sexuality as means for causation, when in it is in fact the source. Because of this, those who are subjected to this “fundamental view that homosexuality and bisexuality indicate or are automatically associated with mental disturbance or dysfunction,” they are lead to internalize as much (Association,

Growing up in a heterosexual world as a Lesbian who remained in many closets, has shape my identity and the way I will transact with people for the rest of my life. Upon coming out of closet, or being pushed out (by suspension from parents and friends) at the age of eighteen or nineteen I quickly assumed the bi-sexual title because it meant at least there was hope for me in the future. This proved to be worse for my self-esteem, and may have caused the most damage because even though I was free to come out, I was still afraid (somewhat) of taking the big leap and being totally ostracized by my friends and people I know. So I felt one million times worst trying to be bi-sexual than I ever did

In the case of bisexuality, our cultures dictate whether or not we will accept it freely or with a little opposition. This is most evident in the movie Brokeback Mountain which stirred the

That’s something I’ve watched straight people struggle with understanding. A large part of the issue lies with children. Children learn what they see, and if they’re constantly shown nothing but straight couples in the media, that’s what they’ll internalise as “normal.” This is incredibly detrimental as they grow up, as it may result in them suppressing their feelings or writing them off as weird. It can create a feeling of isolation for those who don’t fit the heteronormative narrative that’s presented so often.

Some says that a person who has intimate relationships with both men and women doesn’t consider herself bisexual or of any sexual orientation for that matter. I think that today, we are seeing more people displaying an attraction to another individual based mostly on what their personality has to offer, rather then their ‘plumbing’. I find this an interesting concept and I think I do believe that what it boils down to is the love you have for the person despite their anatomy, though I have yet to experience feelings like this myself.One of the main problems that bisexual people face is the idea that bisexuality is not a “real” sexual orientation. This belief is held by not only the heterosexual community but by the homosexual community as well. Many people think of bisexuality as a transition into becoming gay or as a denial of oneself being gay. This belief is damaging not only because it refuses to acknowledge that bisexuality exists, but it also restricts a person’s love and affection to only one gender (either same-sex or opposite) and it refuses to take into consideration that someone could be attracted to or love people of

In the 90's, bisexuals have popped up all over the place, from David Bowie to Angelina Jolie and Ani DiFranco.  I think that the gay and lesbian community is among the least tolerant of bisexuality, many homosexuals have gone through a serious identity struggle and they can't accept this "halfway" homosexuality.  Are we the queer of the queer?  Bisexuals aren't people who can't make up their mind in the same way that people who like both blondes and brunettes aren't called indecisive.  Sexual orientation used to be a black and white thing, you were either gay or you were straight.  During the 40's, Kinsey came up with a sliding scale of sexuality.  Suddenly, you could be somewhere in between, like a percentage.  If that wasn't enough, in the 70's Klien made things even more complicated with a multi-dimensional grid.  Now your sexuality ends up looking like the Nasdaq graph on a bad day!  But even up until the late 70's, there wasn't a single book written on bisexuality.  It's come a long way in the last 20 years.