bisexual community

The notion of the bisexual community is complex and slightly controversial.

Bisexuals are in the peculiar situation of receiving hatred, distrust, or denial, called biphobia from elements of both the heterosexual and homosexual populations. There is of course some element of general anti-LGBT feeling, but some people insist that bisexual people are unsure of their true feelings, that they are experimenting or going through a "phase", and that they eventually will or should "decide" or "discover" which (singular) gender they are sexually attracted to.

Defining the community

There are certainly sexual minority cultures which are shared by a substantial fraction of the given minority population. But there are also people in the population who do not share in the culture.

The social networks of some bisexual people, sometimes called gay or lesbian identified bisexuals, is heavily concentrated inside the LGBT communities. But others sometimes called straight identified bisexuals, may rarely participate in LGBT culture. And still others choose to maintain their primary social contacts mainly with other bisexual people.

But other people are entirely geographically or socially isolated from other bisexual people, or don't feel their social connections to their bisexual friends are different from those they have with their heterosexual and homosexual friends.

Thus it is possible to conceive of a worldwide or a local bisexual culture or social network, but which does not necessarily include all bisexual people in the area. There is also a potential distinction to be made between one's social network and one's sexual network (or universe of possible sexual partners).

Some question the idea notion of sharing a "community" with people one has never actually met (whether in person or remotely). But other advocates insist that all bisexual people (and perhaps their allies), are part of a global community, in one way or another.

This common culture generally celebrates pride, diversity, individuality and sexuality. Many participants find it a refreshing antidote to hatred, discrimination, biphobia, sex-negative attitudes and conformist pressures they sometimes encounter in the other societies in which bisexual people live and interact.

Political activism is also common, especially on bisexual, LGBT, liberal and libertarian issues (but there are, of course, bisexual people of every political stripe, including Log Cabin Republicans).

Heterosexual and homosexual people can often be included in the bisexual community, and are typically termed as bi-friendly or bi-inclusive as they often support political rights and social dignity for bisexual people.

References

• Bi Any Other Name : Bisexual People Speak Out by Loraine Hutchins, Editor & Lani Ka'ahumanu, Editor ISBN 1-55583-174-5
• Getting Bi : Voices of Bisexuals Around the World by Robyn Ochs, Editor & Sarah Rowley, Editor ISBN 0-9653881-4-X
• The Bisexual Option by Fritz Klein, MD ISBN 1-56023-033-9
• Bi America : Myths, Truths, And Struggles Of An Invisible Community by William E. Burleson ISBN-13: 978-1-56023-478-4
• Bisexuality in the United States : A Social Science Reader by Paula C. Rodriguez Rust, Editor ISBN 0-231-10226-7
• Bisexuality : The Psychology and Politics of an Invisible Minority by Beth A. Firestein, Editor ISBN 0-8039-7274-1
• Current Research on Bisexuality by Ronald C. Fox PhD, Editor ISBN-13: 978-1-56023-288-5

See also

• Sexuality and gender identity-based cultures
• LGBT history
• Bisexual erasure

External links

• BiNet USA
• Bisexual Resource Center (BRC)
• New York Area Bisexual Network (NYABN)
• Bialogue = Bisexual + Dialogue
• Bi Writers Association
• Bisexual Philippines Bisexual community in the Philippines
• Bi Community News Magazine of the Bisexual Community in the UK

This article is based on a GNU FDL LGBT Wikia article: community Bisexual community

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