#and the doctor is NOT monosexual

[swiftiesbuddie]

This gotta be one of my favorite genre of characters…

EDIT: added 15

[thelesbianthespianposts]

master sexuality headcanons

[hedonistbyheart]

the wild blue yonder thing:

The doctor is queer, not gay - they've always been queer. The DIFFERENCE - the "is that who I am now?" bit - like the "is that the kind of thing i say now?" with saying he loves Donna, is that he expresses attraction to men honestly and can actually say it, unlike all of the other faces.

[pro-gamer-berdly]

Hey just thought it would be fun to share my Deltarune headcanons here!

(I hc they have a preference for men, by the way)

[Image ID: Kris from Deltarune in their dark world doctor uniform over top of a non binary and monosexual flag, above is text that says "non verbal" and beside it "AUTISM !!" End image ID]

[Image ID: Susie from Deltarune in her dark world outfit looking surprised over top of the sunset lesbian flag. In impact font the top text says "adhd" and the bottom text says "lesbian". End image ID]

I think that Ralsei would type things like XD :3 and :D in texting

[image ID: Ralsei from Deltarune in chapter 2 smoking a fat blunt over top of the achillean, demiboy and ace spec flag with a text bubble that says "XD" beside him. End image ID]

Trans Noelle 🦅🇺🇲🦅💥🦅🗣️🗣️🇺🇲🦅

[Image ID: Noelle from Deltarune in her dark world outfit blushing overtop of the sapphic, demigirl and trans flag. End image ID]

[Image ID: Berdly from Deltarune in his light world outfit holding a book and pointing his finger in the air like a nerd in front of the non-rainbow gay flag with flaming text above that says "AUTISM". End image ID]

Also there were more tiny headcanons I wanted to share about characters who aren't the main few. (Mainly shipping)

Sorry I have to spell Roulx's name wrong in the image ID so it can be read properly oops

Anyways T4T QUEENKAARD!!!!!

[Image ID: Rules Card and Queen from Deltarune over top of the trans flag. There is an iPhone heart emoji above them. Next to Queen there is text that says "hides affection under jokes" with an arrow pointing at her. Next to Rules, there is Swatch from Deltarune saying "Why does Queen call you baby girl" and Rules responding with "Leth us stopeth talking, nowth". End image ID]

[Image ID: Jevil from Deltarune over top of a non-rainbow gay flag and Spamton from Deltarune over top of a bisexual flag, they have a heart between them. Next to Spamton is a thought bubble that says "I am going to kill him" and next to Jevil there is a thought bubble with a cat sticking out it's tongue wearing a jester's hat. End image ID]

My first time writing image IDs by the way please let me know if I need to change anything about my descriptions :)

Also tell me your headcanons in notes pleassse

[caeliangel]

WELCOME TO CAELIAN'S PAGE,

“I prefer that the patient also forgets the doctor, unless they relapse.”

screen reader ver coming !

‼️HELP PALESTINE‼️

RQS: CLOSED

"Anyone is free to kill himself, as long as I’m not around to see it.” (😭)

ask game

🥩 : one of my labels

🧠 : singer / band I like

🫀: song I like

🕸 : media I like

🦴 : book I like

Numbers = song in my likeds (1 to 224)

about, byf && dni under the cut!

| lesbian flags | gay flags | mspec flags | aro/ace flags | cluster b flags | butchfemme bi flags |

Pint: flags I made

⸺﹒ABOUT ME !!﹒⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⠀⚘️

🦇⋅ ⋅ ⋅ the winged one﹕ 𓆪

you can call me caelian / célian, or seph. I will always answer to those.

I am a franco-irish white indigenous pagan celt!

⚰️⋅ ⋅ ⋅ about the mind﹕ 𓆪

Nbpdtism + pdid + mixed origins.

🩸⋅ ⋅ ⋅ about the identity﹕ 𓆪

My main pronouns are he, hew, hy, she! I am a futchy boygirlflux bi intersex velaurian! Otherkin stuff includes but is not limited to: angelkin, vampkin, werewolfkin && more.

🕊⋅ ⋅ ⋅ about the interests... ﹕ 𓆪

trigun, nge, ff7, tloz, hello kitty, psychology, writing, poems, reading, literature, hoarding stuff and much more!

⸺﹒WILL & WONT DO﹒⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⠀⚘️

．．．will

hyperspecific terms

icons

gender && term coinning

contradictory labels

names finds

．．．won't

whatever makes me uncomfortable

tranx/id or any radqueer labels

terms for things I do not know well

paraphilic flags or terms

please note I can refuse anything for whatever reasons!

⸺﹒BYF & DNI !!﹒⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⠀⚘️

．．．byf

I am critical of my own interests and believe that things should be consumed critically.

I take everything personally and struggle to read tone!

Anyone can use my flags, just be respectful and credit me.

Dont steal them or change their meanings, thats all im asking. My flags have nothing to do with your queer discourse.

I support "contradictory" labels, this includes but is not limited to: mspec lesbian, mspec gay, lesboys, turigirls, etc.

I believe bisexuals can reclaim the d slur, the f slur, and use the double venus and double mars symbol. I also think butchfemmes are queer labels and not lesbian exclusive.

I am a battle axe bisexual as in, I fight and advocate against biphobia.

I am against separatists aswell and will not tolerate those who took away from bisexuals. Fuck biphobes.

．．．dni

Terfs, radfems, transmeds, truscums, gender skeptics, gender police, etc.

Believe in monosexual privilege, or use terms like "cis passing" "straight passing"

Anti xeno/neos and anti mogai/liom

Think non-binaries can't be gay/lesbians or don't support he/him lesbians or she/her gays

Fakeclaimmers

Against "contradictory labels"

Against otherkin, non-humans, therian, etc!

Under 13, unless I follow first.

If you demonize the cluster b (npd, bpd, hpd, aspd) and this includes if you belive that narcissistic abuse exist.

If you're going to judge me or mock me/my interests.

Anti-ageres.

Any kind of bigot.

Exclus or "Safequeers"

Radqueers

If you're here to argue or be a meanie whatever

⸺﹒TAGS !!﹒⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⠀⚘️

🦇︰︵︵ winged hoard : my hoard!

⚰️︰︵︵ rise the flag : flag making

🩸︰︵︵ gift for the beloveds : any requests

🥩︰︵︵ the food is here : flags I find gorgeous

🗝︰︵︵ memories : icons

💌︰︵︵ letters : inbox/asks/games

just for archival / pinterest purporse

🎀︰︵︵ combo flags

💗︰︵︵ orientations

💋︰︵︵ genders

❤️‍🩹︰︵︵ mad flags

🍬︰︵︵ plural flags

🐈‍⬛︰︵︵ otherkin flags

🦴︰︵︵ pint: caepiric (posted on pint)

🕷︰︵︵ butchfemme

coining event archives...

cael300foevent : tag for the 300 followers event.

cael400foevent : tag for the 400 followers event.

[delgado-master]

People who think all of the Doctors are (monosexual) lesbians annoy me especially when they’re talking about 8 like he’s literally having gay sex with men in the novels and people still headcanon him??? As a monosexual lesbian??? I assume it’s the phenomenon of lesbians being unable to relate to anyone that isn’t a lesbian but. Sigh.

[maxxsio18]

The History Of Asexuality

Asexuality was first sort of mentioned in 1869 by a Hungarian doctor called Karl-Maria Kertbeny where he created and published pamphlets against a sodomy law in Germany against the criticism of different sexual orientations. In these pamphlets he mentioned different sexual orientations which one of them was "monosexual" which in todays time means when someone feels romantic or sexual attraction to only one gender, but in kertbendy's pamphlets his view of the word "monosexual" meant people who only masturbate.

The first definition of asexuality was in Germany in 1897 when a German sexual reformist called Emma Trosse in which she mentioned asexuality as well as same sex attractions in her work trying to get the state to get their rights instead of disagreeing with those people.

A photograph where asexuality was mentioned was during the 1970s San Francisco Gay freedom Day Parade and Festival in the photo (which was taken by Crawford Barton in 1973) it is two people holding a sign which says "Gay, Straight, Bisexual, Asexual: All God's Children Need Love."

Then in 2001 David Jay founded Aven which was a organization for asexuals from everywhere in the world. They wanted to create a safe space for asexuals and for the people who wanted to understand or ask questions about asexuals. This was one of their aims to get the acceptance from non-asexuals and to create a safe place for asexuals.

But this was only a small amount of history I quickly went through, there is so much history on asexuality that I could go through if people wanted to hear about it. So tell me if you would like more history on asexuality!

Have a good day!

This is me signing in and signing out

🖤🩶🤍💜

[drdemonprince]

Can you talk more about the "binary" trans people thing? I hear people (mostly non-binary people) saying it all the time but I also heard you say there's no such a thing as a "binary" trans person

I think the concept of a "binary" trans person being different in any way from a "nonbinary" one is about as useless as saying that both straight and gay people experience "monosexual privilege". It's like, wow, we are really lumping a lot of not directly related experiences and forms of oppression into one big garbage bag of a category here.

there's basically no attribute that you can say defines a binary trans person that thousands of nonbinary trans people don't also exhibit. lots of nonbinary people are on hormones. lots of "binary" trans people are not. lots of nonbinary people identify with a male or female gender. lots of binary identified trans people also identify outside of the binary in one way or another -- like, i'm both 100% a man, and im a genderless robot fairy and a creepy little deer creature thing. so am i binary or nonbinary? depends on the day or the argument im trying to win.

That said, as someone who did used to identify as enby and now identifies as a man, I do see some differences! People are way more comfortable using he/him pronouns for me than they ever were about using they/them. I can find a restroom that is safe for me in public effortlessly. I always can find my gender represented on intake forms. Doctors understand more or less what I am or at least what they think im shooting for, and that close enough. I can filter my dating prospects based on sexual orientation and gender identity in a way that is pretty legible and consistent and communicatable and people will respect it. None of these are advantages I had when I was a nonbinary identified person. But also, I still would not have any of them as a "binary" trans guy if I didn't pass. So like. Is it binary privilege... or is it passing privilege.

[alatabouleau]

(5): But now “Oh, wait for season 2!” has been replaced by “Oh, wait for season 3!” and that is the reason. They know what we want, and they will put it off as long as they can still use this as a carrot on a stick to give them more views. More engagement. And with them, I mostly mean Amazon, because no matter the intention of the production team, this is why Amazon allowed it. And we take it as granted because we want this so bad. Which I totally, completely understand. Hadn’t I watched Doctor Who (2005) season 1 and Torchwood, I’d still be the same as you, I’d be head over heels for finally getting Ineffable Husbands canon and attentively waiting for season 3. But I did. And it made me realise that there’s always a choice. Because a wacky sci-fi-show from 2006 should not feel that revolutionary compared to something that came out 17 YEARS later. But it does. The way it portrays sexual and romantic attraction of any kind as a natural part of human existence without ever so much as batting an eye on it, the protagonist Captain Jack Harkness just being allowed to be male, the opposite of monosexual, polyamorous, vulnerable at times and talking about that one time he was pregnant and it just happens,… it still feels groundbreaking. So, this post is already way too long, so if you’re interested in more substantial theory behind the argument I wanted to invoke, I have here some recommendations for you: Alex Avila talking about what queerbaiting actually means: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vETVtkCqHLM

Rowan Ellis about why queer media often gets sad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nmebaoO0DE

VerilyBitchie about Russel T. Davies’s commentary on Loki’s bi-scene and his work in general: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaSV-IIoyAg&t=2512s

And about why Queer TV is getting worse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQY6iVJlAH0

I mean, you don’t have to, of course, but they bring all this across in a well-said manner that I never could bring here, so… I just hope you understand, I am not trying to cancel ANYONE. If someone uses this to harass another person, I do not condone that. I am just one bisexual girl on the internet who is mad at the status quo. And frustrated. And tired.

[almanci]

footnote from Die Homosexualität des Mannes und des Weibes by Magnus Hirschfeld (1914), concerning asexuality (translation under the cut)

Next to these three [categories of heterosexuals, homosexuals and bisexuals] two other groups could be considered, which are occasionally mentioned in the literature: the asexuals and the monosexuals. The asexuals, of which in my assessment it has not yet been determined whether they indeed exist outside of deep-seated mental disorders, are said to exist in a state of complete sexual indifference towards any sexual imagination and be free of temptation for their whole life. This specialist experience shows that often persons which competently manage to be discreet about the deviation of their sexual orientation, and these exist in big numbers, are often assumed by their environment, including doctors, to be asexual. Namely, on the occasion of judicial assessments I heard, in consultation with close acquaintances of the accused again and again: "we thought until now, he was unpredisposed towards sensuality; we assumed he was frigid, asexual." Certainly, among these supposed asexuals there may as well be those belonging to the mentioned group of monosexuals. In this group, whose numbers and kind have also not been fully cleared-up as a category of the sexually abnormal, one's own person is not only their own object os sexual activity but the content of the sexual imagination. Kertbeny, who first used the word "monosexual" in 1869 in contrast to the term "homosexual" which he coined, in passing mentions that these are people "whose self-pollution became a chronic desire." Gustav Jaeger in his 1878 "Discovery of the Soul" speaks similarly of "monosexual idiosyncrasy" as a state in which masturbation needs no imagination of another individual. Later in 1900, in the 2nd Yearbook for Intermediate Sexual Types Prof. Jaeger published a previously unprinted chapter on homosexuality from "Discovery of the Soul," in which the anonymous informant Dr. M. describes monosexuals as "those that make do with themselves" and gives the example of "the unfortunately genius Lenau, this born onanist." I myself wrote in 1903 for the 5th Yearbook under the title "Causes and Being of Uranism" the following:

"The origins of language is often preserved through obscure terms. The word Sexus - "sex" comes from sequi - "to follow," the sexual drive originally is merely the drive to follow, to join others and therefore has an admittedly only quietly transparent psychological background of social stirring. The monosexual only follows himself; the few monosexuals I personally saw were three lonesome, self-absorbed onanists with a distinct antipathy towards both sexes, and distinguished themselves by an immense indifference not only towards all humans, but all things as well."

Rohleder cites this passage, remarking that it tracks with what he describes as multiple cases of automonosexualism, also called sexual egoism, as "a form of sex life, in which the individual alone is his start and endpoint of the sexual drive." Of other authors dealing with similar phenomena, we will briefly mention two: Havelock Ellis, who defined spontaneous sexual stirrings without (in-)direct cause by another person as auto-erotism, and Näcke, who describes examples of being in love with oneself as narcissism. Being in love with oneself can also be coloured as homo- or heterosexual; homosexual if the concerned men and women consider themselves as such; heterosexual if they are transvestites. Nonetheless, we have to admit Rohleder is correct that the reflection of the sexual drive on itself can be ascribed to neither homo- or heterosexualism, but that monosexualism is its own discrete group. In one case which I recently had the opportunity to observe, the fantasies concerned the own mirror image as incubus, wich the patient as succubus masturbated to ad ejaculationem. It is quite astonishing, how the incidental view of ones nude body during medical consultation could arouse such high sexual ecstasy.

[rantingcrocodile]

I wonder if there are bisexual people who experience a consistent aspect of their sexuality (be it marked static constant OSA or marked static constant SSA), but the other is quite weak and fels off, like comes and goes randomly, which results in ongoing crisis of if you're just monosexual in denial, if this and that attraction was genuine or not, if x crush was really a crush, and so on.

That isn't even something exclusive for the "heavily-SSA/OSA-bisexuals," but quite common across the bisexual board.

I hate to keep bringing up my own experience, but I'm pretty much 50/50. I literally had sex with women and was convinced that that somehow wasn't sexual attraction, and that I was straight.

I was talking to friends on here recently about crushes on women, and it hit me that my first ever celebrity/TV crush was Deanna Troi from Star Trek TNG. I was looking back and thinking about the famous women/characters that I've had crushes on, but even though I'm much older now, my brain defaulted to marking my first actual celebrity/TV crush as being David Tennant as the 10th Doctor in 2005, years later, despite the exact same feelings and excitement seeing both characters on screen and the awkward blushes when watching with the family.

A lot of it is down to patriarchy, where the attraction between women, unless in a pornified environment, is reduced to something infantile. You're attracted to men because they're gorgeous, full human beings, but women are just objects that you want to emulate. Of course they're beautiful on screen, because they're talking decorations for men to salivate over, it would be strange to not find the chosen-to-be-attractive women attractive. It's all about the male gaze.

I think there's a big misconception that it's "easy" to figure out if you're bisexual unless when you're growing up, your attractions are heavily one way or the other. It's in the semantics of it all, bisexuality is the attraction to both sexes, when that's just shorthand, and the truth is that bisexuality is the ability to be attracted to both sexes.

Being so confused was traumatic enough for me. I still sometimes struggle with worries that I'm "faking" attraction to women, despite knowing that I'm attracted to women, and it's a mix of internalised biphobia and internalised misogyny.

The reason that I mention myself is that knowing that I'm a "50/50 bi" and I experience(d) that, then bisexuals who are more SSA or more OSA leaning will definitely go through the same.

We need role models and we need community and we need support, but we don't have any.

[thelesbianthespianposts]

Bill coming out as a lesbian to the Romans only for them to be like, “that’s weird. But I guess it’s fine that you only like one gender, we’ve got a token monosexual too” was so funny

[purplespaceace]

putting together a list of reasons b99 characters aren’t monosexual as I watch the episodes-

Amy:

s2e12, Beach House: four drink Amy (pervy amy) calls gina a hot piece and slaps her butt

s4e12, Serve and Protect: Amy thinks girl talk includes showing each other your bras

Charles:

s2e16, The Wednesday Incident: Charles calls jake “model-handsome”

s2e23, Johnny and Dora: Charles says Jake has an “athletic body”

s3e1, New Captain: Charles says no one likes the way terry looks, and Jake should avoid doing too many weights at the gym so he doesn’t turn into another terry

s3e15, The 9-8: Charles says jakes former partner would look good with an earring

s4e10, Captain Latvia: Charles asks Jake if he likes his butt, insinuating that a) he thinks or knows Jake likes dudes, or b) that he likes dudes

s4e21, The Bank Job: Charles calls his cousin Milton ugly

s5e9, 99: Charles says he understands why Rosa doesn’t want to come out, which could be because of his empathic nature or because he’s also queer

s5e15, The Puzzle Master: charles calls Melvin, a puzzle maker who came in to help Jake and Amy on a case, hot

Terry:

s3e8, Ava: Terry calls jake his god-wife, although he had just had a baby and admitted he had no idea what he was saying at this point. most straight men probably wouldn’t even consider that they would be married to a man, however

s4e21, The Bank Job: Terry calls charles’s cousin Milton hot

s5e10, Game Night: Jake calls a male perp hot and Terry agrees

Jake:

s3e9, The Sweds: Jake calls the Swedish police partners, Soren and Agneta, one of whom is a guy, beautiful

s3e10, Yippie Kayak: Jake negotiated with Gina about a picture of terry to get her to come shopping with him, suggesting he knows what will be equal to terry without a towel

s3e20, Paranoia: Adrian pimento calls the man trying to murder him handsome and asks if it’s weird to say that; Jake says it isn’t weird, but asks for the others validation—as if to confirm a straight guy calling another dude handsome is normal

s3e22, Bureau: Rosa calls pimento hot and Jake says he kinda isnt

s3e23, Greg and Larry: Jake comments on how Terry’s muscles look in doctor scrubs

s4e5, Halloween IV: Jake says he looks better than al gore

s4e8, Skyfire Cycle: Jake comments on how Terry smells like vanilla, which is an odd thing for a straight man to notice

s4e10, Captain Latvia: Jake says Charles has good chest hair

s4e10, Captain Latvia: Jake asks if Charles unbuttoned another button, and continues to stare at Charles while he tells him off

s4e10, Captain Latvia: Charles asks if Jake likes his butt, insinuating that he thinks or knows Jake likes dudes

s4e15, The Last Ride: Jake calls a man hunky

s4e16, Moo Moo: Jake knows idris Elba is good-looking

s5e2, The Bug House; Part 2: Jake calls prison showers the most intense situation he’s ever been in and wonders if Romero was going there to have sex

s5e10, Game Night: Jake calls a male perp hot

s5e10, Game Night: Rosa explains how she came out as bisexual, describing two people of different genders hot; Jake thinks she should have picked a different pair

s5e10, Game Night: Jake delivers a very heartfelt speech to Rosa as an example of what she might say to her parents, almost like he’s considered what one might say before

s5e13, The Negotiation: Jake calls Doug judy romantic

s5e15, The Puzzle Maker: Jake calls Melvin, a puzzle maker who came in to help him and Amy on a case, attractive and says that he can’t wear a coat over a tank like Ryan gosling

s5e17, DFW: when jakes sister Kate asked which one of amys brothers is the best looking and Jake says tony, says he’s got bod, and doesn’t know why Amy hesitated

Adrian Pimento:

s3e20, Paranoia: he calls the man trying to murder him handsome and describes him in detail, saying he has “piercing blue eyes”

Gina:

s4e9, The Overmining: Gina asks Amy if she brought her into a closet so Gina could teach her how to kiss

s5e10, Game Night: gina says she and Rosa would have made a hot couple

s5e17, DFW: Gina says she knows lots of great women to set rosa up with

Scully:

s5e10, Game Night: scully calls a male perp handsome

[crownquill]

Disclaimer: Don't read this post if you are a terf/exclusionist/aphobe/biphobe/panphobe

dont even touch it or I will block you on sight you little pissbitch

also if you start discourse I will punch you.

dont add shit to this post unless you are adding on/being supportive

just saw some exclusionist say "OmNI iSNt a REaLL lABel I bET iT wAs MADe UP LaST wEEk tO hurT BiSEXUAls"

and like

first of all buckeroo. other lgbt+ people arent the enemy. get your head on straight. dont try to fit people into neat little boxes lol

and second of all this made me so fuckin angry I went on a deep dive of omni history. unlike pansexuals and bisexuals, omni [and also ply people] dont really get that much recognition

so here's some omni stuff!/history

The word omnisexuality appears as early at the 1959 beat poet Lawrence Lipton's The Holy Barbarians,[1] but the first time it was described in the context of the current definition was in a 1984 text titled simply Sexual Choices: An Introduction to Human Sexuality.[2] This text described omnisexuality as "a state of attraction to all sexes", stating that some researchers believe that every individual is born omnisexual before developing their sexual attraction into the labels of homosexual, heterosexual, or other orientations.

The term spread even further in the early 1990s as M. Jimmie Killingsworth undertook an analysis of the poet Walt Whitman.[3] In Killingsworth's study, he found that Whitman had a general omnisexual character throughout his work The Leaves of Grass. In the 2010s, The Atlantic noted that his poetry expresses sexuality towards all genders, sometimes even the sea or the Earth.

Omnisexual was a common message board term in the 2000s. The media made several non-monosexual terms known in the mainstream as that took place. Many popular articles discussed omnisexuality alongside these celebrities' pansexuality.

Some fictional characters, such as Jack Harkness from Doctor Who, and Kevin Crawford from Paradise P.D. have been canonically confirmed as omnisexual.

The omnisexual flag was designed by Pastelmemer on or before July 4, 2015.[4][5] It is unknow if the colors have any meaning, but a purposed meaning is as follows: The light pink and light blue represents the gender spectrum. Pink represents attraction to femininity and women. Blue color represents attraction to masculinityand men. The deep purple (sometimes depicted as black) represents attraction to people whose gender identity falls outside of the named categories.

There is no one way for identifying as omnisexual to look. “Identifying as such looks like feeling great about yourself and standing strong in your identity,” says D’Allaird. “No one can really tell you who you are, if you find this word and it really connects for you, then look in the mirror.” [sidenote: I hate fucking cosmopolitan but this quote slaps]

Dino nuggies, Scythe, scarves and bandanas, Bang by AJR and basically every song by AJR, Hydra, Grim reapers, anything of Ben ten because of his Omnitrix, ins-OMNI-a, and maybe eating peanut butter/Nutella straight out of jar (we are debating on that one) and .... jazz hands

[on what omni culture might be/is]

“We come to a corner where there are a few people protesting the festivities. I don't understand this at all. It's like protesting the fact that some people are red-haired. In my experience, desire is desire, love is love. I have never fallen in love with a gender. I have fallen for individuals. I know this is hard for people to do, but I don't understand why it's so hard, when it's so obvious.” ― David Levithan, Every Day

a t-shirt!

just some art :DD

^^every letter is an art piece

Idk which omni person needs to hear this tonight/today but there are people who support you out there! You're awesome and valid and have just as much a place in the lgbt+ community as anyone else!

[hellomynameisbisexual]

The Experiences of Bisexual People

Balsam and Mohr (2007) determined that when compared to lesbian and gay individuals, bisexual people tended to show increased identity confusion, to feel a lesser sense of community, and to disclose their bisexuality (come out) less frequently. They credited the identity confusion primarily to a dearth of visible bisexual role models and the social pressures to claim an identity that falls within the gay/straight binary [2].

Bisexual individuals sometimes fluctuate in the language they use to self-identify, often in light of the sex of their partner at a given point, but the vast majority of research has found bisexuality or some other form of non-monosexuality to be stable in nature [2], [3].

Bisexuals may refrain from coming out to avoid the stigma, and often find that others simply assume that they are straight or gay based on the sex of their partner or partners [4], [5], [6]. In particular, bisexual individuals who have opposite/other sex partners are often invisible as sexual minorities, as heterosexuality tends to be the cultural assumption of default [2], [5], [6].

Internalized Biphobia

The internalized belief that bisexuality is somehow lesser or something of which one should be ashamed is often called internalized biphobia, in the vein of previous research on internalized racism and homophobia [5], [7].

Internalized homophobia has been shown to have many mental health implications, including anxiety, low self-esteem, shame, depression, substance use, and suicidality [8].

Although the research on internalized biphobia is newer, similar results have been presented.

Bisexual Mental Health

Lewis, Derlega, Brown, Rose, and Henson (2009) summarized the varied findings in bisexual mental health during the past 15+ years of research on the subject.

Common themes of distress and social support challenges arose across all of the works to date, which they referred to as “sexual minority stress” (p. 971). Lewis et al. (2009) found that, while bisexuals are less frequently the victims of antigay violence (often due to their invisibility as members of the LGBT community; see also See & Hunt, 2011), they often suffer from greater orientation-related stress than their lesbian/gay counterparts do [9], [10].

Both Lewis et al. and Bostwick (2012) found modest results suggesting an increase in depression in bisexuals as compared to lesbians/gays (both established a history of support for increased depression in lesbians/gays compared to heterosexuals). In both cases, the researchers asserted the belief that greater significance would come with larger sample sizes (bisexual subsample of 78, Lewis et al., 2009 [9]; bisexual subsample of 47, Bostwick, 2012 [11]).

In addition to depression, research has revealed a number of other experiences that are heightened in or unique to bisexuals when compared to heterosexual and homosexual populations. Sarno and Wright (2013) found that bisexuals experience “the microaggression Alien in Own Land” (p. 69); that is, the assumption by others that the subject is straight more often than lesbians/gays, and as a result experienced significantly greater identity confusion [12].

Stonewall research also found that bisexuals suffered insidious assumptions and microaggressions at work such as “the frequent conception of bisexuality as a ‘failure to choose,’ [leading] to bisexual people being stereotyped as indecisive and disorganized” (as cited in See & Hunt, 2011, p. 292), which could directly impact the potential for professional advancement. However, being closeted at work has been found to decrease work satisfaction and performance [10].

A frequent finding in the research on opinions about bisexuals (including several of the studies previously referenced) is a pervasive belief that bisexuals are inherently promiscuous or unfaithful [7], [13]. Hoang, Holloway, and Mendoza (2011), in a study with 99 bisexual women, sought to explore whether there was validity to the stereotypes, and, if so, under what conditions.

Their findings revealed that internalized biphobia, in addition to hindering bisexual identity congruence, pride, and acceptance, increased the likelihood of infidelity. Statistically, their participants reported significantly higher numbers of relationships with males than females, which the researchers credited to social pressures to conform to heteronormativity [7].

Interestingly enough, the bulk of the infidelity that was committed tended to be while the women were in relationships with men, “which challenges the stereotype that bisexual women inevitably cheat on their lesbian partners, with men” (Hoang et al., 2011, p. 34).

Essentially, it is the external and subsequently internalized biphobia that helps bring hurtful stereotypes and expectations to fruition.

The Challenges and Concerns of Bisexual People

One of the concerns regarding bisexual health is the lack of awareness in the mental and medical health communities about what bisexuals actually need [10]. (See our earlier post, 5 Ways to Support Your LGBQ & Gender Non-Conforming Clients in Session.)

Bisexual health concerns may differ from those of heterosexuals and homosexuals, as they and their providers need to be informed about how to maintain sexual health with partners of various sexes.

“Samantha” reported that the doctor at her undergraduate university, in response to hearing that Samantha identified as bisexual, gave her a puzzled look and responded, “So, um, do you need condoms or not?” Samantha also complained that several therapists she had seen had also seemed confused at best, and disbelieving and passively negating, at worst, about her bisexuality.

Bisexuality is difficult to define, is often ostracized by both heterosexual and homosexual communities, and, as a result, is often accompanied by increased mental health concerns.

Many bisexual individuals seek to find support within the gay and lesbian community only to be turned away based on distrust and stereotypes.

Such rejection can lead to a bevy of negative implications that would best be mitigated by a structured community of their own. These concerns are sometimes compounded by ill-informed or uninformed mental and medical health practitioners.

While it is not possible to force widespread abandonment of antibisexual sentiments, improvements in mental and physical health understanding can go a long way toward improving the wellbeing of bisexuals as a group.

This article was adapted from “Rust Revisited: An Update on Lesbians’ Opinions and the Implications for Bisexual Women” by Wesh, 2014.

This article was originally published on April 19, 2016.

[ashenpages]

Hey! I know you're getting a lot of "hate" for this but some constructive criticism: multisexual and monosexual are really not good terms to use (terf-y origins, monosexual privilege, etc). Also there's history of people using sapphic where they mean lesbian because sapphic is a nicer term, lesbian is too sexualized, sapphic is safe. So taking characters like Catra and Adora who are canon lesbian and saying they should be called sapphic instead when they are 100% lesbian is not good.

I’d love to say that since lesbian originated from doctors who used it to describe a malady, and queer used to be a slur, that we’re obviously capable of reclaiming and expanding the meanings of terms to suit today’s needs.

This comment seems to be coming from a place that is more about justifying exclusive language and gate-keeping than from a productive standpoint.

Especially since it seems you don’t acknowledge monosexual privilege, and I can find nothing from Noelle Stevenson canonizing Adora and Catra as lesbians (all of her language in interviews is very inclusive).

I’ll be taking my messages off of Anon for the time being. Please feel free to contact me again without the privilege of anonymity, and be sure to bring some sources next time.

In the mean time, here’s a list of queer resources you might benefit from engaging with:

- Sapphistries:  A Global History of Love Between Women by Leila J. Rupp

- Queer: A Graphic History by Julia Scheele and John Barker

- A History of Bisexuality by Steven Angelides

- Understanding and Teaching US Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History by Leila J. Rupp (Maybe you’re not from the US, but all the media we’re discussing is)

- Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman by Leslie Feinberg (also check our her novel Stone Butch Blues for a compassionate take on why gate-keeping doesn’t serve us as a community)

- Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton