facts about the troubles bisexuals face that are honestly TERRIFYING (as consequences of biphobia) - a thread #loveislove

since today is national day against homophobia (which biphobia falls under) i thought it would be a perfect opportunity to share some really not well known facts about how the bisexual community struggles. so please, listen to us. listen to our voices, we’re so tired of erasure

(trigger warnings for substance abuse, abuse, sexual assault, mental health, suicide, cancer, poverty)

risks of cancer for bi women are higher. a study from women aged 50-70 revealed that the chances are 17.5% for bi women, 14% for lesbian women and 12% for straight women.

cancer isn’t the only worry. general poor health is a larger risk for bisexuals - but why?

one reason is higher rates of substance abuse. bi people are more likely to smoke and drink heavily than their gay and straight counterparts. 56% of bi youth strongly agree that they at least experiment with alcohol and drugs compared to 50% of gay youth and 22% of straight youth

furthermore 1/4 bi women are diagnosed with PTSD, compared to only 7% of straight women. we also have higher rates of anxiety,
depression and various other mood disorders.

we also are 4x as likely to report attempted suicide than straight people, compared to our lesbian&gay counterparts who are 2x as likely to report attempted suicide than straight people. (note- this is not meant to undermine the struggles the rest of the community experience-

just to highlight fact that bi people DO experience these things, and it is more damaging than people typically believe).

another study showed that while gay men were 4x as likely than their straight counterparts to report suicidal thoughts, bi men were 6x more likely.

what’s really interesting is that it is reported by the journal of adolescent health these thoughts tend to dissipate or decrease as gay& straight youth resch adulthood, but this does not happen for bi youth

it doesn’t stop there. 61% of bi women experience domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking, compared to 43% of lesbian women and 35% of straight women. 46% of bi women are raped compared to 13% of lesbian women and 17% of straight women. let that sink in.

regardless of age and gender, bisexuals report that the first time they were sexually assaulted averages between 11-24. in other words, earlier than for our gay/straight counterparts. bi survivors of violence are 2.3x more likely to experience a hate crime and are also 3x more

likely to experience police brutality than our non-bi counterparts. also, over a quarter of bisexuals live below the poverty line. this is partially because 20% of bi people report a negative employment experience due to their identity

60% of bi people report hearing biphobic comments in the workplace. around half of bi people stay closeted at work compared to around a quarter of gay people. also around 3/4 of gay&lesbian individuals report being out to the important people in their lives. for bi people,

this number is less than a third. additionally 1/4 bi youth are excluded by their peers for their identity (this number climbs to 1/3 for pansexual youth).

but organisations can’t even do much to help. from 1970-2010 around half a billion dollars went to helping lgbt causes in america. 83% (405billion) went to organisations representing the whole community. around 7% (34mil) went to organisations specific to gay men

around 6% (30mil) went to organisations specific to lesbians, trans organisations received a low 3% (16.7mil) and bi organisations didn’t even get 1%. bi organisations got 0.02% of the money. that’s only 84,000 dollars out of HALF A BILLION, IN 40 YEARS.

there are ZERO organisations with bi specific programs to assist bi youth with issues, despite bisexuals making up 40% of the lgbt community even by the most conservative estimates. that’s the single largest section.

i’d like to apologise for the narrow comparisons, because that’s the only way the information was presented to me. i encourage you to please use your voices to help the bi community get the recognition we deserve. whether it’s donating to causes, or speaking out against biphobia.

-end of thread-