Happy Bisexual Day of Visibility! Bisexuals constitute the largest portion of LGBT people globally but are the least identified bc of internalized biphobia, not feeling “gay enough,” and the societal stigma around being bisexual.

One thing I’d like to clear up: recently, there’s been a trend of people identifying as “pansexual” instead of bisexual so as to not exclude transgender people from their scope of attraction, citing the argument that “bi means two.”

The term pansexual is a redundancy because, since the popularization of the term bisexual in the mid 1900s, bisexuality has ALWAYS included trans and gender nonconforming individuals, and the “bi” in bisexuality referrs to “same and other gender attraction.”

I’m not trying to hate on anyone that identifies as pansexual, but it worries me that the increased use of the word cuts younger/newly out lgbt people from accessing the bisexual community that has been established and thriving for decades.

With all of that being said, there are tons of things that historically contribute to bisexuals being under-identified, under-represented, and overly-critiqued. If anyone is interested, this paper does a great job of diving into the nuances! https://sf-hrc.org/sites/default/files/Documents/HRC_Publications/Articles/Bisexual_Invisiblity_Impacts_and_Recommendations_March_2011.pdf

Also, if you’ve ever felt like you might be bi but aren’t sure and need someone to talk it out with, my DMs are always open!