Keepin' It...REAL! Does Bisexuality Exist?

Over the years, I’ve been in debates, classroom discussions, face-to-face arguments, and submitted enough online comments on a few blogs and web forums regarding the existence of bisexuality. I’ve argued on the side of the affirmative because I believe that it does. The question of its existence often gets asked and personally, I simply don’t see why some people have a problem with it.

After nearly 10 years of active debate and argument on this one issue, I’m beginning to grow a bit weary of hearing the same rhetoric and baseless arguments which people in both the straight and surprisingly, the LGBT communities like to present …

Hypocrisy: How Quickly Some in the LGBT Community Forget Frankly, I find it appalling, if not downright hypocritical, for any gay person to declare with so-called certainty and based only on their closed-minded “expert opinions”, that there is no one who is truly bisexual.

How quickly some in the LGBT community seem to forget that for generations (long before the majority of people reading this were born), that there were many people, including some medical doctors, psychiatrists and religious leaders who years ago (as some do now), challenged the very existence of homosexuality. They said, “Homosexuality is considered to be a choice and a lifestyle by some people”, adding that: “it is simply unnatural for anyone to be a homosexual, for it opposes the grand design of God and Nature”. They also said they don’t believe anyone can be born gay or can have same-sex attractions and desires. There are people today who still believe as their forefathers and who continue to promote and preach that everyone is born heterosexual …”just as God intended”.

Now you can understand that whenever I hear someone, particularly a gay person, express doubts and objections to the existence of bisexuality, I have to take a stand, as I know well the history of bigotry in this country and throughout the world. I’m willing to give the same argument of similar historical fact regarding the beliefs about homosexuality when it comes to defending the existence of bisexuality.

It’s Not Your Sexuality; How Could You Ever Understand? People who are not bisexual would not understand the attractions and desires or the thought processes, emotions and feelings of a bisexual person any more than those who are heterosexual could ever understand those of a homosexual. No one is an expert on the sexuality of another person. (via Bisexual People of Color)

Bisexual Woman of Color History Moment: June Jordan

the-nonbinary-bisexual:

bidyke:

Reblogged from SheWired (click through above for the original)

A Black History Moment: June Jordan, Boundary Crosser

By:

Wed, 2011-02-16 11:20

1

When asked by a friend who I would I write my column for today , I turned to him with my usual grimace of uncertainty and said, “Perhaps, it will be on one of my activist, queer, literary ‘sistah- heroines’ June Jordan who died in June 2002.” When he paused for a moment and then turned to me with a grimace of indignation asking “ Who was she?” I, at that moment, chose my topic.

Who was June Jordan?

She inspired me to write.

June Jordan, an awarding-winning poet, former columnist for The Progressive, author of 28 books of poems, political essays, children’s fiction, was a “boundary crosser” who died at the age of 65 after a decade-long battle with breast cancer.

Jordan was a boundary crosser whose life’s work was her writings. Both the Norton Anthology of African American Literature and The African American Review depicted Jordan as one of the most prolific contemporary African American writers in many genres.

Author and Nobel laureate Toni Morrison told the Associated Press that Jordan’s writing life would best be depicted as “Forty years of tireless activism coupled with and fueled by flawless art.” And In describing the scope of Jordan’s writings, Adrienne Rich, renowned lesbian feminist poet, essayist and MacArthur awardee wrote in Sojourner a feminist magazine that “[Jordan’s] flexible, swift mind was equaled by her dazzling language, her access to both the most elegant diction and the most frontal kinds of rhetoric, so that a reader is always being surprised by a riff of music here, a trenchant political insight there. Her poems describe a complex arc back and forth between manifestos and tender love lyrics, jazz poetry and sonnets, with mood-shifts and image-juxtapositions to match.”

After her eight-year marriage ended in divorce, Jordan transgressed a sexual boundary that has been scoffed at by both heterosexual and queers people — she came out as a bisexual woman in the 1970’s, an era of lesbian and gay politics that viewed bisexuals as “fence sitters” who did not want to give up their heterosexual privilege, and they were viewed as a weak link in the struggle for sexual equality.

Within lesbian circles, the place of bisexual women within the queer women’s community was often marginal, if not non-existing, and their commitment to feminism was always suspect. Many lesbians believed that any women who had the ability to sexually love another woman had a political obligation to identify as lesbian. Others believed that the compulsory nature of heterosexuality in our culture precluded all possibilities of women freely choosing a heterosexual relationship.

Jordan, however, felt differently on the topic of bisexuality and spoke about it. In Jordan’s keynote address, “ A New Politics of Sexuality,” to the Bisexual, Gay, and Lesbian Student Association at Stanford University on April 29, 1991 she said, “ I believe the Politics of Sexuality is the most ancient and probably the most profound arena of human conflict…deeper and more pervasive than any other oppression …is the oppression of sexuality…Finally, I need to speak on bisexuality. I do believe that the analogy is interracial or multicultural identity. I do believe that the analogy for bisexuality is a multicultural, multi-ethnic, multiracial worldview. Bisexuality follows from such a perspective and leads to it , as well.”

Jordan derived her bisexual and biracial perspectives from having transgressed two more societal boundaries —an interracial marriage with a white man, and having given birth to a biracial child, both scoffed at during her time by blacks and whites in this country. But it is Jordan’s “boundary crossings” that gave her the intellectual breath on an issue, and by extension she gave us a new way to see ourselves and the world.

Adrienne Rich stated that Jordan’s essay “ On Bisexuality and Cultural Pluralism” “is a kind of credo of the inclusivity she strove for.”

Bisexuals are individuals who are blessed with the possibility to love that transcends the artificial socially constructed boundary of gender identity as well as the biologically constructed boundary of sex.

Given a specific spiritual inheritance, bisexuality in indigenous traditions have long been identified as a role of the highest spiritual order for a person. Called gatekeepers by the Dagara of West Africa and Two Spirit by many Native Americans, bisexuals are born into a very special destiny.

I think June Jordan came here with a special destiny and with a higher calling than many of us. I see the world much fuller because of her, and I give thanks for the many boundaries she dared to cross.

I’m a little iffy about the indigenous cultures bit, but wow, why did I never hear about this person?

With all due respect for “One huge clarification – monosexual privilege, gays and lesbians”, as the article discusses, the reasons you never heard of June Jordan is because she’s a Black, Bisexual Female person. If even one of those had been different she might have had a better chance at having some (relatively) more powerful group take up for her.

Bi's Of Colour: Mythbusters for Bi's of Colour #8

bisofcolour:

There were never any bi’s of colour in the past.

Also known as: This is just the latest trend.

Most likely to come from: Black lesbian, gay and trans* people.

The history of people of colour has been ignored and erased for hundreds of years. The word, bisexual, like homosexual and heterosexual, are relatively recent additions to our language. However bisexual behaviour has been going on throughout time. From the Babylonian writings in Gilgamesh, to the poems and life of Langston Hughes in the Harlem Renaissance, bisexuals of colour have always existed.

Bi's Of Colour: Mythbusters for Bi's of Colour #7

bisofcolour:

Hot black bi babes? Cool!

Also known as: I can finally get a date!

Most likely to come from: Straight and bisexual white men.

There’s a stereotype of a hot bi babe who will be young, attractive and sexually adventurous. This is often compounded by ethnicity. Black and minority ethnic people are often seen as hyper-sexual. We are supposed to be wild, passionate creatures. However this myth can lead to us receiving unwanted sexual advances, harassment and violence. Bi’s of Colour are in charge of our own bodies. Who we share it with is up to us.

Mythbusters for Bi’s of Colour #6

bisofcolour:

We blacks have to stick together.

Also known as: What will the neighbours think?

Most likely to come from: Black straight, lesbian, gay and trans people.

Black and minority ethnic people are not a monolith; trying to force that view stifles all of us. Diversity only adds to the strength of a community. It is a good thing to support people who make up our groups. Bi’s of Colour are not divisive or confused. We want to celebrate who we are.

Bi's Of Colour: Mythbusters for Bi’s of Colour #5

bisofcolour:

Isn’t it against your religion?

Also known as: I don’t want to be here when your god decides to smite your ass.

Most likely to come from: Black and white straight people, regardless of their faith.

Religion and Faith can be a positive part of our lives. There are bisexuals of colour who are Muslim, Christian, Pagan and more. There are also bisexuals of colour who do not practice any religion at all. It is a false assumption to expect all people of colour to follow a faith, and for that faith to condemn anything other than heterosexuality.

Bi's Of Colour: Mythbusters for Bi’s of Colour #4

bisofcolour:

Black bisexuals spread sexually transmitted diseases.

Also known as: AIDS is all your fault.

Most likely to come from: White and black straight people. Sadly, also from black and white lesbians

Unsafe sexual practices and intravenous drug use are the most common ways to spread sexually transmitted diseases. Bi’s of colour are no more likely to contract or pass on a sexually transmitted disease than any other sexually active person. Safer sex and regular health checks benefit us all. Stigma and shame for our sexual orientation doesn’t help anyone; in fact, it can make someone less likely to look after themselves.

Bi's Of Colour: Mythbusters for Bi’s of Colour #3

bisofcolour:

Blacks are exotic, so I guess it’s natural you’d be bisexual.

Also known as: Let’s get back to our roots. Naked!

Most likely to come from: White people of all sexual orientations.

There’s a common myth that people of colour (especially women) are exotic novelties. We are often fetishized by white people. This is also the case in white lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. We are seen as sexual objects for the pleasure of white people only. Bi’s of colour aren’t solely interested in sex. There are celibate bisexuals of colour, and those who are part of the asexual spectrum. Regardless of our sexual activity, it is up to us how we chose to explore it. It is insulting to assume our orientation is connected to the colour of our skin.

Bi's Of Colour: Mythbusters for Bi's of Colour #2

bisofcolour:

You’re copying white people.

Also known as: You’re a sell-out

Most likely to come from: Black straight people.

This myth is damaging and hurtful. Black and minority ethnic bisexuals often face isolation and exclusion from our ethnic communities, from lesbian, gay, transgender communities, and from white bisexuals. Racism, and biphobia affect our daily lives. It can be difficult to find a place where we feel we belong. Bisexuality, like all other sexual orientations is not something just for white people. Bi’s of colour are proud of our heritage. We are not selling out of our lives.

Bi's Of Colour: Mythbusters for Bi’s of Colour #1

bisofcolour:

Black and Minority Ethnic bisexuals do not exist.

Also known as: all bisexuals are liars.

Most likely to come from: Everyone, everywhere.

Bisexuals are one of the few groups in existence who are regularly asked to prove that they are real. Black and minority ethnic people are often expected to hate anyone who is not heterosexual, so when we say we are bisexual, we are faced with shock, disbelief, and treated as if our lives are a joke. Bi’s of colour exist, period. Some of us are visibly out; some of us are not. Believe us when we say we are bisexual and proud.