The week of September 23rd, 2022, marked the 24th anniversary of Bisexuality Awareness Week. It is an extension of Bisexual Visibility Day, which was coined by Wendy Curry, Michael Page, and Gigi Raven Wilbur, three bisexual activists who wanted it to celebrate the bisexual community, recognize the challenges of biphobia and erasure, and commemorate the activism of many organizations and individuals working to combat these challenges. This week is extremely important to recognize because it highlights the unseen struggles of many individuals. 

Bisexual people are often the subject of a multitude of harmful stereotypes, a few of which we hope to debunk:

1. Bisexuality is binary

The idea that bisexuality signifies attraction to only men and women is outdated and incorrect. The Bisexual Manifesto, published in 1990, writes, “Do not assume that bisexuality is binary or dougamous in nature; that we must have "two" sides or that we MUST be involved simultaneously with both genders to be fulfilled human beings. In fact, don't assume that there are only two genders.” Although terms like “pansexual” have been created in order to emphasize the inclusion of other genders (technically, pansexual means attraction regardless of gender), bisexuality is not limited to two genders. 

Relatedly, bisexuality does not entail equal attraction to all genders. Bisexuality is a spectrum, and one can still be bisexual while experiencing more attraction towards one gender. 

2. Bisexual individuals are inherently hypersexual

Bisexual people, especially Black bisexual people, are often seen as inherently more sexual. This stereotype is worsened by the depiction of bisexual people in popular media, which often either paints them as highly promiscuous or refuses to introduce bisexual characters in the first place. Despite bisexual people making up an estimated 40-50% of the LGBTQ community, lesbian and gay characters are often more likely to be represented in media. 

Bisexuality exists outside of sex, and it is important that all facets of bisexuality are represented. The consequences of such stereotypes can be extremely harmful — part of why 61.1% of bisexual women and 37.3% of bisexual men face sexual violence can be attributed to the false assumption that they experience more sexual desire. Additionally, the notion that bisexual people are more promiscuous promotes the idea that one does not need to ask for consent from a bisexual person — that by being bisexual, they are always “asking for it.”

3. Bisexual people are more unfaithful

Somewhat related to how bisexuality is often highly oversexualized, people often assume that in relationships, bisexual people are more likely to be unfaithful. This is incredibly harmful. This notion encourages possessiveness and other harmful behaviors from partners, leading to damaging relationships and abuse. As discussed above, bisexual people experience far higher rates of sexual violence than homesexual or heterosexual people.

4. Bisexual people are confused/bisexuality is a phase

Perhaps the most common misconception about bisexuality is that it is “just a phase.” People seem to think that it is impossible to be attracted to more than one gender; that a bisexual person must be “actually secretly gay” or “just being bisexual for attention.” Although bisexuality as a term is a new idea, humans have experienced attraction to more than one gender for millenia. 

David McNew - Getty Images