A lot of bisexual history has been erased so I figured I’d remind you all of some quotes and clear up any misunderstandings about bisexuality.
Bisexuality has been described as attraction regardless of gender for decades
“I am bisexual because I am drawn to people regardless of gender”
-‘The Bisexual Community: Are We Visible Yet?’, 1987
“In the midst of whatever hardships we [bisexuals] had encountered, this day we worked with each other to preserve our gift of loving people for who they are regardless of gender.”
-Elissa M., “Bi Conference,” Bi Women, 1985
“To be bisexual is to have the potential to be open emotionally and sexually to people as people, regardless of their gender.”
-Office Pink Publishing, “Introduction,” Bisexual Lives, 1988
“Being bisexual does not mean they have sexual relations with both sexes but that they are capable of meaningful and intimate involvement with a person regardless of gender.”
-Janet Bode, “The Pressure Cooker,” View From Another Closet, 1976
“Over the past fifteen years, however, [one Caucasian man] has realized that he is ‘attracted to people — not their sexual identity’ and no longer cares whether his partners are male or female. He has kept his Bi identity and now uses it to refer to his attraction to people regardless of their gender.”
-Paula C. Rust, “Sexual Identity and Bisexual Identities,” Queer Studies: A Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Anthology, 1998
“In the midst of whatever hardships we [bisexuals] had encountered, this day we worked with each other to preserve our gift of loving people for who they are regardless of gender.”
-Elissa M., “Bi Conference,” Bi Women, 1985
“To be bisexual is to have the potential to be open emotionally and sexually to people as people, regardless of their gender.”
-Office Pink Publishing, “Introduction,” Bisexual Lives, 1988
Bisexuality doesn’t have to mean a person “sees gender”
“[S]ome bisexuals say they are blind to the gender of their potential lovers and that they love people as people… For the first group, a dichotomy of genders between which to choose doesn’t seem to exist”
-Kathleen Bennett, “Feminist Bisexuality, a Both/And Option for an Either/Or World,” Closer to Home: Bisexuality and Feminism,1992
“Some bisexual respondents bypass the issue of ‘degrees’ of attraction to women and men by defining bisexuals as a humanistic, gender-blind way of relating to others. They see bisexuality as a way of loving the person, not their sex, or being nondiscrimintory in their attractions to others. For example, Ludwica wrote, 'I feel as if I’m open to respond to the person, not just the gender.’ ”
-“Bisexuality and the Challenge to Lesbian Politics: Sex, Loyalty, and Revolution” by Paula C Rust 1995
“I believe that people fall in love with individuals, not with a sex… I believe most of us will end up acknowledging that we love certain people or, perhaps, certain kinds of people, and that gender need not be a significant category, though for some of us it may be.”
Ruth Hubbard, ‘There Is No ‘Natural’ Human Sexuality, Bi Women’ ,1986
“Some women who call themselves ‘bisexual’ insist that the gender of their lover is irrelevant to them, that they do not choose lovers on the basis of gender.”
-Marilyn Murphy, “Thinking About Bisexuality,” Bi Women, 1991
“Some of us are bisexual because we do not pay much attention to the gender of our attractions.”
-Bisexual Politics, Quiries and Visions, 1995
Bisexuality is inclusive of all genders
“Who is this group for exactly? Anyone who identifies as bisexual or thinks they are attracted to or interested in all genders… This newly formed [support] group is to create a supportive, safe environment for people who are questioning their sexual orientation and think they may be bisexual.”
-“Coming Out as Bisexual,” Bi Women, 1994
“It’s easier, I believe, for exclusive heterosexuals to tolerate (and that’s the word) exclusive homosexuals than [bisexuals] who, rejecting exclusivity, sleep with people not genders…”
-Martin Duberman, 1974 “The bisexual community should be a place where lines are erased. Bisexuality dismisses, disproves, and defies dichotomies. It connotates a loss of rigidity and absolutes. It is an inclusive term.” -‘Essay for the Inclusion of Transsexuals’, Kory Martin-Damon, 1995
“Bisexual — being emotionally and physically attracted to all genders.”
-The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, “Out of the Past: Teacher’s Guide” 1999
“Bisexuality is much more than, and different from, the sensationalized 'third choice, best of both worlds’ phenomena it’s made out to be. Bisexuality is an inclusive term that defines immense possibilities avalable to us, whether we act on them or not.”
-“Bi Any Other Name”, Loraine Hutchens and Lani Ku'ahumany, 1991
“Bisexual consciousness, because of its amorphous quality and inclusive nature, posed a fundamental threat to the dualistic and exclusionary thought patterns which were- and still are- tenaciously held by both the gay liberation leadership and its enemies.”
-“The Bisexual Movement’s Beginnings in the 70s”, Bisexual politics, Naomi Tucker, 1995
Bisexuality historically and currently includes transgender and nonbinary people
“With respect to our integrity as bisexuals, it is our responsibility to include transgender people in our language, in our communities, in our politics, and in our lives”
-Bisexual Politics: Theories, Queries, and Visions by Naomi S Tucker, 1995
“Bisexuality is here defined as the capacity , regardless of the sexual identity label one chooses , to love and sexually desire both same - and other - gendered individuals . The term other-gendered is used here deliberately and is preferable to the term opposite - gendered , because other - gendered encompasses a recognition of the existence of transgendered and transsexual individuals , who may embrace gender identities other than [male and female]”
-“Bisexuality: The Psychology and Politics of an Invisible Minority” by Beth A. Firestein and Dallas Denny, 1996
“From the earliest years of the bi community, significant numbers of TV/TS [transvestite/transsexual] and transgender people have always been involved with it. The bi community served as a kind of refuge for people who felt excluded from the established gay and lesbian communities.”
-Kevin Lano, “Bisexuality and Transgenderism,” Anything That Moves, 1998
“Bisexuality means having the capacity to be attracted to people of both major genders ( don’t forget: there are gender minorities, too) .” “As with the word Bisexual, they usually also imply that relations with gender minorities are possible.”
-‘Bisexuality: A Reader and a Sourcebook’, 1990
“There were a lot of transvestites and transsexuals who came to [the San Francisco Bisexual Center in the 1970s], because they were not going to be turned away because of the way they dressed.”
-David Lourea in “Bisexual Histories in San Francisco in the 1970s and Early 1980s,” Dworkin, 2000 Journal of Bisexuality
“The actual lived non-binary history of the bisexual community and movement and the inclusive culture and community spirit of bisexuals are eradicated when a binary interpretation of our name for ourselves is arbitrarily assumed.”
-“Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out” by Lani Ka’ahumanu
“In the bisexual movement as a whole, transgendered individuals are celebrated not only as an aspect of the diversity of the bisexual community, but, because like bisexuals, they do not fit neatly into dichotomous categories.”
-“Bisexuality and the Challenge to Lesbian Politics” by Paula C. Rust, 1995
