Bisexual

Bisexual
Gender(s):	Any
Gender(s) attracted to:	Any two (or more)

Bisexual (often shortened to Bi) refers to someone who is attracted to two or more genders. This is most commonly men and women, though it does not have to be. Bisexual people can be attracted to any genders.

Kinsey scale

According to zoologist Alfred Kinsey's research in the mid-1940s, most humans are not exclusively heterosexual or homosexual. The Kinsey scale measures sexual attraction and behavior on a seven-point scale ranging from 0 ("exclusively heterosexual") to 6 ("exclusively homosexual"). It was found that most people fall somewhere in the 1-5 category and are believed to have "varying bisexual responses". However, people who rank anywhere between 2-4 are most likely to be recognized as bisexual, as they are often not one extreme or the other. For those individuals ranking either a 1 or a 5, the terms heteroflexible and homoflexible have come into the mainstream, though it is also recognized to use the label of bisexuality for their sexual orientation, as sociologists Martin S. Weinberg and Colin J. Williams wrote that, in principle, people who rank anywhere from 1-5 could be considered bisexual.

The psychologist Jim McKnight was one of the first to write that the idea of bisexuality is a form of sexual orientation, as suggested implicit in the Kinsey scale, which he cites often in his work. However, despite McKnight and Kinsey's work on human sexuality, this conception of bisexuality has been severely challenged since the work Homosexualities (c. 1978) was published by Weinberg and his psychologist colleague Alan P. Bell.

Flag

The bisexual pride flag was designed by a team led by LGBT activist Michael Page in 1998. The flag was created in order to give the bisexual community its own symbol which was easily recognized and comparable to the gay pride flag (rainbow flag) that represented the larger LGBT community. Page's aim was to increase the visibility of bisexuals, both among society as a whole, and within the LGBT community.

Design

Page took the colors of the bisexual pride flag from an existing bisexual symbol, the biangles.

'In designing the Bi Pride Flag, I selected the colors and overlap patterns of the 'bi angles' symbol.'

The biangles, or bisexuality triangles, are another symbol for the bisexual community. The symbol has unclear origins, although it is most likely based off of the pink triangle, another symbol for the gay community in specifics.

Color meanings

Page describes the meaning of the pink, lavender and blue stripes as this:

"The pink color represents attraction to the same sex only (gay and lesbian). The blue represents attraction to the opposite sex only (straight), and the resultant overlap color purple represents sexual attraction to both sexes."

Page also describes the flag's meaning in deeper terms, stating:

"The key to understanding the symbolism of the Bisexual Pride flag is to know that the purple pixels of color blend unnoticeably into both the pink and blue, just as in the real world, where bi people blend unnoticeably into both the gay/lesbian and straight communities."

This design for the bisexual pride flag has been used all the way until the present day, where bisexuals frequently use this design on their online accounts and message boards to notify people of their identity.

History of bisexuality

Ancient history

Ancient Greek religious texts, which reflected cultural practices, had bisexual themes throughout. Ancient Greece was surprisingly very LGBT friendly. Same sex relationships between boys and men were a part of rituals, even though they mostly grew up to be heterosexual, marrying women.

In Ancient China and Japan, homosexuality and bisexuality was also documented, both men who had sex with men, and women who had sex with women. There were even ancient Japanese art prints, called shunga, which depicted homosexual relationships in full detail.

Origin of the term

The first English-language use of the word bisexual referring to sexual orientation was by the American neurologist Charles Gilbert Chaddock in his 1892 translation of Psychopathia Sexualis, a seminal work created by Krafft-Ebing. Prior to this, the word "bisexual" was used in reference to plants, suggesting that species were hermaphroditic or intersex.

Openly bisexual people in early history

The first openly bisexual people in history were rare in early American life. Some examples of this include poet Walt Whitman, who has been described as both bisexual and homosexual in his feelings and attractions. In the early 20th century, during the Harlem Renaissance, blues singers Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith made no secret about their relationships with men and women. Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay was also openly bisexual.

Kinsey scale

In 1948, Alfred C. Kinsey, an American biologist who was also bisexual, published two books on the topic of human sexuality, named Sexual Behavior in the Human Male and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. He formulated a scale, which went from 0-6 respectively (0 being exclusively heterosexual and 6 being exclusively homosexual) to demonstrate varying bisexual responses for people who aligned themselves on the scale. Kinsey also said that anyone who was between 1-5 on the scale to be considered bisexual or ambisexual specifically.

1950's to present day

With the rise of LGBT activism in these decades, such as political debates, the Stonewall Riots, and Gay Pride Parades, bisexuals were included in the fight for LGBT rights. In the first public protest for gay and lesbian rights staged in Philadelphia, New York, and Washington, D.C, two of the protesters identified themselves as bisexual.

Bisexuals also became more prominent in the media in the 1970's, and in the 1980's, with AIDS starting to affect the LGBT community, many bisexual activists presented safe sex education in bathhouses and BDSM clubs in San Francisco. They also fought for the rights of lesbians and bisexual women in the AIDS epidemic.

In the 1990's, bisexual characters and literature started to appear. On the popular sitcom Seinfeld, Susan Ross appears to be in an open relationship with a woman, then becomes attracted to Kramer, her former partner George's friend. She and George are engaged in the 7th season, then Susan unexpectedly dies.

Now, bisexuals are mostly recognized, although many cases of biphobia and bi-erasure still occur.

Etymology

The Greek prefix bi- means 'two'.