Bi, never binary.
Bisexuality has been known as a fluid, inclusive label since the 1980s. Due to bisexual erasure, the meaning of bisexuality has been forgotten and misconstrued.
The idea of this carrd is to compile sources, both historical and modern, to support the idea that bisexuality is:
Fluid
Inclusive
Not enforcing the gender binary
Not transphobic
Attraction to all
Not reliant on preference
For the purpose of quoting, I would consider modern sources to be anything published during or after 1995. The medium - book, magazine or article - has no impact on this. If the source is hosted on a website, links have been provided.
Credit to Saph for making this carrd
Credit to Max for compiling sources
1970s
Kate Millett concluded her December, 1974 talk by lauding ‘the very wealth and humanity of bisexuality itself: for to exclude from one’s love any entire group of human beings because of class, age, or race or religion, or sex, is surely to be poorer - deeply and systematically poorer.’
“The Bisexual Movement’s Beginnings in the 70s“, Bisexual Politics, referring to 1974.
Please note that the use of 'age' in this context means finding a lifelong partner at an older age.
Margaret Mead in her Redbook magazine column wrote an article titled ‘Bisexuality: What’s It All About?’ in which she cited examples of bisexuality from the distant past as well as recent times, commenting that writers, artists, and musicians especially ‘cultivated bisexuality out of a delight with personality, regardless of race or class or sex.
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.
“From Myth to Maturation” and "The Pressure Cooker", View From Another Closet: Exploring Bisexuality in Women, Janet Bode, 1976
[John] reacted emotionally to both sexes with equal intensity. ‘I love people, regardless of their gender,’ he told me.
“Early Influences,” Bisexuality, a Study, Charlotte Wolff, 1979
There were a lot of transvestites and transsexuals who came to [the San Francisco Bisexual Centre in the 1970s] , because they were not going to be turned away because of the way they dressed.
Dave Lourea in "Bi history in San Francisco in the 1970s and early 1980s", Dworkin, 2000, Journal of Bisexuality
1980s
On Saturday, February 9, San Francisco's Bisexual Center will conduct a Gender/Sexuality Workshop. "We will explore the interrelationships of gender feelings and sexual preference. We will look at the male and female sides of our personality and how we feel about those aspects of ourselves that differ from the stereotype. We will do some processes to determine the m/f aspects of ourselves and will explore about how we feel about them. We will discuss sexuality and whether we choose to play out the gender role assigned to us by society or whether we can shift to attitudes supposedly held by the opposite gender, if those feel good to us. We will deal with the issue of the TV/ TS in transition and how sexuality evolves as gender role changes. We will attempt to present a summary of the fragmented and confusing information on gender and sexuality."
The Gateway, volume 2, number 8, February 1980,
The Gateway was a newsletter with "news and information on transvestism and transsexualism". There was a focus on dismantling oppressive gender systems.
There are, in fact so many ways in which one can be "bisexual" that the very label is misleading, implying as it does a definite third option between heterosexuality and homosexuality.
"Anything that Moves", 1983
J: Are we ever going to be able to define what bisexuality is?
S: Never completely. That’s just it – the variety of lifestyles that we see between us defies definition.
Boston Bisexual Women’s Network Newsletter, January 1984
Bisexuality, however, is a valid sexual experience. While many gays have experienced bisexuality as a stage in reaching their present identity, this should not invalidate the experience of people for whom sexual & affectional desire is not limited by gender. For in fact many bisexuals experience lesbianism or homosexuality as a stage in reaching their sexual identification.
“What We Are Doing,” Bi Women, Megan Morrison, 1984
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.
Bi Women: the Newsletter of the Boston Bisexual Women’s Network, 1986
Coming out as bisexual is not something done to acquire or flaunt heterosexual privilege. I am bisexual because I am attracted to particular people regardless of gender. It doesn't make me wishy-washy, confused, untrustworthy or more sexually liberated. It makes me bisexual.
"The Bisexual Community: Are We Visible Yet?", Lani Ka'ahumanu, 1987
Early 1990s
Bisexuality is a whole, fluid identity. Do not assume that bisexuality is binary or duogamous in nature: that we 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. Do not mistake our fluidity for confusion, irresponsibility, or an inability to commit. Do not equate promiscuity, infidelity, or unsafe sexual behavior with bisexuality. Those are human traits across ALL sexual orientations. Nothing should be assumed about anyone’s sexuality – including your own.
We are angered by those who refuse to accept our existence; our issues; our contributions; our alliances; our voice. It is time for the bisexual voice to be heard. Do not expect each magazine to be representative of all bisexuals, for our diversity is too vast. Do not expect a clear-cut definition of bisexuality to jump out from the pages. We bisexuals tend to define bisexuality in ways that are unique to our own individuality. There are as many definitions of bisexuality as there are bisexuals.
"Anything that Moves", 1990
Anything that Moves is a historical bisexual magazine, published by the Bay Area Bisexual Network. The above exerpt is known widely as the Bisexual Manifesto, and made the goals and philiosophy of the bisexual community known.
The frustration of the bisexual activists of the time is clear in this text. They faced monosexism, being told bi equals two equals male and female, and fought against stereotypes. They felt marginalized, ignored, and silenced.
The future of Bisexual Activism, Camille Holthaus. Published in
QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking in 2015.
This was a response to and explanation of the Bisexual Manifesto, therefore I have grouped them together.
[B]isexual usually also implies that relations with gender minorities are possible.
Many objections have been raised to the use of [“bisexual”], the most common being that it emphasizes two things that, paradoxically, bisexuals are the least likely to be involved with: the dualistic separation of male and female in society, and the physical implications of the suffix ‘-sexual’.
Bisexuality: a Reader and Sourcebook, Thomas Geller, 1990
In the late sixties and early seventies I was awakening to all the possibilities of my life. I fell in love with people, not genders. It was part of the times.
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 available to us, whether we act on them or not.
This is difficult, since so many people are confused by and concerned with the (so-called) fluid nature of bisexuality.
To me, the Kinsey scale has as much relevance if everyione were evaluated on a spectrum of whether they are more attracted to people with brown eyes or blue eyes. Gender is just not what I care about or even really notice in a partner. I have categories [for sexual attraction] but gender isn't one of them.
I tell them, whether or not I use the word ‘bisexual,’ that I am proud of being able to express my feelings toward a person, regardless of gender, in whatever way I desire.
"Bi any other name", Loraine Hutchens and Lani Ku'ahumanu, 1991
Bisexuals fall in love with a person, not a gender.
A bisexual’s survey response in Closer to Home: Bisexuality and Feminism, Weise, 1992
With respect to our integrity as bisexuals, it is our responsibility to include transgendered people in our language, in our communities, in our politics, and in our lives.
“The Next Natural Step” by Naomi Tucker, Anything that Moves, 1992
“These data support the argument that, for some bisexual individuals, sexual attraction is not gender-linked.”
Beyond Gender: The Basis of Sexual Attraction in Bisexual Men and Women, 1992. source
"An androgynous person need not be bisexual, and a bisexual need not be androgynous. But androgyny is nevertheless a word to reckon with when considering the future of bisexuality, first because it has become a more familiar (and less frightening) archetype in popular consciousness and culture, and second because, conjoined with androgyny, bisexuality becomes the unification of dual attractions. Obviously the more we recognize the androgynous aspects of our being, the better we understand and more intimately we can relate to each other, within and across gender boundaries."
Fritz Klein, The Bisexual Option, second edition, 1993, pl 63
Late 1990s
The bisexual community should be a place where lines are erased. Bisexuality dismisses, disproves, and defies dichotomies. It connotes a loss of rigidity and absolutes. It is an inclusive term.
Despite how we choose to identify ourselves, the bisexual community still seems a logical place for transsexuals to find a home and a voice. Bisexuals need to educate themselves on transgender issues. At the same time, bisexuals should be doing education and outreach to the transsexual community, offering transsexuals an arena to further explore their sexualities and choices. Such outreach would also help break down gender barriers and misconceptions within the bisexual community itself. […] If the bisexual community turns its back on transsexuals, it is essentially turning its back on itself.
Martin-Damon, K., “Essay for the Inclusion of Transsexuals”. Bisexual Politics, 1995
[B]isexual consciousness, because of its amorphous quality and inclusionary 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.
Similarly, the modern bisexual movement has dissolved the strict dichotomy between “gay” and “straight” (without invalidating our homosexual or heterosexual friends and lovers.) We have insisted on our desire and freedom to love people of all genders.
“The Bisexual Movement’s Beginnings in the 70s” and "Pansies against Patriarchy", Bisexual Politics, edited by Naomi Tucker, 1995
As bisexuals, we are necessarily prompted to come up with non-binary ways of thinking about sexual orientation. For many of us, this has also prompted a move toward non-binary ways of thinking about sex and gender.
“Your Fence Is Sitting on Me: The Hazards of Binary Thinking”, Rebecca Kaplan, Bisexual Politics, Naomi Tucker, 1995
Some of us are bisexual because we do not pay much attention to the gender of our attractions; some of us are bisexual because we do see tremendous gender differences and want to experience them all.
Bisexual Politics: Theories, Queries and Visions, 1995
The probability is that your relationship is based on, or has nestled itself into something based more on the relationship between two identities than on the relationship between two people. That’s what we’re taught: man/man, woman/woman, woman/man, top/bottom, butch/femme, man/woman/man, etc. We’re never taught person/person. That’s what the bisexual movement has been trying to teach us.
My Gender Workbook, Kate Bornstein, 1998
Bisexual—being emotionally and physically attracted to all genders.
"Out of the Past", GLSEN, 1998. source
The bi community has also confronted the issues around transsexuality and transgenderism in a rather haphazard way. From the earliest years of the bi community, significant numbers of TV/TS and transgender people have always been involved in it. The bi community served as a kind of refuge for people who felt excluded from the established lesbian and gay communities.
"Bisexuality and Transgenderism", Anything that Moves, 1998. source
2000s
Respondent #658 said that both are irrelevant; ‘who I am sexually attracted to has nothing to do with their sex/gender,’ whereas Respondent #418 focuses specifically on the irrelevance of sex: I find myself attracted to either men or women. The outside appendages are rather immaterial, as it is the inner being I am attracted to. […] Respondent #495 recalled that “the best definition I’ve ever heard is someone who is attracted to people & gender/sex is not an issue or factor in that attraction.” […] As Respondent #269 put it, “I do not exclude a person from consideration as a possible love interest on the basis of sex/gender.” […] For most individuals who call themselves bisexual, bisexual identity reflects feelings of attraction, sexual and otherwise, toward women and men or toward other people regardless of their gender.
“Two Many and Not Enough: The Meanings of Bisexual Identities,” Paula C. Rust, 2000, Journal of Bisexuality
The message of bisexuality — that people are more than their gender; that we accept all people, regardless of Kinsey scale rating; that we embrace people regardless of age, weight, clothing, hair style, gender expression, race, religion and actually celebrate our diversity — that message is my gospel. I travel, write, do web sites — all to let people know that the bisexual community will accept you, will let you be who you are, and will not expect you to fit in a neat little gender/sexuality box.
“Celebrating Bisexuality,” Bi Women, Wendy Curry, 2000
But there are also many bis, such as myself, for whom gender has no place in the list of things that attract them to a person. For instance, I like people who are good listeners, who understand me and have interests similar to mine, and I am attracted to people with a little padding here and there, who have fair skin and dark hair (although I’m pretty flexible when it comes to looks). ‘Male’ or ‘female’ are not anywhere to be found in the list of qualities I find attractive.”
"Bisexual Basics", Karin Baker, 2002. source
Bisexual people are those for whom gender is not the first criteria in determining attraction.
"Suicide and Sexual Orientation in youth", 2003. source
Bisexual: A person who is attracted to people regardless of gender (a person does not have to have a relationship to be bisexual!)
Queer Glossary, 2003 source
Although bisexuals in general may or may not be more enlightened about gender issues, there has been, and continues to be, in most places around the country a strong connection between the transgender and the bisexual communities. Indeed, the two communities have been strong allies. Why is this? One reason certainly is, as I mentioned earlier, the significant number of people who are both bisexual and transgender.
Bi America: Myths, Truths, and Struggles of an Invisible Community, William Burleson, 2005
Apparently, it is valid for at least some bisexuals that they do not eroticise men and women as such, but that, as a result of their bisexual structure, they feel attracted to men and women who do not have one of the corresponding monosexual structures, but rather, who - like themselves - they eroticise the genders bisexually. That would mean that bisexuals mutually attract each other. In this case, bisexuality would establish a connection beyond gender binaries.
Concepts of Bisexuality, Journal of Bisexuality, 2008. source
Amy: […] But my friend’s question got me thinking: given the fact that so many bisexual friends and community members reject the idea that gender has to have a relation to attraction and behavior, why should I reject the bi label? Why did her question even come up? How relevant is gender to the concept of bisexuality? If bisexuals like me don’t care about gender the way monosexuals do, why would my identity label exclude my lovers’ gender variations?
Kim: …Like you, I’m a bi person who sees gender as fluid rather than fixed or dichotomous… I’ve also felt outside pressure to reject my bi identity based on the idea that it perpetuates the gender binary: woman/man. However, this idea reduces bisexual to “bi” and “sexual” and disregards the fact that it represents a history, a community, a substantial body of writing, and the right of the bisexual community to define ‘bisexuality’ on its own terms. Most importantly, this idea disregards how vital these things are for countless bi people. Identifying as bi doesn’t inherently mean anything, and it definitely doesn’t mean a person only recognizes two genders. However, to assume that bi-identified people exclude transgender, gender nonconforming (GNC), and genderqueer people also assumes they are not trans, GNC, or genderqueer themselves, when in fact, many are.
“Semantic Wars,” Bi Women, Kim Westrick and Amy Andre, 2009
2010s
As briefly mentioned above and interlinked with the notion of ‘importance of individuality’, the binary concepts of gender and the stereotypes surrounding these is a notion which each of the [bisexual] women interviewed fundamentally reject. The participants here were keen to distance themselves and their experiences of romantic relationships from any notion of hetero-normative gender boundaries, although they did agree that unfortunately these gender boundaries still exist in contemporary society. Most participants do not link gender boundaries with concepts of romantic love; it was stated that although sometimes gender boundaries can be seen in romantic relationships this is primarily down to socialisation and the unnecessary importance that hetero-normative society places on gender roles. Therefore, gender boundaries seen in romantic relationships are not constrained by gender but instead are a product of gendered socialisation. For these women, claiming their bisexual identity and their romantic relationships illustrates the futility of binary concepts of gender as it is about individual preference or style rather than gendered norms values and expectations.
“Bisexuality, Gender & Romantic Relationships,” Bi Community News, Emma Smith, 2012
Five Simple Reasons Why the “Binary” Argument Holds No Water:
1.) Historical context is important, so it's critical to note that, similar to “homosexuality” and “lesbianism,” “bisexuality” is a word reclaimed by the bisexual movement from the medical institution (specifically the DSM III which pronounced it a mental disease). The bi community itself had little to no influence over the formation and structure of the word, and simply did what gays and lesbians did: empowered their communities by claiming the word for themselves. Of course, no one would say that miserable people can't be "gay" because they're not happy or upbeat all the time. Nor are lesbians restricted to women who hail from the Greek island of Lesbos.
2.) For many bisexuals, the "bi" in "bisexual" refers not to male plus female, but to attraction to genders like our own, plus attraction to genders different from our own. In other words, it's the ability to move in two directions along a continuum of multiple genders.
3.) The bisexual movement emerged around the same time as the transgender movement. Thus, in its early stages, no language was available for the description of attraction to non-binary sexes and genders.
4.) The bisexual community cannot oppress the trans community (which is part of what these misconceptions claim) because we are not privileged among queers. In other words, we ourselves are being erased, just as is the trans community.
5.) Historically (and very much currently), the bisexual community has been one of the most accepting places toward transgender and genderqueer people. Our communities have always shared a very strong alliance.
"Way beyond the binary", from Biresource.net, 2013 source
Bisexual movements don't get enough credit for breaking the either/or of sexual orientation. And they did it long before gender scholars, activists and radicals came on the scene.
"My new Gender Workbook", Kate Bornstein, 2013
It may sound crazy but I’d never thought that carefully about the ‘bi’ part of the word meaning ‘two’. I’d always understood bisexuality to mean what Bobbie Petford reports as the preferred definition from within the UK bi communities: changeable ‘sexual and emotional attraction to people of any sex, where gender may not be a defining factor’. […] Participants in the BiCon discussion rejected the ‘you are a boy or you are a girl…binary’ (Lanei), all arguing that they were not straightforwardly ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’.
Because they discarded the dichotomous understanding of gender, participants rejected the ideas that they were attracted to ‘both’ men and women, arguing that they did not perceive gender as the defining feature in their attraction. Kim said: I don’t think actually gender is that relevant…gender is like eye colour, and I notice it sometimes, and sometimes it can be a bit of a feature it’s like “oo, that’s nice” and I have some sorts of gender types, but it’s about as important as something like eye colour.
As I came to realise that you can actually be bisexual…your desires and your attractions can wax and wane as time goes on, I realised that there was a parallel to gender: you don’t have to clearly define, you don’t have to cast off the male to be female and vice versa. Despite the fact that the conventional definition of the word ‘bisexual’ could be seen as perpetuating a dichotomous concept of gender, being attracted to both sexes, Georgina concluded that it could challenge conventional understandings of gender…
“Bisexuality & Gender,” Bi Community News (2014)
Bisexuality is an identity for which sex and gender are not a boundary to attraction. Heterosexuality and homosexuality, on the other hand, are defined by the boundary of two sexes/genders. Given those fundamental facts, any criticism of bisexuality as reinforcing a gender binary is misplaced. Over time, our society’s concept of human sex and gender may well change. For bisexuals, people for whom sex/gender is already not a boundary, any such change would have little effect. Why then, would bisexuality be even remotely to blame for reinforcing a “false gender binary?”
"Does identifying as bisexual enforce a false gender binary?", from bi.org, 2015 source
We do not deny that in actuality some bisexuals are too bound by traditional binary gender assumptions, just as many gay, lesbian, and heterosexual, and some trans people are too. Bisexuals, however, have been in the forefront of exploring desire and connection beyond sex and gender. When anyone accuses bisexuals, uniquely, as more binary and more transphobic than other identity groups, such targeting is not only inappropriate but is also rooted in biphobia — a fear and hatred of bi people for who we are and how we love.
Confusing the issue are the definitions in resource glossaries defining bisexual, most surprisingly in newly released books including textbooks. [...] These definitions arbitrarily define bisexual in a binary way and then present pansexual as a non-binary alternative. This opens the doorway to a judgment that pansexual identity is superior to bisexual identity because it ‘opens possibilities’ and is a ‘more fluid and much broader form of sexual orientation’. This judgmental conclusion is unacceptable and dangerous as it lends itself to perpetuating bisexual erasure. The actual lived non-binary history of the bisexual community and movement and the inclusive nature and community spirit of bisexuals are eradicated when a binary interpretation of our name for ourselves is arbitrarily assumed.
“Bi Organizing Since 1991,” Bi Any Other Name (New 25th Anniversary Edition), Lani Ka’ahumanu and Loraine Hutchins, 2015)
Loving a person rather than a man or a woman: this is Runa Wehrli’s philosophy. At 18, she defines herself as bisexual and speaks about it openly. […] She believes that love should not be confined by the barriers put up by society. ‘I fall in love with a person and not a gender,’ she says. […] Now single and just out of high school, she is leaving the door open to love, while still refusing to give it a gender.
‘I fall in love with a person and not a gender’, Swissinfo, Katy Romy, 2017
Bisexual isn't an outdated term, because it doesn't actually reinforce the gender binary at all, and much of the confusion around the term is rooted in misunderstanding. In fact, non-binary understandings of bisexuality have been around at least since at least 1990 (see Bisexual Manifesto).
Bi to me means that I'm attracted to people of similar and different genders, which fits me just fine. Bisexuals can be attracted to two or more genders, or any gender. It's a fairly broad identity.
Plenty of bi people define it as attraction to our own gender plus any number of genders that are not our own.
The bi- in bisexual refers to the sexuality being a combination of heterosexual and homosexual attractions, not that one is only attracted to two genders. While I understand people’s concern with the term as a non-binary person, since even my definition tends to group people into their gender presentation, I honestly feel as though the attack on 'bisexual' while 'homosexual' and 'heterosexual' are not attacked is problematic at best.
"Homosexual: being attracted to the same. Heterosexual: being attracted to the different. Bisexual: being attracted to both the same and the different. This understanding of the terms allows for attraction to everyone, including people who reject gender."
Interviews and personal anecdotes collected by Refinery29.com, 2018. source
In the heat of July [2009], and finally equipped with a word for “attracted to people regardless of gender”, I bounded out of Brighton station with that same best friend. At the time, I didn’t know that we bisexuals have our own flag…
“Why London Pride’s first bi pride float was so important,” The Queerness, Lois Shearing, 2018
Just as there are millions of ways to be straight, gay, lesbian, or asexual, there are as many ways to be bi as there are bi people. No one word can fully capture the nuances of personality, culture, beliefs, or personal preference; no word should try to. The term bisexuality makes no such pretense— it is a general and inclusive term that encompasses everyone; all sexes and all genders. That does not mean that bi people are attracted to everyone, merely that bi people’s attractions aren’t limited by sex or gender.
"The bi umbrella", from bi.org, 2019 source
Bisexuality just became, to me, about that openness — that openness to anything, and any potential to any type of relationship, regardless of gender. Gender is no longer a disqualifier for me. It’s about the person.
“Where Are All the Bi Guys?,” Two Bi Guys, Rob Cohen, 2019
My own understanding of bisexuality has changed dramatically over the years. I used to define bisexuality as ‘the potential to be attracted to people regardless of their gender.’ […] Alberto is attracted to the poles, to super-masculine guys and super-feminine girls. Others are attracted to masculinity and/or femininity, regardless of a person’s sex. Some of us who identify as bisexual are in fact ‘gender-blind.’ For others — in fact for me — it’s androgyny or the blending of genders that compels.
“What Does It Mean to Be Bi+?”, Bisexual Resource Center, Robin Ochs, publication date unknown