The other evening, I was chatting with a friend about the “B” in LGBT. I’m of the opinion that the B is as misunderstood as the T, maybe even more so. At one time, I would have said there was no thing as a real bisexual, although I don’t honestly believe that now. My experience had been that guys who identified as bi, were often guys who just couldn’t come to terms with calling themselves gay, and they thought bi made them seem more masculine. But I realize that there really are bisexuals (no need to hate on me, OK), ands it is possible that the mainstream gay community, and possibly the whole of the LGBT community don’t understand or know who they are.

Also recently, I’ve started a friendship (online) with a married guy who labels himself as Bisexual. To many gays, he might be seen as a closeted gay living a double life, but as I have begun to get to know him, I don’t think that is a fair assessment at all. If he identifies as Bi, why not accept that, rather than make value judgements? Self identification, is just that, self identification. It may be true that some people label themselves as Bi during a part of their journey towards self acceptance as gay or lesbian, and it is also true that there are others who simply understand their orientation as bi.

Imagine- wouldn’t it be awesome of there was a Bi-Pride event here in Pittsburgh this year. Or, at the very least a Bi organization. Philly has a group called BiUnity.

Along these lines, I saw this blog post today, and thought it was very good reading. Check it out!

Why I identify as bisexual and not pansexual | Bi radical.

OK, the post speaks to another distinction too- the difference between pansexual and bisexual, but I think you will get why I’ve added it here to my blog. And tell me what you think! In Pittsburgh, or more generally, is the Bisexual community really understood as part of LGBT? Are they welcome at the table, and how does the larger community make sure that bisexuals are involved in things labeled as for LGBT.

Photo by By juverna