Media Guide to Bisexuality and LGBT Reporting

Contact: Sheela Lambert

Email: info@biwriters.org

Expert bisexual speakers available upon request for media interviews.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Glossary

Tips for Journalists

Marriage Equality: Putting the B in LGBT

Senator Larry Craig, Bisexuality and Sexual Orientation

Bisexuality and Tila Tequila

Myths and Realities of Bisexuality

Ambisextrous in a Right-Handed World

Sexual and Affectional Orientation and Identity Scales

Famous Bisexuals in History

Bisexual Resources-National

Glossary

Note: Short Definitions are on top of page. Longer Explanations are below.

Bi or Bisexual

Person who has the capacity to be attracted to people of more than one gender romantically/and or sexually.

Biphobia

Fear, hatred or prejudice towards bisexual people, often based on inaccurate stereotypes.

Bisexual Erasure

Bisexual erasure is the attempt to erase, hide, eliminate or make invisible bisexual people, groups or organizations and bisexual contributions to the LGBT movement, culture or history or general society. Bisexual erasure is an outcome of biphobia.

Bi or Bisexual Identity

An identity of “bi” or “bisexual” is based on a person’s capacity for emotional, romantic and/or sexual attraction to people of more than one gender, and possibly, identification with the bi community. (Not everyone who is attracted to people of more than one gender chooses to identify as bisexual. Many people with multi-gender attractions identify as gay or straight.)

LGBT

Common abbreviation for “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender.”

LGBT Community

Used to more accurately describe the makeup of what is often referred to as the “gay community.” This community includes gay men, lesbians, bisexual people and transgender people.

Explanations

Biphobia

Fear, hatred or prejudice towards bisexual people, often based on inaccurate stereotypes. Also dismissing, ignoring, or erasing bisexual people. For example: saying that bisexual people don’t exist; that it is not a legitimate sexual orientation; that bis are merely slutty, oversexed or greedy; that bis are really gay but don’t want to admit it; that bis are liars or dilettantes; omitting the word bi or bisexual in the name of an organization or event that serves the whole LGBT community; or believing that bis don’t deserve equal status or inclusion because they are a minority in the LGBT community.

As bi activists have been increasingly successful (often in partnership with transgender activists) in lobbying to get “lesbian and gay” or “gay and lesbian” organizations and events to change their names to “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender” and to increasingly use the phrase “LGBT” instead of “gay” or “gay and lesbian” when describing our community: biphobia has been decreasing. The incorrect perception that people who self-identify as bi or bisexual are not really part of the LGBT community, have never contributed to the community or were not involved at the beginning of the movement are decreasing. So far, this has been more successful politically than socially as the same prejudices, stereotypes and assumptions about bisexual people and dating still exist.

Bisexual Erasure

Historically, since the beginning of the LGBT rights movement (commonly referred to as the “gay rights movement” or “lesbian and gay rights movement”—an example of bisexual erasure) the word bisexual has been left off of the names of organizations and events that serve the entire LGBT community. Not one major national organization (that is not specifically bisexual) l has the word “bi” or “bisexual” in the title. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, The Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association, and the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project are all examples of this phenomenon. The names of these organizations were decided when the practice of bisexual erasure in LGBT organization-naming was common. If those organizations were being named today, the names would most likely have been formulated to be more inclusive—however, none of these organizations has volunteered to change their established names in order to address this inequity. They all have made efforts to be more LGBT-inclusive in their mission statements as well as their literature and websites than in the past—but this effort has been inconsistent and spotty. Every year there are multiple instances where these organizations (as well as those without a problematic name such as Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal and Freedom to Marry demonstrate their lack of commitment to an inclusive policy and put out press releases, fund-raising literature, website resources and give speeches that either completely or mostly erase bisexual (and transgender) people.

The mainstream media, taking its cues from “gay and lesbian” organizations and their spokespeople, continues this bisexual erasure in their news reporting on the LGBT community and on LGBT-related issues. The rare instances that bisexuality is mentioned in the mainstream media are usually when covering AIDS transmission to heterosexual women from men on the “down low” or stories on cheating spouses. This coverage is rarely balanced with any positive coverage of bisexual people or issues. Bisexual people who are famous for their contributions to society in the arts or other professions are often erroneously described as “gay” in both the gay and mainstream media. Gay media outlets are inconsistent in their usage of inclusive language and 50% or more of their articles use terms such as “gay and lesbian” when terms like “LGBT,” “lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender” or “same-sex” would be more accurate.

Bi or Bisexual Identity

Although the words bi and bisexual imply that there are two genders of people to be attracted to (female and male), as understanding of the spectrum of transgender possibilities has increased, understanding of the implications on a bi identity have increased also: updating the definition of bisexual. Some people of bisexual experience choose alternative words to express that understanding such as pansexual, ambisexual, fluid, omnisexual or queer. Some feel themselves to be “beyond labels.” The famous quote by bisexual rock star Michael Stipe (REM) “Labels are for soup cans” expresses that sensibility.

Many come to a bi identity after identifying as either straight or gay first. Heterosexism leads many to assume the “default” label of heterosexual until proven otherwise. Some transition first to a gay or lesbian identity, especially if the word or concept of bisexuality is either unknown to that person or has been denigrated so that it doesn’t seem like an appealing option--even when the person’s feelings most closely match that identity. Often, well meaning friends or “experts” assume the person who expresses bisexual feelings must actually be gay (because they themselves went through a transitional identity as bisexual before settling into a gay identity, or they were advised by a gay person who believes this.) A bi person need not have had equal sexual or romantic experience with men and women, in fact, they need not have had any sexual experience to claim a bi identity: feelings of romantic or sexual attraction are sufficient. As a society, we presume heterosexuality from birth. If we can presume that, we cannot say someone is too young or too inexperienced to claim otherwise.

The feelings of a child or teenager who has early crushes on both girls and boys should not be discounted, in fact, they should be given extra weight. As a society, we presume heterosexuality from birth and reinforce it socially from infancy and toddlerhood up. For example telling a baby girl “You are beautiful and all the boys will love you!” or telling a boy toddler “You’re a handsome guy and all the girls will be after you!” or asking a first grader how many boyfriends she has are all common ways we talk to children. Children who display early bisexual tendencies, therefore, are expressing their inner nature as they have not yet had any bisexual influences.

As an identity label, some prefer the term bi to bisexual because they feel it more closely matches the transition from homosexual to gay or lesbian and indicates a broader focus on love relationships, community and culture rather than solely on sexuality. Some prefer bisexual because they don’t want to de-sex the label or feel it’s more traditional and recognizable. As Carol Queen, noted bisexual erotica author, says: “Sex is our middle name!” Many use the two terms interchangeably. Some people who describe themselves the same way as those who use the label bi prefer other labels such as pansexual, queer, omnisexual, ambisexual or fluid.

TIPS FOR JOURNALISTS

All discrimination and legal issues that affect gay men and lesbians impact bisexual people also. When doing “gay rights” stories, interview bisexual people as examples of how this issue has affected an LGBT person.

Remember the “B” in LGBT
Contact bi activists, writers and researchers when reporting on bisexual issues.
Write positive stories on bisexual issues.

When reporting on scientific research on bisexuality, solicit information and opinions from qualified experts in the appropriate scientific discipline so that coverage does not overstate or misstate the implications of new research. (J. Michael Bailey and his colleagues are not considered reputable.)
Consider your terminology:

Preferred: bisexual

Problematic: bi-sexual

Preferred: “LGBT community” “Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community”

Problematic: “gay community” “gay and lesbian community”

Preferred: “LGBT rights”

Preferred: “civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people”

Problematic: “gay rights” “gay and lesbian rights”

Preferred: “same-sex couple”

Problematic: “gay couple”

“GAY RIGHTS” - Bisexual people are discriminated against in all the same ways as gays and lesbians and we need the same civil rights. Bisexual people are fired from jobs, bashed coming out of LGBT clubs and in the street, can’t legally marry their same-sex partner in 49 states, are kicked out of the military.

“GAYS IN THE MILITARY” - Bisexual people are also in the military and also get kicked out for being bisexual.

“GAY MARRIAGE” – Bisexual people also marry and commit to same-sex partners.

HIV/AIDS: Unprotected sex spreads HIV infection--not sex with a bisexual person.

MEDIA DON’TS:

Don’t discuss bisexual issues without a bisexual person on the panel. Just as you wouldn’t discuss racism without people of color on the panel.

Dont run a child molestation segment following a segment pertaining to sexual orientation. By doing so you are unfairly linking the two issues together in people’s minds.

DON’T ASSUME:

Don’t assume a man is gay because he has a boyfriend. Don’t assume a woman is straight because she has a husband. Both of those people could be bisexual. A person’s orientation is not determined by the gender of their current partner.

Don’t buy into the “one drop theory.” People assume that “one drop” of gayness negates the rest of a person’s relationship and sexual history. If someone has “gay” sex, they must be gay and their opposite-sex relationships are assumed to be inauthentic. Many people enjoy sex with men and women and are capable of loving a man, or a women, or both at once.

Don’t assume a person is not bisexual because they are transgender. Many transgender people also identify as “queer” or “bi” and some bisexual people identify as transgender to some degree.

FILM, TELEVISION, LITERATURE: Any story where a character goes from an opposite sex relationship to a same sex relationship…could be bisexual. Don’t automatically assume that character is gay/lesbian.

Marriage Equality: Putting the B in LGBT

PREFFERRED: Marriage equality for same-sex couples -or-

Marriage equality for all people

PROBLEMATIC: Marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples

PREFFERRED: Marriage is important for LGBT families

PROBLEMATIC: Marriage is important for gay and lesbian families

PREFFERRED: Fighting marriage discrimination -or-

Opposed to marriage discrimination

INCLUSIVE: Use an example of a same sex couple where one or both partners are bi

(when generalizing about who is being discriminated against) -or-

use specific examples from attached list of Bi Spokespeople on Marriage Equality.

Marriage and the Bi Community

Many bisexual people have married a same-sex partner or want to. Right now, people who want to marry a same-sex partner are being discriminated against, including bisexuals.

When discussing marriage equality, the terms “lesbian and gay couples” and “lesbian and gay families” are often used as generalities. A relationship between two people of the same sex cannot be assumed to be a “gay couple” or a “lesbian couple.” A same sex couple could easily consist of a bi woman and a lesbian, a bi man and a gay man, two bi women or two bi men. This is not hypothetical, it is reality (see attached.) Please refrain from using the term “lesbian couple” or gay couple” unless you are describing a couple who have both identified themselves as lesbian or gay. For generalizing, please use terms like “same-sex couples” or “LGBT families.”

A bi person doesn’t become gay or lesbian when they commit to a same-sex relationship. A bisexual person has the capacity to be attracted to people of more than one gender. But they do not magically become either “straight” or “gay” based on the gender of their partner.

Additionally, a transgender person who doesn’t identify as solely male or female or an intersex person could be in a relationship with a person of any gender. (Some in the bi community prefer terms such as omnisexual, pansexual, ambisexual, fluid, queer or prefer no labels at all.)

Transgender People, Intersex People and their Partners: State laws and judicial decisions vary from state to state. Some recognize gender transition and some don’t. In one state, a transsexual person may only legally marry a woman, and in another state, may only marry a man. If they move to another state, their whole marriage can be invalidated and a legal nightmare would ensue. Some transgender folks don’t identify with only one gender but identify as multi-gendered, genderqueer or genderless. Many transgender people are bisexual or attracted to other transgender people whose gender is undefined. Intersex people literally embody both sexes. The only solution to ensure access to marriage for all is to eliminate gender restrictions on marriage.

Contact: Sheela Lambert info@biwriters.org 212-928-3558 www.biwriters.org

Senator Larry Craig, Bisexuality and Sexual Orientation

Questions: How could a married guy like Senator Craig wind up in this situation?

Is he gay? Is he straight? Is he bisexual?

What is this "men who have sex with men" thing Dr. Drew's been talking about?

Answers: First we have to clarify a few things.

There are three categories: identity, orientation and behavior. We are using the same words to describe these three categories, even though they are different.

Identity: How people identify themselves. What label they call themselves. (Bi, Gay, Lesbian or Straight -or- Bisexual, Homosexual or Heterosexual)

Orientation: Who a person is capable of being attracted to.
(Specifically: what gender or genders a person is capable of being romantically and/or sexually attracted to--not just who they are in a relationship with right now or who they've been with in the past.) Same words: (Bi or Bisexual, Gay/Lesbian or Homosexual, Straight or Heterosexual, etc.)

Note: A person's orientation can be different from their identity but we use the same words to describe the two different things. This is where the confusion comes in.

Larry Craig identifies as "straight" or "heterosexual." But his behavior indicates he may either be bisexual or gay in his orientation--who he is capable of being attracted to.

Another point of confusion: people tend to jump right from straight to gay without considering bisexual as a possibility. When Sen. Craig claims "I am not gay," he may be telling the truth (while lying about everything else.)

Behavior: A third category for which the same words (heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual) are used. Refers to what gender/s a person has been having sex with, regardless of attraction or identity, and therefore who they could, potentially, spread a disease to.

No wonder people are confused! We are using the same words to describe three different things!

Q. What is "bisexual" orientation?
The capacity to be romantically, emotionally and/or sexually attracted to people of more than one gender. Bisexual people need not have had equal sexual experience with both men and women; and they need not be equally attracted to both either.

Q. What is bi or bisexual identity?
A person who uses the bi or bisexual label as part of their identity, either publicly, or to themselves. Most people who identify as bi or bisexual are openly bi or "out of the closet" to some degree.

Q. What is this "men who have sex with men" thing Dr. Drew's been talking about?

MSM or "men who have sex with men" is a category used by Center for Disease Control and others to describe men who are having sex with other men but don’t identify as gay or bisexual. Most identify as straight and have wives or girlfriends, but also have sex with men. We don’t know their exact orientation, only their circumstances.

Dr. Drew described Sen. Larry Craig as fitting the category of "men who have sex with men" because he is married and publicly identifies as straight, yet has sex with men.

Q. What if I am attracted to a transgender or intersex person?

The label bisexual still applies to you, but some people prefer pansexual, queer, omnisexual, ambisexual, fluid or just hate labels altogether.

Tila Tequila's shot at fame is no exercise in bisexual education

By Sheela Lambert

[Published on Huffington Post Oct 11, 2007]

Tila Tequila's reality dating show on MTV is a fun, fluffy, guilty pleasure type of show. Tila is a hottie and a flirt, and so are many of the contestants. Every single one of the boys and girls were wowed by her and she is undoubtedly beautiful, sexy, charming, poised, spontaneous and entertaining. She doubles as star and host, and is obviously in control. She also has a great speaking voice that is deeper than what you'd expect from her little girl looks and tiny frame.

Because there has been such a dearth of bi people and characters on TV, and because this show has a bisexual star, some people expect this series to show them what bisexual people are all about. It doesn’t. Some journalists and talk show hosts have implied that Tila Tequila represents all bisexual people. She doesnt. This show is not an exercise in education about bisexuality, so don’t expect to learn much about us from watching it.

As a bisexual woman, I enjoy seeing anything bisexual on TV. But I know who I am and don’t need a show to explain it. I have met hundreds of bisexual people and know they run the gamut of professions, colors, religions, ethnic backgrounds, relationship status, financial levels, countries of origin, levels of education, disabilities, numbers of children or child free, fashion sensibilities, interests, hobbies and political opinions.

The only thing about bisexuality this show demonstrates so far, is Tila's ability to find both women and men attractive. Many non-bisexual people (AKA "monosexuals") have difficulty understanding how a bisexual person could be attracted to people of more than one gender, because they themselves can't. So they doubt bisexual people exist and think of us as similar to Unicorns...a myth. Tila certainly shows that we exist, but what impression of bisexual people does this show give off?

She flirts with almost every boy and girl on the show in the first episode. There were 16 straight guys and 16 lesbians...you do the math. She socialized with each gender separately, so the guys didnt know about the female contestants and the girls never saw the guys. By her own admission, Tila lied to all of them before the show even started taping. The straight guys were led to believe she is straight and the lesbians were told she is gay. Next week, in episode two, they are told the truth and discover they are not only competing against each other but against a whole other gender.

We applaud MTV for being the first to star a bisexual woman on a dating show, and an Asian-American woman at that. Of course we are in favor of having an openly bisexual person on a TV show, but that openness was undercut by lying to participants about Tila's bisexual orientation. Of course, this is the stuff of reality dating shows and more and more often there have been deceptive twists on similar shows. But hearing Tila say she lied to everyone to get them on the show, made me cringe.

The bi community spends much of it's time fighting stereotypes and myths that don’t accurately reflect who we are. People tend to associate us solely with our sexuality and forget that, like everyone else, we have other aspects to our lives. We fear that this show is more likely to add fuel to the fire of bisexual stereotypes, than to put them out.

I hope that journalists will present this show as what it is: an entertaining, MTV reality dating show that happens to have a bisexual star. Tila Tequila is a shrewd self-promoter. But she is promoting herself, not the bisexual community.

Of course, if anyone gets the impression from watching the show that all bisexual people are hotter and more desirable than everyone else...that part is accurate!

Myths & Realities of Bisexuality

Adapted from “Myths/realities of bisexuality” by Sharon Forman Sumpter in Bi Any Other Name

MYTH: Bisexual people are promiscuous, swingers or are just oversexed.

TRUTH: Bisexual people have a range of sexual behaviors. Some have one partner; some have multiple partners; some go through partnerless periods. Promiscuity is no more prevalent in the bisexual population than in other groups of people.

MYTH: Bisexuality doesn’t exist.

TRUTH: People who are attracted to both men and women make up 2-25 % of the population, depending on the study. (By comparison: African-Americans make up about 12 %.) The 2002 National Survey of Family Growth found that nearly 13 % of women and nearly 6 % of men said they were attracted to both men and women and 2% specifically identified as bisexual.

MYTH: Bisexual men don’t exist.

TRUTH: The bisexual community is full of bisexual men.

MYTH: Everyone is bisexual.

TRUTH: Many people’s sexuality is more fluid than their label. But there really are some people who are exclusively gay or straight.

MYTH: All women are bisexual.

TRUTH: Sorry, but not true. Although according to some studies, there are twice as many bisexual women than bisexual men.

MYTH: Bisexuals are equally attracted to both sexes.

TRUTH: Some are, but some bisexual people tend to favor either the same or the opposite sex, while recognizing their attraction to both genders.

MYTH: Being bisexual means having a male and female lover at the same time.

TRUTH: Bisexual simply means the potential for involvement with either gender. This may mean sexually, emotionally, in reality, or in fantasy. Some bisexual people may have concurrent lovers; others may relate to different genders at various time periods. Most bisexuals do not need to see both genders in order to feel fulfilled.

MYTH: Bisexuals are just on the slow train to Gayville.

TRUTH: Bisexuality is a legitimate sexual orientation which incorporates gayness. Many are quite active in the LGBT community, both socially and politically. Some of us use terms such as "bisexual lesbian" to increase our visibility on both issues.

MYTH: Bisexuals are in "transition."

TRUTH: Some people go through a transitional period of bisexuality on their way to adopting a lesbian/gay or heterosexual identity. For many others, bisexuality remains a long-term orientation. Identifying as lesbian or gay is often a transitional phase in the coming-out process for bisexual people.

MYTH: Bisexuals are confused about their sexuality.

TRUTH: It is natural for both bisexuals and gays to go through a period of confusion in the coming-out process. When you are an oppressed people and are constantly told that you don't exist, confusion is an appropriate reaction until you come out to yourself and find a supportive environment. Also: well-meaning gay friends of bisexuals often tell them their feelings toward the opposite sex are residual and will fade away after spending time in the gay community. So they identify as gay for months or years before realizing they are in fact, bisexual.

MYTH: Bisexuality is not natural, no animals are bisexual.

TRUTH: Most animal species are bisexual in much higher percentages then the human population.

MYTH: Bisexuals spread HIV/AIDS.

TRUTH: Unprotected sex spreads HIV infection--not sex with a bisexual person.

MYTH: Bisexuals can hide in the heterosexual community when the going gets tough.

TRUTH: To "pass" for straight and deny your bisexuality is just as painful and damaging for a bisexual person as it is for a gay person. People who openly identify as bisexual are not trying to pass.

We are all unique; we don't fit into neat little categories. We sometimes need to use labels for personal, political or scientific reasons or to increase our visibility. Acknowledging and accepting the differences and seeing the beauty in our diversity is a wonderful thing.

Ambisextrous in a Right-Handed World:
A Tutorial on Bisexuality

Remember the dark ages (the 50's?) when, because most people were right-handed, left-handedness and being ambidextrous were considered deviant or wrong? Left-handed and ambidextrous kids were forced to write right-handed in school because right-handedness was considered normal, therefore correct. Now, everyone looks back on this as being very silly, narrow-minded and destructive. Think of human sexuality the same way.

The human brain tends to regard with suspicion anything different from what it's used to and the majority decides what's normal. Straight people think "gayness" (homosexuality or bisexuality) is deviant and monosexuals (straight and gay people) think bisexuality is deviant...therefore automatically wrong. Someday, our society is going to look back on this and realize that condemning gay and bisexual people and expecting us to change to heterosexual is just as silly as condemning left-handed and ambidextrous people used to be and expecting them to deny what was natural to them and forcing them to conform to right-handedness.

Bisexual people shouldnt have to apologize for having the gift of being able to be attracted to or love people of any gender. Non-bisexual people may see it in a negative light, but to me it is a wonderful thing. I feel it is, in a way, a very spiritual perspective to be able to see closer to the soul of both men and women without the barrier of monosexuality. For some of us, transgender people also. It's almost like having a superpower or spiritual ability that you were just born with and that monosexual people are unable to experience. It's not their fault...they were born that way.

Sexual and Affectional Orientation and Identity Scales

By Bobbi Keppel & Alan Hamilton

Introduction

New concepts and new research offer opportunities to change the way people understand and conceptualize sexual orientation.[1] This article explains how we use these ideas in teaching about sexual minorities.

Bobbi Keppel has tested this material with many groups in the last year. Whether they are heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual, many of the attendees report thinking differently about sexual orientation after these presentations. They say they are able to ask questions and discuss sexual orientation more easily when they use the common vocabulary and the model shown here. Frequently, this is the first time that people with several different identities have been able to find their commonalities and discuss their experiences and differences with understanding and acceptance.

The Klein Scale (Figure 3) and directions for filling it out (Using the Klein Scale) are grouped together in this file.

Use of a 3-dimensional visual model helps people see how sexual orientation is a complex construct made up of several different aspects or components. These aspects of sexual orientation may be represented either as cards which form a deck, or as slabs which form a block (see Figure 3).

In an intimate workshop setting, we encourage attendees to fill in a copy of the Klein scale, and ask those who are comfortable doing so to share their choices. There are usually enough interesting differences among people who share a sexual identity, and enough similarities between people who have different sexual identities, that many of the concepts in the Implications and Points to Make section at the end of this article are illustrated very clearly. In a less intimate setting, such as a lecture presentation, we bring up the points that we want people to hear and see. We then send them away with a copy of the Klein scale to mull over.

The rest of this article is the text of our presentation, including points to make during each presentation. Drawing figures freehand on a chalk board or overhead projector during the presentation makes it more visually interesting and encourages questions from and interaction with the attendees.

Kinsey

For many of us, our first concept of sexual orientation was simply that everyone was either heterosexual or homosexual. Period.

The Kinsey Heterosexual-Homosexual Scale provided our first reconceptualization of sexual orientation. On the Kinsey scale, sexual behavior is represented as a continuum from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual (see Figure 1.) To make it easier to quantify behavior for research purposes, the scale has 7 equal, numbered intervals, but it is a contimuum and in-between points (such as 1.5 or 2.67) may be used.

Using the Kinsey Scale

To use the Kinsey scale, choose a point on the continuum which corresponds to your relative amounts of sexual experiences with the same sex and with the other sex in your life up to now.

Klein[2]

When Fritz Klein et al. extended the conceptualization of sexual orientation far beyond Kinsey's earlier work, they offered us a chance to broaden our understanding further.[3]

The Klein Sexual Orientation Grid uses 7 classifications (the same number as Kinsey) and uses less emotionally "loaded" reference point descriptions (see Figure 2.)

Klein examines the element of time in more detail than Kinsey. He asks about sexual behavior during the present (the most recent 12 months,) the past (up to 12 months ago,) and the ideal (which is as close as one can get to intention and prediction of future behavior.) At this point in a presentation, we draw two more scales, and label the three scales Past, Present, and Ideal (see Figure 3).

The biggest change from previous work is Klein's inclusion of many aspects of sexual orientation in addition to sexual behavior. These include sexual attraction, sexual fantasies, emotional preference, social preference, lifestyle preference, and sexual identity. (Keppel and Hamilton add political identity, and both Klein and Keppel and Hamilton have refined the reference point descriptions to be successively more descriptive and less emotionally "loaded.")[4]

We represent the aspects of sexual orientation as a stack of cards (see Figure 3.) Each card represents a particular aspect of sexual orientation (sexual attraction, social preference, etc.) Each card has three time scales (past, present, ideal.) Taken together, a deck of cards gives a view of several aspects of a person's sexual orientation over time, and can be used as a basis for discussing sexual orientation and identifying commonalities and differences.

Using the Klein Scale

To use the Klein scale, on each card choose one point on each of the three time scales. Each scale represents a continuum, so you may pick points which are not at any of the reference points. For instance, if you feel that you are halfway between reference points 1 and 2 on a scale, you can describe that as 1.5 or 1-1/2.

The time scales are:

Past: Your life up to 12 months ago.
Present: The most recent 12 months
Ideal: What do you think you would eventually like?

For this explanation of the aspects of sexual orientation, we start with the card at the top of the page (the rear-most card in the deck), and work our way forward:

Sexual Attraction: To whom are you sexually attracted?

Sexual Behavior: With whom have you actually had sex?

Sexual Fantasies: Whom are your sexual fantasies about? (They may occur during masturbation, daydreaming, as part of real life, or purely in your imagination.)

Emotional Preference: Emotions influence, if not define, the actual physical act of love. Do you love and like only members of the same sex, only members of the other sex, or members of both sexes.

Social Preference: Social preference is closely allied with but often different from emotional preference. With members of which sex do you socialize?

(different reference point descriptions are used for the remaining aspects.)

Lifestyle Preference: What is the sexual identity of the people with whom you socialize? (Add "All" as a choice for each scale on this card.)

Sexual Identity: How do you think of yourself?

Political Identity: Some people describe their relationship to the rest of society differently than their personal sexual identity. For instance, a woman may have a heterosexual sexual identity, but a lesbian political identity. How do you think of yourself politically?

------- End Figure 3: Aspects of Sexual Orientation -------

Implications and Points To Make

Sexual identity (how people think of themselves) sometimes has little to do with their sexual behavior. Three different people may have the same distribution of sexual behavior in the past and/or present, but have three different sexual identities: homosexual, bisexual, or heterosexual. This may be confusing at first, but is important to remember. This point is often useful in helping people to understand that just because someone has a different sexual identity does not necessarily mean that that person's sexual behavior is different from their own. Conversely, the fact that someone else has the same sexual identity does not mean that that person's sexual behavior is the same as their own.

People who think of themselves as bisexual, heterosexual, or homosexual may find they are quite similar in some aspects and different in others. For example, in choosing people to spend time with in social activities, most women hang out with women and most men hang out with men. That is, both women and men show a social preference for members of the same sex. According to many national surveys, whether their sex is male or female, and whether their sexual identity is homosexual, bisexual, or heterosexual, most people have an emotional preference for women as close friends. We may all be more alike than we think.

Klein's research and the experience of many people indicates that sexual identity can be fluid (at least for some people), and can change from one period of a person's life to another. A person's identity may move to a new position on the continuum; that is,

a heterosexual may change to a bisexual or homosexual identity;

a bisexual may change to a homosexual or heterosexual identity;

a homosexual may change to a bisexual or heterosexual identity.

Many people were sure that they would be, for instance, heterosexual all their lives, but discovered later that they no longer were. It therefore behooves one to treat others as one would like to be treated, regardless of one's current sexual identity, because one's sexual identity may change.

Both Kinsey's and Klein's work gives some evidence that older people are more likely to have been sexual with both sexes than are younger people. This contradicts conventional wisdom, which says that sexual experimentation is common among youths but uncommon among adults.

Despite the fact that someone may have had different sexual identities at different times, each sexual identity was appropriate and valid for that person in its time.

In some areas, the Lesbian and Gay male communities take the position that bisexuals are not welcome in the Lesbian and Gay communtites, that they do not exist, and/or that they are "traitors to the cause" and "sleeping with the enemy." This collection of attitudes is often termed "biphobia." It usually occurs with greater frequency and virulence in Lesbian communities, where it is associated with negative feelings about and political action against patriarchy and women's oppression. It is also clearly present in Gay male communities, often in the more subtle form of deprecation and ridicule of bisexual identity. In biphobic communities, an individual who might otherwise identify as bisexual may choose to suppress attractions to and activities with one gender or the other in order to identify as either heterosexual or homosexual. Alternatively, a person may switch back and forth, trying alternately to identify as homosexual or heterosexual.

Where there is no information about and support for bisexuality, a person may identify as heterosexual or homosexual, or alternate between them.

Footnotes

[1] "Sexual orientation" and "sexual preference" have often been used interchangeably. To emphasize that how a person thinks of herself or himself is often not a matter of choice (preference), the politically correct term has become "sexual orientation."

[2] Bobbi Keppel and Alan Hamilton have adapted Klein, et al. (op. cit.) by using a scale like Kinsey's.

[3] Klein, Fritz, M.D., Barry Sepekoff, PhD., and Timothy J. Wolf, PhD., "Sexual Orientation: A Multi-Variable Dynamic Process," in Bisexuality: A Reader and Sourcebook, edited by Thomas Geller, Times Change Press,1990.

[4] Discuss social preference and emotional preference from Implications and Points to Make section.

[5] Graphic consultation by Wilma Keppel.

About the Authors

Bobbi Keppel is a social worker. She is the Coordinator of the Maine Bisexual People's Network, is a co-founder of the Unitarian-Universalist Bisexual Network (later merged with Interweave), and served on the Advisory Board of the East Coast Bisexual Network. She is a trainer for the Welcoming Congregations program in the Northeast District.

Alan Hamilton is a former president of the East Coast Bisexual Network (a.k.a. the Bisexual Resource Center) and a co-founder of the Unitarian-Universalist Bisexual Network (later merged with Interweave). He has served as newsletter editor for the Boston Bisexual Men's Network and as Treasurer of the East Coast Bisexual Network, and has participated in the organization of several retreats and conferences for Bisexual and Bi-friendly people.

This pamphlet is published by the Bisexual Resource Center. You are welcome to reproduce and distribute it with your group's contact information at the bottom of this column. Please send a $10 donation for each flyer that is useful enough to you to reproduce, to support the publication of new literature. Additional donations to support the work of the BRC will be enthusiastically welcomed. [See our order form for more information; pamphlets are available folded or flat and ready for copying.] For more information and literature, write or call:

Bisexual Resource Center
P.O. Box 1026
Boston, MA 02117-1026, USA.
Phone 617-424-9595
Email: <brc@biresource.org>

Famous Bisexuals in History

and people whose love life/sexual history includes more than one gender

or who have publicly expressed bisexual attraction

List compiled by Sheela Lambert

**** 249 listings and counting… ****

Note: the word “out” in a listing indicates those who are publicly out as bi (or its equivalent: omnisexual, pansexual, ambisexual, I am attracted to men and women, etc.) or who has made a public statement. Listings of people whose bisexuality has been uncovered by posthumous research will site a source, such as a biography. Listings of people who have publicly expressed a casual bisexual attraction will contain the word “maybe” or a quote, but will not have the word “out” in the listing.

See bottom of list for explanation of sources, source codes, history of the list and how to add someone to the list.

Christina Aguilera – singer (out, quoted Advocate March 16, 2004 p.10 & “I find it hornier looking at women than men. Sorry, I love experimenting with my sexuality. If that means with girls, so be it.” Zoo, Jan 2004)
Alvin Ailey – choreographer/dancer (autobio Revelations)
Pharaoh Akhenaten – married to Queen Nefertiti (disputed,W)
Alexander The Great*
Michael Alig – party promoter/club kid/murderer (subject of movie Party Monster)
Krista Allen – actress (out, W)
Peter Allen – singer/songwriter, Liza’s former husband and subject of Broadway show: The Boy From Oz (out, see lyrics to song Bi Coastal)
Jonathan Ames – former New York Press columnist, Guggenheim fellowship author of Wake Up Sir, The Extra Man, I Pass Like Night, editor Sexual Metamorphosis: An Anthology of Transsexual Memoirs. (writes about sex with women, men and male to female transsexuals)
Brett Anderson - lead singer of British group Suede (wrote song entitled Bi)
Susan B. Anthony – activist*
Greg Araki - filmmaker: Nowhere, The Living End, Totally F***ed Up (out)
Billie Joe Armstrong – lead singer, guitarist and songwriter for Green Day (out, Advocate Jan 24, 1995)
Saint Augustine – theologian*
Richard Avedon – photographer (W)
Joan Baez – singer/songwriter (autobio)
Josephine Baker – singer, actress, dancer
Tallulah Bankhead – actress (bio by David Bret)
Ann Bannon – iconic author of Odd Girl Out, Beebo Brinker, Women in the Shadows. Was married with 2 kids when she began her writing career. Wrote seminal bi/lesbian pulp novels in the pre-Stonewall 50’s and 60’s.
Djuna Barnes – writer (bio by Phillip Herring)
Drew Barrymoore – actress/producer (out)
Cecil Beaton – photographer/set & costume designer (bio by Hugo Vickers)
Simone de Beauvoir – writer/feminist
Sandra Bernhard - comedian, entertainer (out, “I don’t think there’s any difference between what I find sexy in men or women.” Lesbian News Feb, 1998)
Sarah Bernhardt – stage actress*
Leonard Bernstein – conductor/composer (W + personal source says he was known on their college campus for being a Don Juan with both sexes.)
Amy Bloom – author (out)
Anne Bonny – pirate (lost title and author of book source, trying to recover)
David Bowie - singer, actor (autobio of wife Angela Bowie, first person verification by known source)
Angela Bowie – author, ex-wife of David Bowie (autobio)
Paul Bowles - writer, composer*
Marlon Brando - actor ("Like a large number of men, I, too, have had homosexual experiences, and I am not ashamed." bio The Only Contender by Gary Carey)
Susie Bright – author/sexpert (out)
Louise Brooks – actress (bio by Barry Paris)
Romaine Brooks – painter (W)
Gioia Bruno – singer, formerly of the 80’s pop group Expose (out)
Bryher – poet*
President James Buchanan (maybe, Sex Lives of the Presidents by Nigel Cawthorne)
William S. Burroughs – beat writer (out, see autobio Naked Lunch)
Richard Burton – actor (maybe, seeking additional source)*
Lord Byron – poet*
Julius Caesar – Emperor* (Julius Caesar's sexual escapades were such that according to Suetonius the elder Curio, in one of his speeches called him "every woman's man and every man's woman.")
Patrick (formerly Pat) Califia – writer (out as bi and FTM transgender)
Nell Carter – actress Gimme a Break (People Magazine 2/20/2003)
Dora Carrington – painter (bio by Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina)
Michael Chabon – author (out, W see Mysteries of Pittsburgh page, NY Review of Books Vol 52, #10, 6/9/2005, wrote Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Wonder Boys, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay)
John Cheever – writer* (autobio/BB)
Margaret Cho – comedienne/actress (married and out about having had sex w/women)
Jan Claussen – author
Montgomery Clift – actor (bio by Patricia Bosworth)
Kurt Cobain – singer/songwriter of Nirvana (out, “…I’m definitely gay in spirit and I probably could be bisexual…[I]f I wouldn’t have found Courtney, I probably would have carried on with a bisexual lifestyle.” Advocate, Feb 1992, “What else could I say, Everyone is gay” lyrics All Apologies .)
Jean Cocteau – french writer & filmmaker: Beauty and the Beast (W)
Claudette Colbert – actress (Wisecracker by William J. Mann)
Colette - novelist, actress*
Gary Cooper – actor (Wisecracker by William J. Mann)
Katherine Cornell – actress*
Senator Larry Craig – US Senator (married, right-wing, anti-gay voting Republican senator was arrested and pled guilty in men’s room sex sting. He later recanted but no one believed him and he was forced to resign by his own party.)
Joan Crawford – actress (Hollywood Lesbians by Boze Hadleigh)
Countee Cullen - poet (library named after him in Harlem)*
Alan Cumming – actor (out)
Wendy Curry – bi activist and president of BiNetUSA
Tony Curtis – actor (out, "I was 22 when I arrived in Hollywood in 1948. I had more action than Mount Vesuvius; men, women, animals! I loved it too. I participated where I wanted to and didn't where I didn't. I've always been open about it." Quote from British gay magazine Attitude 2002, as reported by IMDb.) W
Julie Cypher--music video director, former partner of Mellissa Ethridge for many years with whom she has two children. Was married to actor Lou Diamond Phillips before Ethridge and married a man again in 2004.
Stephen Daldry – director of The Hours (out)
Ram Dass – spiritual teacher, author of Be Here Now (out, Gay Soul 1994)
Dave Davies – guitarist The Kinks (autobio Kink,W)
Ron Davies – British politician, former Secretary of State for Wales (out)
James Dean – actor (bio by Donald Spoto)
Cameron Diaz – actress (maybe, “I had a major girl crush on Pamela Anderson. Still do—she’s hot as ever—but she was my first.” …more in Advocate p.23 12/19/2006)
Andy Dick – actor (out)
Emily Dickinson – poet*
Marlene Dietrich – actress (bio by Donald Spoto, The Girls by McLellan)
Ani DiFranco – singer/songwriter (out)
Barry Diller – media mogul (formerly known as gay, now married to Diane von Fürstenberg, fashion designer)
Diane Di Prima – beat poet/writer (autobio)
Stephen Donaldson (Donny the Punk) – activist, (out) Founded the first LGBT rights student group: the Student Homophile League (SHL) at Columbia University in 1966 and helmed the group Stop Prison Rape after being raped in prison.
Lord Alfred Douglas, “Bosie” – poet, lover of Oscar Wilde (W, also see Natalie Barney listing)
Isadora Duncan – dancer (multi bio The Girls by McLellan)
Carmen Electra – actress (formerly married to bi musician Dave Navarro, now publicly dating out lesbian musician Joan Jett)
Brett Easton Ellis – writer: Less Than Zero, American Psycho, The Rules of Attraction. (In his novel Lunar Park the main character named Brett Easton Ellis has “numerous affairs w/both sexes.” A characteristic shared by the author according to Time 8/22/05.)
Havelock Ellis – early sexologist*
Eric Emerson – Warhol film star (“He was coming on to everybody. He had about 5 illegitimate children, … and 100 boyfriends. He was very busy.” Styles Caldwell, co-star in Jackie Curtis play Vain Victory, interviewed in Superstar in a Housedress, doc on Jackie Curtis.)
Rupert Everett – actor/writer (ID’s as gay but describes several affairs with women including Susan Sarandon in his memoir, Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins)
Marianne Faithfull – singer (autobio)
Ibrahim Abdurrahman Farajaje' (formerly Elias Farajaje-Jones) – bi activist, administrator and professor Starr King School of the Ministry (out)
Perry Farrell – frontman Jane’s Addiction, created Lollapalooza (out)
Michael Feinstein - pianist/singer (out)
Fergie (Stacy Fergusen) –singer, Black Eyed Peas ("I have had lesbian experiences in the past.” Responding to questions about playing a lesbian character in Grindhouse)
Errol Flynn – actor*
Tom Ford - designer (has publicly dated males and females)
Jodie Foster – actress/director (bio by brother Buddy Foster)
Margaret Fuller – early feminist*
Mary Gaitskill – author: Bad Behavior, Because They Wanted To, Secretary
Judy Garland – actress/singer (bio by Clarke)
Greta Garbo - actress (multi-bio The Girls by McLellan, bio by Swenson)
President James Garfield (maybe, Sex Lives of the Presidents by Cawthorne)
Nan Goldin – photographer (out, wrote the words “I am bisexual” on the wall of the Whitney Museum for her retrospective in 1996)
Emma Goldman – author, feminist, activist (The Girls by Diana McLellan)
Farley Granger – actor (out, autobio Include Me Out, 2007)
Cary Grant – actor (bio by Higham and Mosely)
Merv Griffin – talk show host, creator of TV game shows including Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune (most likely, NY Times article 5/26/05: “I tell everybody I’m a quarter-sexual. I will do anything with anybody for a quarter.” Married for 18 yrs, after his divorce dated Ava Gabor many years, had one male palimony suit and one male-male sexual harassment suit filed against him, both dismissed with prejudice.)
Rev. Ted Haggard—evangelical megachurch minister, president of the National Association of Evangelicals and opponent of “gay-marriage” outed by Mike Jones, gay male escort who recognized him on TV while watching the History channel, after having paid sex with him once a month for 3 yrs.
William Haines – silent film star/interior designer (bio by William J. Mann)
Wallace Hamilton – writer/playwright (memoir Christopher and Gay)
Mildred Harris – actress, wife of Charlie Chaplin (The Girls by McLellan)
Moss Hart – writer/director
Sophie B. Hawkins – singer/songwriter (out)
Anne Heche – actress, Ellen Degeneres' ex-girlfriend now married (out, autobio, Men in Trees)