As a nonbinary bisexual, I’m no stranger to people erasing me and telling me that I’m something I’m not. Many people unfamiliar with the true nature of bisexuality now think that it’s transphobic or otherwise binary — some go so far as to claim bisexuals only believe in two genders.
People assert that, while bisexuality allegedly means “attraction to two genders,” pansexuality and omnisexuality, unlike bisexuality, denote “attraction to all genders.” It’s easy to think this way if only examining the terms at face value, but this comparison is fallacious. The “bi” in “bisexual” doesn’t inherently refer to “two” genders, but rather “similar and different” genders, just like the “homo” in “homosexual” doesn’t mean “attraction to wo/men” but simply “attraction to the same gender.”
Bisexuals have described our orientation as attraction regardless of gender¹ for at least fifty years or so — and we still do. A number of bisexual activists and organizations have historically allied with transgender and nonbinary people, and bisexual critiques of the gender binary go back decades before words like “nonbinary” even entered our gender lexicon.
Below are just a few examples of the hidden secret of our gender-expansiveness and going beyond binaries.
Note: Sources without links can be downloaded for free from ZLibrary, borrowed from the Open Library, or found wherever you purchase or borrow physical books. Including a quote here does not equal my full approval of what was said. Keep in mind the times during which they were recorded, as well as my footnotes.
1970s
“As one who views herself as a feminist bisexual woman… I must challenge yet a third aspect of sexism which has not yet been challenged, at least not on a large scale. I call this aspect two-genderism, a rather clumsy term upon which I hope someone will improve. […] Literature which insists that there are only women and men is conspiring unconsciously with sexist forces to crush those in between. […] My main feeling is that I want to love human beings; sex and gender should not be determining factors.”
— Margo, “Beyond Two-Genderism: Notes of a Radical Transsexual,” The Second Wave: A Magazine of the New Feminism (1972)
“John Wojtowicz, a former bank teller [and self-identified bisexual], was sentenced today to [a] 20‐year prison term for the armed robbery of a Brooklyn bank — a holdup that he said he had committed to obtain money for a sex‐change operation for his [transsexual] ‘wife.’”
— “Robber Sentenced In a Holdup to Pay ‘Sex Change’,” The New York Times (1973)³
“…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.”
— Kate Millet (1974)
“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)
“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.’”
— Janet Bode, “From Myth to Maturation,” View From Another Closet: Exploring Bisexuality in Women (1976)
“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)
“The Bisexual Center is united in struggling for the rights of all women and men to develop as whole, androgynous beings.”
— Bisexual Center Philosophy and Objectives Statement (1977)
“A sex-change night club queen has claimed she had a bizarre love affair with rock superstar David Bowie. Drag artiste Ronny Haag said she lived with the bisexual singer while he was making his new film, “Just a Gigolo,” in Berlin. […] Ronny says: ‘I am a real woman.’”
— Kenelm Jenour, “I Was Bowie’s She-Man!”, Daily Mirror (1978)²
“[John] reacted emotionally to both sexes with equal intensity. ‘I love people, regardless of their gender,’ he told me.”
— Charlotte Wolff, “Early Influences,” Bisexuality, a Study (1979)
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Bi vs Pan
Non-FictionBisexual vs Pansexual. the debate that has spread like wildfire. This is, of course, a discourse book. I will make a bi positivity book as well, do not worry. I am very willing to educate all the pansexuals who are confused and WILLING to listen. I...
