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Should bisexuals be considered homosexuals?
Results so far:
| Yes | 43% | 422 votes | Total: 981 votes | |
| No | 57% | 559 votes |
Yes
by Hamlet Pericles
Created on: April 20, 2009
By definition, bisexuals are attracted to both sexes, men and women, and engage in both heterosexual and homosexual behavior. The prefix BI- means two or both, which is appropriate and understandable. However, in the case of bisexuality, it takes no significance nor does it hold any truth - because it is connected to homosexuality. Therefore, bisexuals should be considered homosexuals because that is what they are.
It makes absolutely no sense to separate bisexuality from homosexuality when both terminologies are semi-similar, especially when those of both groups engage in like behaviors. Just because bisexuals take part in meeting their sexual needs in various ways with both sexes does not mean it negates their homosexual disposition. It simply means that they are using their bisexuality as a way to allow exploration of their nature of homosexuality. Others may argue otherwise, but the facts cannot be denied; e.g., sleeping with the same sex (and having attraction for the same sex) is a common denominator which defines both.
Supporters of bisexuality have disputed and raised many arguments on why bisexuals are not homosexuals. One argument they present is this: bisexuals are not homosexuals because some inhabit most of their sexual time with the opposite sex and partake in homosexual behavior occasionally. Indeed, this bisexual practice may be true, but what is not true is their sexual orientation. In reality, if this defense is true, it means that bisexuals can partake in homosexual activities and not be considered such, because their bisexuality overshadows their same-sex relationships. This argument is conflicting - weak at best - and contradictory.
Take, for example, a man who has been in a long-term marriage, and during his marriage he finds sexual pleasure (monthly) in the comfort of a man - when he is tired of a lying down with his wife. Yes, this man typifies a bisexual, but is he not equally gay as well? Should he not be considered a gay man due to his continuous behavior? Those who do not think so are ignoring the fact that his behavior mirrors that of a homosexual.
Some people who live a bisexual and homosexual lifestyle claim they are neither (but rather "straight"), because their heterosexual relationship dominates their homosexuality. This kind of thinking seems paradoxical. Society has even coined a phrase called bi-curious, a ridiculous term for an individual who generally identifies as a heterosexual but shows interest and/or feels the need to have a relationship with somebody of the same sex. Bi-curious is a contradictory phrase and represents a concealment of one's true homosexual identity.
Those who part from the natural association of male and female, either in sexual activity or even through surgical operations, cannot alter their natural core. One who is born a man is a man; one who is born a woman is a woman. Likewise, one who sleeps with the same sex is gay - including bisexuals. There is no in-between, or half-and-half. Gay is gay and straight is straight.
People have the free will to alter appearances and sexual practices, but at the core a person's created identity is definitive. Advocacy groups may wish others agree with their inventions, but biological facts and defining actions remain. If a bisexual man sleeps with a man, then he is gay. If a bisexual woman sleeps with a woman, then she is a lesbian. It does not matter how often one partakes in homosexuality, nor does it matter if one's heterosexual lifestyle overshadows his/her homosexual lifestyle. One is either gay or straight. A man and a woman were bred to be with the opposite sex. Thus, if one finds pleasure with the same sex and/or both sexes, then he/she is gay. There is no fifty-fifty when it comes to sexuality; there is no either-or.
People who live such lifestyle clearly understand that there is no disparity between bisexuals and homosexuals. All of these terms (bisexual, bi-curious, transgender, transsexual, etc.) society has coined are simply byproducts and substitutions for the mother title: homosexuality. Bisexuals live a life of paradox because their actions parallel that of a homosexual.
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No
by Michy Lynn
Created on: February 20, 2009 Last Updated: February 22, 2009
In this world, there is nothing that is absolute. There are no blacks and whites, but rather varying degrees of gray that on the ends might mimic the extremes. Human sexuality and attraction is yet one more of those gray areas. Attraction factor is a big determining factor to what humans like to call: sexual orientation.
Gay, straight, bisexual, homosexual, heterosexual - they are all just labels, ways to fit people into neat little boxes and say, "This person is" Personally, I don't define myself or anyone else as being anything that I or they 'do'. We are more than the sum of the things we do. Who we are is infinite and unlimited. The labels we place on people is merely one way of limiting them, or perhaps even limiting ourselves.
I have never walked into a party and shaken someone's hand and said, "Nice to meet you. I'm (insert name), the heterosexual." Generally, I also don't shake someone's hand and say, "Hi, I'm (insert name), and I drive a red car." Why? Because what I do (driving a red car) is completely inconsequential when it comes to defining who I am.
As it is with what car I drive, or what television shows I like to watch, or what gender I might invite into my bedroom: I am not the sum of what I do. Who I am is not defined by any one activity, and most definitely not by any one (or multiple) sexual encounters or relationships.
The truth is, all of us are varying degrees of shades of colors and differences and strengths and weaknesses. Sexuality is really not any different than anything else in life in that respect.
I believe that love truly is blind. We don't truly choose who we love; we only choose how we love, and what love we act upon. Attraction is yet one more thing we don't choose. On the attraction factor scale, no one is 100% on either end. We all have varying degrees of attraction for males and females. We have to. If we didn't, a woman could not ever call another woman a friend. After all, to be friends with someone, there has to be something that attracted you to them, right?
So on a purely basic, attraction-factor scale, there is no true homosexuality and heterosexuality. How a person chooses to act upon the attraction factor, what they do with the attractions they feel, and how far they carry those attractions then determines the label of homosexual, heterosexual, or bisexual.
You might love your best friend, who happens to be the same gender, and you are probably attracted to him or her, in the sense that something about them appeals to you enough to consider them a friend. But you end the attraction there, and don't carry that on into a sexual relationship. However, that doesn't mean someone else might not carry it further, if their sliding scale attraction factor moves a bit further down the line than yours does.
Homosexuals would, of course, have an attraction factor scale that is tipped more toward being attracted to the same gender. Heterosexuals would, of course, have an attraction factor scale that is tipped more toward being attracted to the opposite gender.
Bisexuals then would have an attraction factor scale ratings somewhere in the middle, allowing them to experience deepening intimacy or sexuality with both genders.
As such, while it is technically accurate to say that bisexuals may experience both homosexual and heterosexual relationships, they could also choose to be celibate. Then what? How do you define that? A celibate gay? Is that possible?
Again, we are more than the sum of things we 'do'.
Finally, if a heterosexual person would define a bisexual person as being a homosexual person, because they have had sexual relations with the same gender, then by their own argument, that means bisexual people who have had sexual relations with someone of the other gender are also straight.
So, if bisexual people are homosexual, they are also heterosexual.
In the end, does it really matter, truly, what label is placed on love? I love a person, not a hairstyle. I love a person, not a physical feature. I love a person, not an eye color. I love a person, not a gender. I'll be the first to admit: Love doesn't always look like we expect it to, but it always feels right.
That feeling, it surpasses labels and genders. In fact, it is the most powerful emotion in the universe.
Learn more about this author, Michy Lynn.
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