by Danielle Skeldon

Created on: April 30, 2009   Last Updated: May 01, 2009

I am half homo, half Christian, and half black. My life has been spent teetering on many fences; some by choice, and others due to my genetic makeup. But in all the time I have spent overlooking the normality of society from my perch on that fence, I have never been able to settle for identifying fully with anything that denies a part of me. I am that girl they created more census boxes for, and I am proud of it.

Being a bisexual is, if you must classify, its very own classification. Saying a person is homosexual implies they are only attracted to those of the same sex. Saying a person is heterosexual implies just the opposite. So however you want to slice it, neither classification works very well for me. I suppose I could have voted yes or no for this and had the exact same argument, but I guess I would rather not be included at all, than identify with something that doesn't quite fit. Having to choose would bring me right back to elementary school on that groundbreaking day when they had the nerve to ask me, a mere 6 year old, "Well honey, do you want us to put you down as black, or white? You can't be both".

You can't be both?

I think the point I am making is pretty obvious. The only difference between the two situations is that many people, hetero and homosexual, feel that bisexuals don't really exist. But clearly, no one can deny the fact that black and white people get together and make mixed babies right? So why the need to choose to identify with only homosexuals OR heterosexuals? A bisexual is a bisexual. We do exist, and I feel that if we need to be classified, then the only classification we should settle for is as bisexuals.

I think some people fail to realize that in many cases bisexuality isn't really about the sex at all. It is, at least for me, almost an indifference about sex. It's the love I look for- It's the companionship. If I love someone I love them wholly and absolutely, regardless of their vagina or penis. I think it's the combination of that mentality, and the fact that I find the human form, male or female incredibly beautiful, that mold me into a true bisexual woman. To ask me to say I am a homosexual is just the same as asking me to say I am not heterosexual. I can't do that. No way.

I said it once, and I will say it again, bisexuals are bisexuals; not homosexuals in denial, and not confused heteros. Hey, in many places, they even have a box for us now!

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