There is no "B" in LGBT.
Oh, wait. Yes there is. So what does it stand for? That's right - Bisexuals!
Recommended for you
The word should not be so easy to forget. It's got a letter in the acronym, after all. So then why are bisexual people so often erased in the queer community?
It might have something to do with a lack of bisexual representation in the media. Many tv shows and movies feature characters who experience attraction to two genders - Clarke Griffin on The CW's The 100, and Angela Montenegro on Fox's Bones are two examples. Yet neither show ever mentions bisexuality as applied to either character. They have no problem displaying bisexuality in the form of attraction, but not as a legitimate sexual identity.
This is mirrored in LGBT communities everywhere. Bisexual people are often excluded from LGBT organizations and events if they are in a relationship with a member of the opposite sex. Even if they're in a same-sex relationship, or in no relationship at all, they can be excluded on the basis of "straight-passing" - the ability to appear straight because they can be in an opposite-sex relationship.
Not to mention the stigma around bisexuality. Many people, both queer and not, believe that bisexuality isn't real, and that people who claim to be bisexual are really just confused, indecisive, or attention-seeking. It's also true that many bisexual people have been dumped or rejected because of their sexuality, because their partner thinks that their attraction to two genders makes them more likely to cheat. All of this is, of course, nothing more than unfair stereotype. And like most stereotypes, they're responsible for the pain of many people.
Bisexual people, like the rest of the LGBT+ community, are not guaranteed safety in this society that still overwhelmingly favors straight people. But unlike gay people, bisexuals often have issues assimilating in queer spaces. There is an idea possessed by plenty of homosexual people, male and female, that queer spaces are for people who only experience same-sex attraction. This means that bisexuals, asexuals, non-homosexual transgender people, and everyone else who doesn't experience same-sex attraction (and nothing but same-sex attraction) don't belong.
While much of the world still refuses to accept it, bisexual people do exist. In 2013, .7 percent of adults in America identified as bisexual. That seems like a really small number, but that's 2,232,300 people who are being excluded from a community that could be helping them. That number doesn't even take into account transgender people, or anyone who belongs to one of the other many sexual and gender identities out there.
This is more than a problem with straight people. Gay people don't have a monopoly on oppression. If the LGBT+ community is going to change society, it has to be inclusive of all queer people no matter the identity.
