#6: Bisexual Invisibility: Impacts and Recommendations

          Bisexuals are sometimes thought by gay monosexuals to "have it easier". In fact, research shows that statistically, bisexual face higher rates of problems such as poverty and suicide.What bisexuals face especially is an invisibility in the community, as they are often bunched in with gays and lesbians, despite actually being the majority. While many people think it is "just a phase" a study has shown that over the span of ten years 92% of the bisexual women kept the identity. In the queer community, bisexuals activities are forgotten; historical bisexuals such as Freddie Mercury are repainted as simply gay. Institutions which help gays and lesbians often do not have special attention to bisexuals, and monosexual men and women tend to disparage and questions their bisexual partners' orientation. The study from which this information comes details a multitude of biphobic actions and attitudes. Suffice to say that "a study published in the Journal of Sex Research reported that heterosexuals rate bisexuals as a group less favorably than any of a number of groups (including Catholics, lesbians, people with AIDS, and people who are pro-life), except for the category of people who inject illegal drugs".

The problems bisexuals face, especially those that stem from invisibility and biphobia, are many:

"-Bisexual people experience greater health disparities than the broader population, including a
greater likelihood of suffering from depression and other mood or anxiety disorders.
- Bisexuals report higher rates of hypertension, poor or fair physical health, smoking, and
risky drinking than heterosexuals or lesbians/gays.
- Many, if not most, bisexual people don’t come out to their healthcare providers. This means
they are getting incomplete information (for example, about safer sex practices).
- Most HIV and STI prevention programs don’t adequately address the health needs of
bisexuals, much less those who have sex with both men and women but do not identify as
bisexual.
- Bisexual women in relationships with monosexual partners have an increased rate of
domestic violence compared to women in other demographic categories. "

Read the study here.