Let's talk Bisexuality+
Welcome back to PinkNews Careers+ and a Happy Bisexual+ Awareness Week!
This is a week that seeks to accelerate the acceptance of the Bi+ community (that is those who identify as bisexual, pansexual, fluid, queer and many more).
#BiWeek draws attention to experiences, while also celebrating the resiliency of the bisexual+ community. Throughout the week, allies and bi+ people learn about the history, culture, community, and draws attention to the issues faced by the bi+ community, including erasure and visibility.
For this week's edition, we'll be taking a look at how bisexuality in America has more than tripled in the last decade, whether bisexuals are destined to be chronically ill, whether algorithms may be able to predict bisexuality before we are aware ourselves, addressing those sadly common mistakes people make about the bisexual community, and we'll take another look at the census data which suggests that bisexual people are being erased.
Before we get into this week's edition, now is your last chance to sign up to our next Business Community Event which focuses on creating bi-inclusive workplaces. We're delighted to be joined by Stonewall, who will be delivering a session on bisexual allyship.
The event will take place tomorrow evening in London, so grab yourself a spot here.
Bisexuality in America has more than tripled in the past three decades
The number of people in the United States identifying as bisexual, or reporting having had male and female sexual partners, has surged since the late 1980s, according to a study published in the Journal of Sex Research.
The study looked at nationally representative data from the General Social Survey (GSS), conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, between 1989 and 2021.
It showed that 3.1 per cent of respondents in the 1989-1994 survey samples reported having both male and female partners from the age of 18. This rose to 9.3 per cent in the 2012-2018 samples and 9.6 per cent in the 2021 sample. However, rates of true bisexuality almost quadrupled in comparison.
‘Biphobia stress affects my physical health’: Are bisexuals destined to be chronically ill?
A new study has revealed that bisexual women are four times more likely than heterosexual people to have long-term physical and mental health problems.
Brighton and Sussex Medical School’s new study, published in the Journal of Sex Research in July, showed that women in England were four times more likely to experience health issues.
Professor Carrie Llewellyn, one of the study’s lead authors, believes that “minority stress” could be a significant contributing factor.
Minority stress is triggered by numerous factors, such as interpersonal prejudice and discrimination, a lack of social support, and low socioeconomic status. Over time, consistent external or internal prejudice causes stress responses, like anxiety or heart palpitations, that contribute to poor mental and physical health.
Netflix, Spotify and TikTok ‘knew journalist was bisexual before she did’
A BBC reporter recently realised that she is bisexual – but the 24-year-old thinks Netflix worked out her sexuality before she was even aware of it.
Writing for the BBC, Ellie House revealed that the streaming platform started recommending queer films with sapphic storylines, months before she realised her sexual identity.
And it wasn’t just Netflix. Music streaming service Spotify was also suggesting “sapphic” playlists with cover art of two women kissing, and her TikTok For You Page was full of videos from bisexual creators.
Sometimes, it can feel almost like our devices can read our minds – like when your mobile phone serves you an advert for something you were just talking about.
Can algorithms know us better than we know ourselves?
6 mistakes people make about bisexuality that are ridiculously easy to put right
Bisexual people often experience erasure, bigotry and straight-up ignorance in their everyday lives, and also within the LGBTQ+ community – and face poorer mental health as a result.
According to research by The Trevor Project, almost half of bisexual youth seriously considered suicide in 2020. Sixty-six per cent of bisexual youth reported feeling sad or hopeless for two or more weeks in a row in the past year, compared to 27 per cent of their heterosexual peers and 49 per cent of their gay/lesbian peers.
These statistics underscore the need to increase public understanding and support for bisexual youth. They also remind us that no matter what words we use to describe an attraction to more than one gender, as a whole, this group faces significant obstacles and unique challenges.
The Bisexual Awareness Week guide gives some handy things to bear in mind when discussing bisexuality, and tackles some common mistakes people make.
Eye-opening census data shows how bisexual and pansexual people are being erased
The census figures show there are as many bisexual and pansexual people as there are gay and lesbian people in England and Wales.
Data collected in the 2021 census, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), shows that lesbian, gay and bisexual people make up around 3.2 per cent of the overall population. When combined, bisexual and pansexual people make up 1.51 per cent of the population in England and Wales.
It’s a striking statistic considering bi and pan people are so often erased from discussions about LGBTQ+ people, even within queer circles.
The Census puts a spotlight on ‘different needs’ of bi and pan people.
Other PinkNews Articles
Check out some of the headlines you may have missed recently:
Bisexual erasure is a problem in the workplace too – here’s how to combat it (Read here)
Schools in England are ‘crying out’ for transgender guidance, children’s commissioner warns (Read here)
Half of all trans Australians experience hate, study finds (Read here)
California becomes first state to recognise Transgender History Month (Read here)
This newsletter features articles written by Jake McKee, Hannah Shewan Stevens, Sian Bradley, Nick Duffy and Patrick Kelleher curated by Sarah Dean.
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