Romantic and sexual orientation: Difference between revisions

Bisexuality is a sexual orientation in which a person feels sexual attraction to more than one gender. This means they're attracted to all genders.<ref>[https://bisexualresearch.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/the-bisexualityreport.pdf The Bisexuality Report: Bisexual inclusion in LGBT equality and diversity.] 2012.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Under the Bisexual Umbrella: Diversity of Identity and Experience |last=Flanders |first=Corey E. |work=Journal of Bisexuality |date=March 15, 2017 |access-date=November 26, 2019 |url= https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15299716.2017.1297145 |doi=10.1080/15299716.2017.1297145 |quote=Bisexuality as a single identity encompasses so many different meanings and attractions and behaviors for people who explicitly identify as bisexual. The general identity definition most commonly used, attraction to more than one gender, then leaves room for the multitudinous expressions of that identity. }}</ref><ref name="scot_What">{{Cite web |title=What's In A Name? |author=Lorna |work=Scottish Bi+ Network |date=15 October 2018 |access-date=November 26, 2019 |url= http://www.scottishbinet.org/2018/10/whats-in-name.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130235531/http://www.scottishbinet.org:80/2018/10/whats-in-name.html |archive-date=30 January 2010 |quote=Bi: Attraction to two or more genders, and can include non-binary gender(s). Can also be used for attraction to all genders. }}</ref> Some define this as attraction to "women and men".<ref name="Savin-Williams2018">{{Cite web |title=Are Pansexuals Bisexual, Queer, Trans, Asexual, or Unique? |last=Savin-Williams |first=Ritch C. |work=Psychology Today |date=14 June 2018 |access-date=18 September 2021 |url= https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sex-sexuality-and-romance/201806/are-pansexuals-bisexual-queer-trans-asexual-or-unique |quote=bisexuality refers to sexual/romantic attraction to both men and women, to varying degrees. }}</ref><ref name="Sutherland2020">{{Cite web |title=LGBTQIAPK: Let's Unpack the Acronym |last=Sutherland |first=Amy |work=Harlot |date=2020 |access-date=18 September 2021 |url= https://callmeharlot.com/all-learning-content/lgbtqiapk-lets-unpack-the-acronym |quote=A bisexual person is someone who is sexually and romantically attracted to both male- and female-identifying people. }}</ref> Others define bisexuality as attraction to two categories of people: the same as one's own gender, and different than one's own gender.<ref name="Harte2019">{{Cite web |title=Being bisexual+ & nonbinary while rejecting the gender binary |last=Harte |first=Mackenzie |work=Queerty |date=19 September 2019 |access-date=18 September 2021 |url= https://www.queerty.com/bisexual-nonbinary-rejecting-gender-binary-20190919 |quote=A common misconception about bisexuality+ is that it means that you are only attracted to men and women (typically assumed to be cisgender men and cisgender women). This is untrue. Bisexuality+ means that you have the capacity to be attracted to genders like your own and genders unlike your own. There is no inherent binary to a bisexual+ (bi+) identity, and I am the proof of that as someone who is bisexual+ and nonbinary. }}</ref> Others define bisexuality as attraction to people of any gender. What "bisexuality" means when nonbinary identities are taken into account is a matter of debate. Many people feel that "bi-" reinforces the gender binary, and erases nonbinary identities, preferring pansexual or polysexual. Others<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bisexualindex.org.uk/index.php/Bisexuality#binary|title="Bi means two so bisexuality is transphobic"|work=The Bisexual Index}}</ref> argue that "bisexual" was originally coined to describe a sexuality which included aspects of both heterosexuality and homosexuality, and that it should be interpreted as inclusive of attraction to all genders or sexes, although there are certainly bisexuals who do only feel attraction to two specific genders, whether those be "men and women", "women and genderqueer folks", or any two genders imaginable.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lapointe |first= Alicia Anne|date=2016| title='It's not Pans, It's People': Student and Teacher Perspectives on Bisexuality and Pansexuality|journal= Journal of Bisexuality|volume=17 |issue= 1 |pages= 88–107 |doi= 10.1080/15299716.2016.1196157}}</ref>