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bisexual erasure

the acts and attitudes of ignoring, removing or falsifying bisexual/bisexual+ people and bisexual identity. In its most extreme form, this could be the belief that bisexuality doesn’t exist – a belief that had long been traditionally held by straight and gay people alike (“you’re either gay or straight”).

In more subtle forms, this could be misconceptions such as that bisexual people are merely undecided, not fully out-of-the-closet, hypersexual, in a phase, following a fad, or the acceptance of bisexuality in women but not men. Another common form of bisexual erasure is in media where people and characters are designated as gay or straight respectively, depending on the sex/gender of their partner, which ignores a large part of their identity and agency.

Bisexual Erasure is often the result of biphobia, although it does not always involve overt antagonism. Bisexual Erasure and Invisibility has been shown to have a detrimental effect on bisexual individual’s health and well-being.

Originally published: 16th July, 2020
Last modified: 16th July, 2020