What Scientists Say About Being Bisexual

Most people who’ve had much contact with the LGBTQ community know that not all letters of the diversity alphabet are treated equally.  It’s an unfortunate reality that, in addition to facing discrimination from homophobic straight people, transgender, and bisexual people also experience discrimination from within the ranks. Some many harmful stereotypes and myths lead to this discrimination, and many people (both gay and straight) feel like it’s their place to question others’ sexual orientation. While anyone in the LGBTQ community can attest that you cannot just “pray the gay away,” because you can’t just wish away your core identity. Surprisingly though, not everyone offers the same benefit of the doubt to their bi or trans brethren. Having spent a fair bit of time in and around the San Francisco queer community, I’ve seen (and experienced) this discrimination first hand.

Just 1.8% of American males consider themselves bisexual.  2.8% of women report themselves as bi, according to a 2018 Gallup survey. This may not sound like a lot, but bisexual makes up the largest section of the LGBTQ pie. According to a 2013 poll from the Pew Research Institute, bisexuals make up 40% of the queer community. Given that the same study found that bisexuals were considerably more likely to be in the closet than their gay and lesbian counterparts, that number could be even higher.  In spite of this fact, we (and yes, dear reader, I count myself among this 40%) still face skepticism about the existence of our sexual orientation from the very community we turn to for support.

While acceptance for LGBTQ individuals has gone up in society at large, the past 15 years have ushered in a series of scientific studies have cast shade on the bisexual identity.  In 2005, psychologist Meredith Chivers of Queens University conducted an experience to test arousal response in many individuals by showing them pornographic images of men or women. The study found that the majority of self-reported straight women, bisexual women, and transgender men had similar amounts of pupil dilation and vaginal lubrication regardless of whether they were looking at naked men or women. Chivers claimed that women are more “sexually receptive” and therefore, tend to be inherently fluid in their response to stimuli. While an increasing number of people identify as bisexual, implying that we might make up a larger percentage of the population than previously thought, it certainly does not justify the hyperbolic headlines the study triggered, claiming “All Women are Bi.”  

An interesting side note, this study found that lesbians did not tend to react to images of naked men, prompting Dr. Chivers to say they were “more like men.” Men, it was claimed, tend to be less gender fluid.  Rather than looking at cultural factors that might make men less likely to self identify as bisexual, Chivers considered male sexual orientation more fixed and considers this a biological difference.   

In 2015, Dr. Gerulf Rieger led a study that took this a step further.  In addition to repeating Dr. Chiver’s study on women (with similar results), Dr. Gerulf also studied arousal response in men. The results found that even self-reported bisexual men tend to only react to pornographic material featuring one gender or another. In short, Dr. Rieger’s study seems to indicate that men’s sexuality is indeed less fluid. This time, in addition to headlines latching on to the idea that all women are bi, you had news outlets claiming that “There Is No Such Thing as a Bisexual Male.” This erasure of the bisexual male identity is something that we’ve already been fighting for decades, and this just added fuel to the fire.

Telling people that you know their sexuality better than they do is bullshit.  Whether you’re claiming that straight women are “actually” bi or bi men are “really” straight (or gay), you are in effect telling them that we are not who we say we are - who we know ourselves to be. Claiming that you know more about someone’s sexual feelings than they do base on such a limited study is particularly insulting. It is a widely held scientific consensus that people who participate in human sexuality studies are not necessarily indicative of the entire population. They tend to be younger and more sexually open than most, which can skew the results dramatically, especially in a relatively small study like both Chivers’ and Rieger’s. Furthermore, these studies both suffer from the Observer Effect. What porn arouses you while you’re under scientific scrutiny is likely affected by the situation. Lastly, arousal does not equal sexual orientation. I’m capable of being aroused by the site of a sex toy, just from sheer anticipation. That doesn’t mean I’m attracted to plastic. Hell, give me a particularly luscious chocolate torte and I may well exhibit many of the physical signs of arousal, however, I’m not about to call myself a homosexual.

Human sexuality is extremely complicated. Many factors go into the labels we give ourselves, including who we date, who we want to date, our fantasies, past sexual experiences, how comfortable we are with a particular identity, and even how much we’ve been able to explore various aspects of our sexuality. For many of us, our sexual interests may even change over time. Porn giant XHamster just released a survey which implies that watching more porn might make someone more likely to identify as bisexual. While Chivers and Reiger may predict this for the reputedly fluid ladies viewing porn, they may be surprised to learn that these results were even more dramatic when only looking male viewers, with their allegedly “fixed” sexuality.   

University of Utah professor, Lisa Diamond, was once among the academics arguing that women are naturally less sexually rigid than men, penning an article called Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women’s Love. However, after conducting more research on the subject, she has reconsidered her stance.  Upon further study, it’s clear that many straight-identifying men have same-gender attractions, fantasies, and even partners - good news for anyone who fantasizes about “turning” a straight guy. Diamond has since given a talk titled “I Was Wrong! Men’s Sexuality is Pretty Darn Fluid Too.”

Ultimately, I find the study of human sexuality fascinating and I’m excited to see more studies exploring sexual fluidity. However, it is both morally reprehensible and scientifically egregious to invalidate someone’s sexual identity based on what kind of porn they get hard for.  People are experts in their own sexual orientation, and no amount of science will ever override a person's own identity.