Rebecca Bodenheimer, PhD
Previous new york Council Speaker Christine Quinn delivered the online world in to a tailspin previously this w eek whenever she labeled actress and newly established gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon a lesbian” that is“unqualified. The uproar to date has primarily dedicated to the salaciousness of governmental infighting between two queer ladies. Nonetheless, what’s lacking is a review of Quinn for mislabeling Nixon being a lesbian. Nixon has known by by herself as bisexual, and glossing over this distinction is an obvious exemplory case of bi erasure, or even the presumption that bisexuality just isn’t a genuine identification, but simply an intermediate end in the intimate orientation train which has just two feasible locations: gay/lesbian and straight. The apology did not relate to mislabeling Nixon’s stated sexual identity although Quinn later apologized for her comment.
While bisexuality is actually significantly more noticeable in popular tradition in past times several years with an increase that is important bisexual figures on television in specific you can still find numerous stereotypes connected to the label. “On the fence,” “wishy washy,” “going through a phase”: they are all typical misconceptions about bi individuals. Unfortunately, a few of the stigma and bi erasure originates from the queer community, from self identified homosexual males and lesbians whom don’t believe bisexuality is an authentic identity.
as they are marginalized due to their intimate orientation, they continue steadily to reinforce the heteronormative indisputable fact that sex is binary, this one must either be homosexual or directly.
It’s interesting to compare the narrative about Nixon to that particular of Oregon Governor Kate Brown: whenever she had been elected the media identified her as bisexual, that I assume ended up being because of duplicated efforts on the component to help make her intimate identity understood. Nixon hasn’t always been as clear about her chosen labels; yet, she’s got been clear about her intimate and intimate history and the fact she’s enjoyed both women and men. One major distinction between both of these ladies is Brown is hitched to a guy while Nixon is hitched to a lady. Although this may well not appear to be a appropriate huge difference, with regards to queer identity politics, it’s.
Bi females hitched to guys are thought to be right, and if they’re enthusiastic about claiming their queerness publicly, must repeatedly turn out to individuals who don’t discover how they identify as it’s maybe not obvious from their range of partner. Whilst the presumption of heterosexuality isn’t surprising, it shouldn’t be studied for given that a stand set for their intimate orientation. Bi individuals don’t have to be doing romantic or intimate relationships with both genders on top of that so that you can recognize as bi; in reality, I would personally reckon that most bi people are in monogamous relationships at any moment. (Incidentally, the concept that most bi people are polyamorous is yet another misconception that is major non monogamy is practiced by individuals of all intimate orientations.) Therefore, i could just assume Brown publicly identifies as bisexual since it’s the best way for her to claim her queerness.
Nixon, having said that, is hitched to a female and it is consequently thought by numerous to become a lesbian. As bi ladies have actually long stated, there clearly was normally a stigma basics that is particular determining as bi inside the lesbian community: “she’ll make you for the man” the most typical stereotypes about bi females among lesbians, and grounds why numerous won’t consider dating bi females. In the LGBT community, then, Nixon has less explanation to wish to loudly claim her bisexuality, she has been) derided by some lesbians as wanting to retain some element of heterosexual privilege by not “fully committing” to the label of lesbian as she would almost certainly be (and I’m sure.
In the long run, it is certainly not in regards to the certain words Nixon makes use of to spot by herself. In the end, numerous bi people prefer the word “queer” due to their self identification because it emphasizes their connections aided by the bigger LGBT community; other people utilize different identification labels within various contexts. However, clearly mislabeling Nixon as a lesbian, as Quinn did, is a type of erasure which also reinforces binary notions about sex. It’s high time we stopped contemplating sex as an either/or occurrence and started using bi individuals at their term, even as we compensate definitely the group that is largest in the LGBT community.