The 'Double Discrimination' of Bisexuality: Why Being 'Both' Can Mean Being 'Neither'

Health · Published 18 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Biphobia isn't just a lack of acceptance; it is a systematic erasure that leaves bisexual people in a social limbo. From being dismissed as 'closeted' by the gay community to being viewed as 'unnatural' by the heterosexual world, many face a unique two-way discrimination that can force identities into the shadows.

Biphobia, a term coined by researcher Kathleen Bennett in 1992, describes the denigration of bisexuality as a life-choice rather than a valid identity. This prejudice often manifests as 'bisexual erasure,' where evidence of bisexual lives is omitted from history, media, and academia. A significant driver of this is the 'monosexual' binary—the belief that people are either exclusively gay or straight. In this framework, bisexual individuals are often dismissed as 'secondary homosexuals' or people who are simply 'experimenting' outside of their 'normal' interests.

The discrimination is often two-sided. Within the LGBTQ+ community, some gay and lesbian people exhibit biphobia based on the assumption that bisexuals can 'escape' oppression by conforming to heterosexual norms. This can lead to accusations that bisexual men are homophobic or that bisexual women are reinforcing patriarchy. Conversely, heterosexist views may categorize bisexuality as a psychological pathology or a social trend like 'bisexual chic.' Research suggests this 'two-way' discrimination can be more severe than the one-way discrimination faced by those who identify as exclusively gay or straight, often forcing bisexual people to hide their identities more deeply.

Nuance exists in how these identities are defined. While some critics argue that bisexuality reinforces a gender binary, 2017 and 2022 studies in the Journal of Bisexuality found that many bisexual women define their identity as inclusive of all genders. Historically, activists like Lani Ka'ahumanu have argued that bisexuality is about being drawn to people regardless of gender, rather than being 'wishy-washy' or 'confused.' Understanding biphobia requires recognizing these nested 'invisibilities'—social standards, religion, and the integration of same-sex attraction into broader homophobic frameworks.

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