{"id":11977,"date":"2022-09-18T20:37:46","date_gmt":"2022-09-18T19:37:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/?p=11977"},"modified":"2024-04-09T13:24:43","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T12:24:43","slug":"too-straight-or-too-gay-why-bisexuals-struggle-to-fit-in-lgbtqia-spaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/too-straight-or-too-gay-why-bisexuals-struggle-to-fit-in-lgbtqia-spaces\/","title":{"rendered":"“Too straight or too gay”: Why bisexuals struggle to fit in LGBTQIA+ spaces"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After years of being edged out of the LGBTQIA+ community, this is what bi activists are doing to break away from the stereotypical binaries of lesbians and gays and finding space for themselves.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the scorching heat of July in 2009, Lois* Shearing was at an Alice Cooper concert in Brighton with their best friend, when the words \u201cI think I like girls too\u201d were uttered out of their mouth. But the feeling of absolute joy and relief was only short-lived, and one that Lois wouldn\u2019t feel for years to come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It all changed when Lois had a first-hand experience of how queer people treated the term \u2018bisexuality<\/a>, which means attraction beyond gender. At the age of 16, their first girlfriend said that Lois\u2019 bisexuality made them \u201ctoo straight for gay people, and too gay for straight people\u201d. While this marked the end of their relationship, the words stayed in Lois\u2019 mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was being made to feel like an interloper in queer spaces,\u201d says Lois, a bisexual activist and author. \u201cIt\u2019s like you don’t really belong anywhere. It’s almost gaslighting. This is my lived experience, this is my reality, and everyone around me is saying no, it’s not. It constantly wears you down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is an experience that a lot of bisexuals can relate to. Almost half of bi people tend to avoid LGBTQIA+ events as they are treated unfairly in those spaces due to stigma around their identities and toxic misconceptions, as per a Stonewall report<\/a> from 2020.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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