People are busting common and ridiculous myths around bisexuality for Bi Visibility Day
To celebrate Bi Visibility Day, loud and proud bisexuals are sharing the common fallacies about their sexuality.
YouTube stars Elle Mills, Megan Dijkman, Taylor Behnke, Stephan Kyriacou and blogger Vaneet Mehta are spreading bi positivity.
Coming from all over the world, they have all heard the same bisexual assumptions on their personality, ‘real’ sexuality and tendencies.
Exhausted of hearing them, these bisexuals are ready to debunk the biggest misconceptions surrounding their sexuality, so when better than on Bi Visibility Day?
Watch the video below:
Elle Mills.
Elle Mills, 21, better known online as ElleOfTheMills, is a well-known Canadian YouTube vlogger.
She came out as a bisexual nearly two years ago to her family, friends and the internet in the way Elle Mills knows how to best… with a YouTube video which has more than five million views.
Acting as a prominent voice for the bi online community, she is public with her experiences because “she wants people to believe that bisexuals exist”.
She says that bi-erasure is one of the biggest challenges of being bisexual and often hears bisexual males’ sexuality being discredited.
There also isn’t validation for bisexual girls says Elle Mills: “People say that they’re actually just straight but they just like experimenting.”
She asks if “people could be conscious that bisexuality is real, that would be great”.
Dutchy.
The Aussie bisexual YouTuber Megan Dijkman, 23, is known online as Dutchy and uploads regular videos on LGBT+ issues.
Calling herself your local bi baddie, Dutchy came out aged 19 and now shares her bisexual advice and stories to an audience of up to 183,000 users.
“Bi stereotypes really grind my gears,” says Dutchy, who thinks it’s ridiculous when bisexuals are thought of as cheaters.
She is exhausted of hearing people dismiss bisexuality if they start to date someone of the opposite sex, saying: “Your sexuality does not change regarding who you are dating.”
“It’s who you are, it’s a part of you and it doesn’t just change.”
Taylor Benhke.
New York YouTuber Taylor Benhke is known online as ItsRadishTime, her channel for sharing bisexual stories.
For Taylor “bi people are people”, so she’s fed up of bisexuals being reduced to a single type of person because they “encompass a range of human experiences”.
On bisexual awareness day, Taylor wants people to recognise that bisexuality is inclusive of all genders because “we’re all invited to the bi umbrella”.
Taylor believes that the harmful stereotypes that surround bisexuality made it harder for her to come to terms with her sexuality.
She says that “it can take bisexuals a little bit longer to figure things out”.
Taylor Benhke wants better bisexual representation so people feeling “confused, scared and lost in a questioning phase” know that bisexuality is valid.
Stephan Kyriacou.
Stephan, 25, is a YouTuber and writer who uses his platforms to share his experiences being bisexual and transgender.
Tired of people assuming that all bisexuals have a 50/50 preference for women and men, Stephan says: “It’s different for everyone but I have a bigger attraction towards women.”
He commonly hears gender and sexuality being confused but as someone who has explored both his sexuality and gender identities, it’s important to talk about them separately.
“Last time I checked, gender and sexuality are two very different things,” he says.
Vaneet Mehta.
Vaneet Mehta, from London, is a blogger and produces films which are dedicated to challenging LGBT+ discrimination and racism towards queer people of colour.
He has experienced the stigma that comes with being bisexual, saying “everybody assumes I’m gay”.
Whether he dates women or men Vaneet’s sexuality is always disputed, “people think that I’m making it up”.
For Vaneet, he thinks people discredit bisexuality because they assume people are “chasing the men”.
“It kind of feels like no matter what we do the bisexuality is always about the man,” he says.
He believes that bi-erasure and ridiculous bi stereotypes are “damaging” because bisexuality is different for everybody.
So on Bi Visibility Day, bisexuals should define the label and the label shouldn’t define us”.