Negative attitudes prevent some educational systems from addressing the needs of gay, lesbian,
bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) students who are one of the last minorities to be acknowledged.
"These caucuses have served as a base for political mobilization as well as a supportive space for lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgendered union members," Sears notes.
(1.) Koh AS et al., Sexual risk factors among self-identified lesbians,
bisexual women, and heterosexual women accessing primary care settings, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 2003, 32(9):563-569.
Of 140 articles written about this movie in mainstream newspapers, none referred to the Jack and Ennis characters as
bisexuals, let alone as men living on the down-low.
The lifetime suicide attempt rates in the lesbian, gay and
bisexual populations range from 10 percent to 40 percent, compared with 0.4 percent to 5.1 percent of the heterosexual population.
And more than one in five
bisexuals have faced prejudice.
g Sure enough
bisexual men were more likely to enjoy these videos.
In nonurban areas lesbians and
bisexual women experience comparable levels of frequent mental distress, but in urban areas distress decreases for lesbians and nearly doubles for
bisexual women.
One big advantage of this study is that is compares (1)
bisexuals, lesbians, gays, and heterosexuals with same-sex partners or attractions with (2) heterosexuals who don't have same-sex partners or feel same-sex attractions.
Bisexual activist Robyn Ochs expresses that "I call myself
bisexual because I acknowledge that I have in myself the potential to be attracted--romantically and/or sexually--to people of more than one sex and/or gender, not necessarily at the same time, not necessarily in the same way, and not necessarily to the same degree." (1) Even the American Psychological Association recognizes the continuum nature of sexuality and validates that the stigma experienced by
bisexuals can yield significant stress responses.
If
bisexuals, who constitute--by most counts--the largest group in the LGBT community, (3) agree to their own invisibility by not self-identifying, prejudice against
bisexuals is unfortunately likely to continue unabated.
Bisexual home buyers were the most likely to indicate they were first-time homebuyers (58 percent), followed by lesbian and gay buyers (36 percent) and heterosexuals (32 percent).