“We can Shapeshift and Build Bridges”: Bisexual Women and Gender Diverse People of Color on Invisibility and Embracing the Borderlands

Abstract

Bisexual women and gender diverse people of Color (biWGDPoC) challenge many traditional notions of gender, sexuality, and race, possessing identity categories that enable them to blend with different groups and communities. Although this invisibility grants safety in some contexts, it may also be a source of stress. The present study involved thematic analysis of qualitative survey responses from biWGDPoC, in which participants discussed passing and visibility. Notable themes included invisibility at the intersections of sexual, gender, and ethnoracial identity; skin tone and biracial identity; the exacerbated isolation that results from lack of heritage language; feelings of identity betrayal when dating (White) cisgender men; and biWGDPoC-specific challenges. Novel positive perspectives on identity invisibility also emerged, in which participants discussed finding privilege in fluency and using their ability to pass to advocate for others. Throughout these topics, participants note femininity as a factor in (in)visibility, as well as notions of falsehood and diminished self-worth.

Keywords:

• Bisexual people of Color
• bi-invisibility
• heritage language
• interracial dating
• passing
• intersectionality

Notes

1 The terms “women” and “gender diverse” are used in this article to describe women (cisgender and transgender) and individuals not identifying exclusively with the gender binary (e.g., nonbinary people), respectively. Although “trans” is often used as an umbrella term to address the gender diverse population, I was concerned that the use of this term in juxtaposition with “women,” may have led readers to erroneously perceive a division between cisgender and transgender women, wherein cisgender women are considered “women” and transgender women are misplaced in the “trans” category. See Mosley, Gonzalez, Abreu, & Kaivan (2019 [this issue]) for a similar discussion of language.

2 When “trans” is used, rather than “transgender,” it is meant to describe all gender minority people (e.g., binary transgender, gender diverse, and genderqueer people).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Monica A. Ghabrial

Monica A. Ghabrial is a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto. Her research uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to examine stress and resilience, as well as the factors that moderate the relationship between trauma and physical health among sexual and gender minority people of Color.