Between a Gay and a Straight Place: Bisexual Individuals’ Experiences with Monosexism

Abstract

Bisexual people experience monosexism, the privileging of sexual attraction to one sex or gender, from heterosexual, gay, and lesbian communities. The current study of 745 bisexual-identified participants explored their experiences of monosexism with heterosexual family members, heterosexual friends, gay family members, and gay friends. Results indicated that bisexual individuals reported significantly more discrimination from the heterosexual community in comparison to the gay or lesbian community, although the effect size was small. Acceptance of bisexuality from family and acceptance of bisexuality from friends were negative predictors of antibisexual discrimination. Clinical and research implications are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• bisexuality
• discrimination
• monosexism
• biphobia
• LGBT experiences
• family

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tangela S. Roberts

Tangela Roberts is a 3rd-year PhD student in counseling psychology at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She received her MS in community counseling from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her BA from St. John's University in Queens, NY. Primarily, she is interested in issues related to intersectionality, social justice, feminist theory and methods, race and ethnicity, and concerns related to LGBTQ communities of color. In utilizing feminist, critical race, and systems theories she conceptualizes her work as exploring the experiences of sexual minorities; this is done in an effort to develop a better understanding of critical theories, while focusing on intersectional identities, resilience, and community support.

Sharon G. Horne

Sharon Horne, PhD, is a professor and program director of the Counseling Psychology program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She conducts research on LGBTQ issues, mental health and college student development, and international psychology. Her research and research teams focus on improving and strengthening the lives of LGBT individuals through study of issues relevant to LGBT experience, such as LGBTQ health and wellness, sexual minority stress, and resilience.

William T. Hoyt

William Hoyt, PhD, is a professor in the Counseling Psychology program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research interests and previous work include research methods and measurement, social determinants of psychological outcomes, analysis of multimodal measures, level of analysis in social/clinical interference, and dyadic phenomena in counseling interactions.