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Many Hollywood stars of yesteryear, such as Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Greta Garbo have been outed as bisexual by biographers, though few, if any, self-identified publicly as bi during their lifetimes. (Photo by AP)
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HOME > NEWS > NATIONAL NEWS
By: JOSHUA LYNSEN COMMENTS
 
A prediction last month that bisexuality could become more common worldwide is drawing mixed responses from Americans who identify as such.
Dr. Umberto Veronesi, a prominent Italian physician, was quoted in August in foreign media as saying that sexual intercourse is becoming less about reproduction and more about affection. He said that shift could, within three generations, cause more people to identify as bisexual.
But not everyone agrees. Sexuality experts, along with activists and authors who are bisexual, questioned the prediction.
“I think that the idea that ‘bisexuality will prevail’ is a statement that can easily be taken out of context and overstated,” said Dr. Paula Rodríguez Rust, a lesbian and member of the International Academy of Sex Research.
Rodríguez Rust said it’s “highly possible” that people in North American and Western European cultures will increasingly emphasize “the affectionate, relationship-building aspects” of sex over procreation.
But she said that doesn’t mean people who are straight or gay will spontaneously become bisexual.
“I do not think that anyone who is naturally attracted to people of one sex only — whether that be people of the other sex or people of their own sex — will suddenly find themselves attracted to both sexes,” she said.
“I do think, however, that as we continue to rid our society of sexist distinctions … that more and more individuals might find that they are not as limited in their choices of life partners as our ancestors were.”
A small percentage of Americans — less than 3 percent — identify as bisexual.
The National Center for Health Statistics found 1.8 percent of men and 2.8 percent of women identify as bisexual. The numbers come from a 2002 survey of more than 12,500 people ages 18 to 44.
But Mike Szymanski, a bisexual and co-author of “The Bisexual’s Guide to the Universe,” said because a person’s sexual identity does not always match his or her sexual behavior, it’s likely that more people could acknowledge being attracted to both men and women.
“My experience is that if they’re honest,” he said, “everyone will admit to some interest in same-sex attractions at some point in their lives.”
Identity aside, the national survey showed a slightly higher number of Americans report being sexually attracted to both men and women.
It found 3.9 percent of men are attracted “mostly” to women, and 1 percent to both genders. The numbers for women showed 10 percent are attracted “mostly” to men, and 1.9 percent to both genders.
Sheela Lambert, a New York bisexual activist, said the numerical discrepancy exists partly because some people avoid openly identifying as bisexual.
“Few people want to own the label, even if it describes their romantic or sexual feelings because negative stereotypes are attached to the word by non-bis,” she said. “Bi activists are tirelessly working to erase the myths and stereotypes about bi people, but it’s an uphill job.”
She said despite Veronesi’s prediction, people will become more willing to identify as bisexual only after the “social stigma” tied to it disappears.
Loraine Hutchins, a 59-year-old bisexual woman living in Takoma Park, Md., agreed.
“I think that more people will be more open about exploring and taking more seriously intimacies with more than one gender if and when we as a society get more relaxed about it,” she said. “This means accepting more and different kinds of family groupings and relationship agreements, and accepting that women and men are equal, in marriage as well as in society.”
But Alexei Guren, a 45-year-old bisexual man living in Tucson, Ariz., said even then, people who are bisexual might not readily identify as such.
“I’m not sure at what point you’re supposed to identify as bisexual,” he said. “There are so many factors involved with identity. At what point do you move away from the security of a gay or straight identity? That’s difficult.
“Perhaps it’s not so much that people will gravitate toward a bisexual identity, but perhaps they will move away from a straight or gay identity because those identities have lost their meaning in the greater understanding of human sexuality.”
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