This week, to mark Bisexual Awareness Week, The Trevor Project has released a guide to support bisexual youth. The introductory educational resource, entitled How to Support Bisexual Youth: Ways to Care for Bisexual, Pansexual, Fluid, and Queer Youth Who are Attracted to More than One Gender, breaks down the basics about bisexuality, as well as other multisexual identities, and offers best practices on how to uplift the bi people in your life. (That could include yourself!)
The guide defines common terms that are related to or overlap with bisexuality, including pansexuality and omnisexuality. It also includes suggestions on how to combat biphobia and bisexual erasure within your community by challenging biophobic assumptions when you come across them or notice yourself thinking them. Some common biphobic beliefs, for instance, include thinking that bisexuality is a “phase” or that all bi people are actually just gay, lesbian, or straight, depending on the partner they’re with at the moment.
Other invalidating stereotypes outlined in the guide are that bi men don’t exist or that bi women are just “experimenting” with other women.
The resources also offers considerations for gender nonconforming youth who identify as bisexual, noting that nonbinary people can be bi and transitioning could affect how you view your sexuality. It also explains the concept of biromantic, a romantic orientation by which people are romantically attracted to more than one gender, and debunks the assumption that all bi people are polyamorous by default.
“A person of any sexual orientation can have any relationship type or structure, and one is no more valid than another,” the guide states.
The national LGBTQ+ non-profit published the guide on September 16, the first day of Bisexual Awareness Week (or #BiWeek), an annual observance that seeks to destigmatize bisexuality and amplify bi+ peoples’ experiences. It culminates with Celebrate Bisexuality+ Day on September 23.
Bisexuals make up a significant percentage of queer youth and adults today. According to a 2020 survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bisexual people comprised 75 percent of high school respondents who identify as LGBTQ+. And in Pew Research Center’s 2013 survey of LGBTQ+ Americans, 40 percent of all respondents said they were bisexual, compared to the 36 percent who identified as gay men, 19 percent as lesbians, and 5 percent as transgender.
While these groups make up a high percentage of the overall LGBTQ+ population, bisexual youth also statistically face higher rates of depression and mental health issues than their gay or lesbian counterparts. According to The Trevor Project’s research, 66 percent of bisexual youth reported feeling sad or hopeless for two or more weeks in a row in the past year, compared to 27 percent of their heterosexual peers and 49 percent of their gay and lesbian peers.
Studies have shown these issues are tied to the stigma surrounding bisexuality, which lead to feelings of shame and erasure among those who identify as bi.
Bisexuals also don’t have as much representation in mainstream media as their gay and lesbian counterparts, which could contribute to the widespread lack of knowledge and suspicion surrounding bisexuality. GLAAD’s 2020 Responsibility Studio Index, which analyzes major studios for LGBTQ+ representation, found that only three out of a total of 118 Hollywood films from last year were bi-inclusive, compared to the 15 films that featured gay men and 8 that included lesbians.
Ultimately, the How to Support Bisexual Youth guide reinforces the idea that no matter what labels you identify with or if you’re out or not — if you are bi+, you are valid! You can check out the full guide on the Trevor Project website or download the PDF version here.
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