Biphobia: Meaning, Stereotypes, Erasure, and Discrimination

For example, someone may claim that a bisexual person is only confused, seeking attention, secretly gay, or actually heterosexual. These ideas are biphobic because they deny or misrepresent the person’s stated orientation.

Biphobia does not always appear as open hatred. It may also involve jokes, disbelief, exclusion, stereotypes, intrusive questions, or pressure to choose a different identity label.

• The campaign addresses biphobia in schools.
• Biphobia can occur within LGBTQIA+ communities.
• The article examines the effects of biphobia.

The adjective biphobic describes a statement, attitude, action, policy, or person:

• a biphobic stereotype;
• biphobic language;
• a biphobic remark;
• biphobic discrimination.

Examples include:

• The claim that bisexual people cannot be faithful is biphobic.
• She challenged the biphobic comments.
• The policy contributed to bisexual erasure and exclusion.

The less common noun biphobe refers to someone who expresses strong prejudice against bisexual people. It is often more precise to describe the specific behavior or statement as biphobic.

• bi-, referring here to bisexuality;
• phobia, a suffix commonly used in social terms to indicate hostility, aversion, prejudice, or fear.

In this context, phobia does not usually mean a clinical anxiety disorder. It refers more broadly to negative attitudes and discriminatory behavior.

Biphobia is prejudice or bias directed toward bisexuality or bisexual people.

Compare:

• She identifies as bisexual.
• Her family’s claim that bisexuality is not real reflects biphobia.

Being unfamiliar with bisexuality is not automatically biphobic. The problem arises when misinformation is used to dismiss, stereotype, degrade, or mistreat bisexual people.

Biphobia specifically concerns prejudice toward bisexual people and attraction to more than one gender.

The two may overlap. A bisexual person may experience homophobia because of same-gender attraction and biphobia because their orientation is not exclusively gay, lesbian, or heterosexual.

For example:

• insulting someone for dating a same-gender partner may be homophobic;
• claiming that the same person must choose between being straight and gay is biphobic.

Biphobia is prejudice directed specifically toward bisexual people.

Monosexism may support biphobia by creating an either-or model in which everyone is expected to be heterosexual, gay, or lesbian.

Examples include:

• treating bisexuality as a temporary stage;
• assuming a current partner reveals someone’s “real” orientation;
• pressuring bisexual people to choose one side;
• believing attraction to multiple genders is impossible.

Biphobia may cause bisexual erasure when people:

• call a bisexual person heterosexual because they have a different-gender partner;
• call them gay or lesbian because they have a same-gender partner;
• avoid using the word bisexual for bisexual public figures or characters;
• assume bisexuality disappears after marriage;
• exclude bisexual identities from education or research.

A person’s current relationship does not erase the broader pattern of attraction they use to describe their orientation.

Common stereotypes include claims that bisexual people are:

• confused;
• indecisive;
• going through a phase;
• seeking attention;
• secretly gay;
• actually heterosexual;
• incapable of monogamy;
• naturally unfaithful;
• attracted to everyone;
• equally attracted to every gender;
• unwilling to commit;
• more sexually available.

These claims confuse orientation with personality, behavior, relationship choices, or moral character.

Examples include:

• being treated as less trustworthy in relationships;
• being pressured to identify as heterosexual;
• having same-gender attraction dismissed as experimentation;
• being sexualized or fetishized;
• being excluded from family or religious communities;
• being judged as unsuitable for marriage or parenting.

A bisexual person in a different-gender relationship remains bisexual unless they choose another label.

Bisexual people may be told that they are:

• not queer enough;
• benefiting from heterosexual privilege;
• likely to leave a same-gender partner;
• avoiding acceptance of being gay or lesbian;
• unwelcome when dating another gender;
• less committed to LGBTQIA+ equality.

Relationship status does not determine whether someone belongs within a community connected to their orientation.

A partner may wrongly assume that a bisexual person:

• needs partners of multiple genders;
• will eventually become unfaithful;
• cannot be satisfied in a monogamous relationship;
• is attracted to every friend;
• must repeatedly prove commitment;
• should accept fetishizing sexual requests.

Bisexuality does not determine whether someone prefers monogamy, nonmonogamy, celibacy, casual relationships, or long-term partnership. These are separate relationship choices.

Examples include:

• assuming a bisexual person wants group sex;
• pressuring them to perform attraction for a partner;
• treating bisexual women as sexual opportunities;
• asking invasive questions about sexual history;
• ignoring their boundaries because of stereotypes.

Fetishization may appear admiring on the surface, but it becomes biphobic when it reduces a person to a sexual fantasy and disregards their individuality or consent.

It may involve:

• doubting whether their orientation is real;
• feeling shame about attraction to multiple genders;
• believing they must choose one identity;
• hiding relationships;
• distancing themselves from bisexual communities;
• judging other bisexual people through stereotypes;
• feeling undeserving of LGBTQIA+ support.

These feelings may develop after repeated exposure to rejection, erasure, or misinformation. They are not evidence that bisexuality itself is unhealthy.

Possible effects include:

• identity invalidation;
• social isolation;
• family rejection;
• bullying;
• pressure to conceal orientation;
• relationship conflict;
• reduced access to supportive services;
• anxiety or shame;
• exclusion from heterosexual and queer communities.

The impact may be intensified by racism, sexism, transphobia, disability discrimination, religious prejudice, or other forms of marginalization.

• accepting people’s stated orientation;
• avoiding assumptions based on a current partner;
• challenging stereotypes about infidelity;
• including bisexuality in LGBTQIA+ education;
• representing bisexual people accurately in media;
• avoiding invasive questions;
• recognizing bisexual people in every relationship status;
• using inclusive orientation options on forms;
• listening to bisexual experiences;
• separating attraction from behavior.

Supporting bisexual people does not reduce the validity of heterosexual, gay, lesbian, pansexual, or other identities.

A bisexual person becomes heterosexual or gay depending on their partner.
A relationship does not automatically change someone’s orientation.

Bisexuality causes infidelity.
Faithfulness depends on choices and relationship agreements, not orientation.

Biphobia comes only from heterosexual people.
It may also occur within LGBTQIA+ communities.

Bisexual people are attracted to everyone.
Experiencing attraction to multiple genders does not mean attraction to every individual.

Questioning a label is always biphobic.
Respectful questions may support understanding, but repeated disbelief or pressure to change the label can be biphobic.

• internalized biphobia;
• institutional biphobia;
• cultural biphobia;
• biphobic stereotype;
• biphobic remark;
• biphobic discrimination;
• experience biphobia;
• challenge biphobia;
• address biphobia;
• bisexual erasure and biphobia.

• A bisexual woman is called heterosexual because she dates a man.
• A bisexual man is told he is secretly gay.
• A partner assumes bisexuality makes someone unfaithful.
• An LGBTQIA+ group improves its bisexual inclusion.
• A school challenges biphobic jokes and stereotypes.
• A healthcare provider respects a patient’s stated orientation.
• A film consistently identifies a bisexual character across different relationships.
• Someone works through internalized shame about bisexuality.

1. The organization created a program to address biphobia.
2. Calling bisexuality a phase is a biphobic stereotype.
3. A person’s current partner does not erase their bisexual identity.
4. Biphobia may occur in heterosexual and LGBTQIA+ communities.
5. She challenged the assumption that bisexual people cannot be monogamous.
6. Bisexual erasure is a common expression of biphobia.
7. The revised form includes bisexual and pansexual options.
8. His orientation did not determine his relationship behavior.
9. Internalized biphobia can lead to shame and self-doubt.
10. Respectful relationships rely on communication rather than stereotypes.

This prejudice may pressure bisexual people to hide their orientation, accept inaccurate labels, tolerate fetishization, or prove that they are faithful and trustworthy. It can also make them feel excluded from both heterosexual and LGBTQIA+ communities.

Healthy sexual culture recognizes bisexuality as a valid orientation. Attraction does not determine consent, sexual availability, monogamy, number of partners, or relationship structure. Every person has the right to define their orientation, establish boundaries, and participate only in relationships and sexual activities they freely choose.