THE DEADLY COST OF BISEXUAL ERASURE:

HEALTH CONSEQUENCES IN A VULNERABLE COMMUNITY

Bisexual-identified people continue to be at extremely high risk for suicide and self-harm.

In 2019, The Australian Journal of General Practice conducted a “Who Am I” study interviewing 2,651 men and women with bisexual attraction, identity, or experience.

The study found a high level of internalized biphobia and induced lack of self-acceptance due to invisibility, erasure, and biphobia.

· 58% reported either high or very high levels of psychological distress

· 67% reported they had been diagnosed with mental illness

· 28% had attempted suicide, 78% had thought about it

· 50% reported self-harm or suicidal thoughts within just the last two years

Why, why why?

Throughout history, those who have identified as bisexual, fluid, on the spectrum, or any non-monosexual identity have suffered from a phenomenon called ‘bisexual erasure.’ Bisexuality is as old as world history, yet still, the existence of fluid sexuality is contested, sometimes requiring bi folks to perform or prove our attractions.

Whether in the media, in academia, literature, religious settings, or even in day-to-day life, the slow burn of…