Join Me to Discuss Bi Visibility on Medium Day, 2024

If anything begs for erasure, it’s the stigma attached to bisexuality.

I hope you’ll join me, Aug 17, 12:30–1pm Eastern Time.

Hi, I’m Rand. And, I’m bisexual.

There, I said it, right out loud, right here, in front of God and everybody!

No, this isn’t a 12-step meeting. No, I’m not in recovery from my ambivalent sexual orientation. I didn’t come here today to declare my helplessness to an addiction or to hand control over my native desires or my non-normative behavior to a higher power.

But, the reality is this: I seldom identify right off the bat as bisexual.

Usually, if the subject comes up at all, my initial statement, is “I’m queer.”

I’m more comfortable with queer. And this is why…

First, queer is an umbrella term that allows me to feel like I’m part of the larger sexually diverse community, alongside (and on equal footing with) Lesbians and Gays.

Secondly, it’s that old “sticks and stones” thing… I love the idea of reclaiming a pejorative that bigoted bullies used on the school playground to deliberately torment other boys suspected of being “different.” By referring to myself as queer, I defang the haters. That word can no longer be used to insult…