The Lasting Effects of the AIDS Crisis on Bisexuals
It’s not the 1980s anymore, but the AIDS crisis isn’t over and the stigma surrounding the disease is still alive and well. HIV/AIDS were widely thought of as the “gay disease” and therefore limited to gay men, or men who have sex with men; so while bisexual erasure is a problem that all bisexuals face, bisexual men are specifically stereotyped as the bridge that carried HIV from the gay community over to the rest of the population. Although there is currently an effective treatment for HIV, the biphobia and homophobia the deadly virus evoked in the first place remain with us today.
The discovery of AIDS caused a panic. People didn’t know if it was contagious, and if so how it could be transmitted. All anyone knew was that they’d only heard about cases in gay men. What if the virus was spread through contact alone? What if you could catch it just from being in the same room as a homosexual? With ignorance comes fear, and this widespread terror created a lot of obstacles for the queer community, more specifically gay and bisexual men.
The general population knew next to nothing about HIV/AIDS, and scientists studying the virus didn’t know much more. This lack of knowledge led to avoidance, exclusion, homophobia, and further discrimination. Feelings towards AIDS were directed at gay men, and then at bisexual men when they were thought to be the carriers of the disease from gay men to straight women. For awhile, AIDS was diagnosed as GRID, or Gay Related Immune Deficiency. The disease had no connection to heterosexual people unless they were regularly exposed to needles (ie. hemophiliacs, drug addicts). Since people believed that the virus only existed in the gay community, the logical explanation for its migration to the heterosexual community was that bisexuals were bringing it from the gay community to the straight one. The prejudice of these beliefs is still alive today, and bisexuals are still dismissed as having real sexual orientations.
Bi erasure is visible all over the media. The main character of Orange is the New Black, Piper Chapman, had a long term relationship with another woman before she married her husband, and she and her family referred to it as a lesbian phase rather than admitting she was bisexual. Celebrities who have had same sex relationships have either been declared straight by the media or themselves. One can’t know if these celebrities identify as something other than bisexual because of social pressure or because they were only experimenting. Lindsay Lohan discussed having relationships with other woman in the past and still declared herself straight to the media, as did Anne Heche. Freddie Mercury also avoided labeling himself as bisexual despite talking about same-sex relationships. Lady Gaga was mentioned in an article titled “Just A Phase: Celebrities Who Have Had Same-Sex Affairs” where she openly said that she likes women. The erasure comes in when you notice this article diminishes all of these same sex relationships as “affairs” (1).
HIV is transmitted through any kind of unsafe sex, including anal and oral, unsafe needle usage, breastfeeding, and the birthing process. And anal sex, which gay and bisexual men are more likely to engage in, is the highest risk sexual activity in regards to transmitting or contracting HIV (2). Because gay men are the most likely to be having this kind of sex, they are more likely to be diagnosed with HIV, 24 times more likely, in fact (3). But those practicing safe sex and taking the proper medication are at a very low risk of transmitting the disease to their partner. However, the statistics still contribute to the prejudice against bisexuals, especially bisexual men. Because men who have sex with men — MSM as referred to by the Red Cross — had been perceived as the most likely to transmit the virus to straight community in the past. MSM have a higher risk of contracting HIV because they are the group most likely to be having anal sex. Because of this policy, women who have had sex with MSM within a year cannot donate blood to the Red Cross, even though the organization tests all its donors for bloodborne viruses (4).
Without the HIV/AIDS epidemic, prejudice against bisexuals would still be prevalent. Bisexual men and women are discriminated against for a number of reasons. Homosexuals reject bisexuality from their spaces because it isn’t “gay enough”. Bisexuals are often called confused, unfaithful, and promiscuous. And that promiscuity is perceived to spread HIV to heterosexual people who think they couldn’t otherwise contract the virus, but ignoring the fact that someone can contract the virus through heterosexual sex is potentially harmful to their health. Meanwhile, biphobia, the “fear” of bisexuals, has been focused on AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic. There were articles in the New York Times discussing what women should do about the ever so dangerous bisexual man. One article from 1987 focused completely on women who have slept with bisexual men being doomed to get AIDS. The piece proceeded to discuss how these poor women can figure out which of their past sexual partners have had sexual relations with men.
“‘If the guy won’t tell me I could only guess,’ said the Miami office worker. Her solution: no sex with any man until she is confident of her safety. But ‘even then the guy could be a good liar,’ she noted. Some women believe they can recognize bisexual men. ‘I don’t care how much they want to cover it up, their little effeminate ways tip you off,’ said another Miami woman, Isis Gradaille.” (5)
This kind of prejudice and fear has had a negative effect on the health of bisexual people. Sometimes potential partners don’t want to date bisexuals solely because of their sexual orientation. That fear is likely based on the belief that bisexuals with be unfaithful and promiscuous, and are therefore more likely to transmit STIs such as HIV to their sexual partners.
The AIDS crisis forced plenty of people out of the closet. The 80s were tough enough for the LGBT community, gay men especially. But while people were scared of shaking hands with a gay man for fear of catching HIV, bisexual men were blamed for the spread of it. Bisexual men were stuck with the burden of hundreds of thousands of deaths because people fear what they don’t understand.
References:
- Butler, Meg. “Just A Phase: Celebrities Who Have Had Same-Sex Affairs.” Madamenoire. December 22, 2014. Accessed April 27, 2018. http://madamenoire.com/497647/celebrities-who-have-had-same-sex-affairs/.
- “Is the Risk of HIV Different for Different People?” HIV.gov. May 15, 2017. Accessed April 27, 2018. https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/about-hiv-and-aids/who-is-at-risk-for-hiv.
- “HIV by Group.” Center for Disease Control and Prevention. April 25, 2018. Accessed April 27, 2018. https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/group/index.html.
- “Eligibility Criteria.” American Red Cross. Accessed April 27, 2018. https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/how-to-donate/eligibility-requirements/eligibility-criteria-alphabetical.html.
- Nordheimer, Jon. “AIDS Specter for Women: The Bisexual Man.” The New York Times, April 3, 1987. April 3, 1987. Accessed April 27, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/03/us/aids-specter-for-women-the-bisexual-man.html.
