Supporting and Caring for our Bisexual Youth | Human Rights Campaign Stumbled across this study today, that shows bisexual youth seem to face more problems than a lot of their peers. Obviously the idea that bisexuals face sexuality-specific challenges isn't news, but I for one was surprised by the severity of this. "Only five percent of bisexual youth reported being “very happy,” compared to 21 percent of non-LGBT youth surveyed separately to provide a point of comparison. Nearly a third of bisexual young people said they had been “frequently or often” harassed or called names at school, compared to nine percent of non-LGBT youth who reported similar mistreatment. When asked if they have an adult family member they can turn to, 44 percent of bisexual youth said they did, compared to 79 percent of non-LGBT youth who reported having a supportive adult at home." Anyways, just thought that was interesting and felt I should share.
I absolutely support the campaign, but there are a few things about this article that strike me as odd. 1. According to the way this study is explained, it was delivered between a pool of bisexual and heterosexual subjects(non-LGBT). The fact that the heterosexual subjects hardly faced any adversity by their peers, didn't have issue confiding in relatives, and were generally more content than bisexual subjects seems as though it would be more of a matter of common sense. A study speaking on the statistics surrounding biphobia specifically, rather than the struggles that all LGBTQ face, would call for a comparison of data from the acceptance of bisexuals and homosexual. 2. Regardless of whether these terms are often deemed less legitimate than bisexual, the use of these terms is far from a matter of biphobia. One would not use terms that gain more much skepticism and critique in order to avoid being associated with bisexuals. This would be the equivalent of transgenders referring to themselves as transexuals or crossdressers in order to escape "transgender stigma". It's absurd.
