Why be out as bisexual?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is a follow-up to my post on National Coming Out Day and the subsequent Bisexuality Q&A. Several comments asked why I thought it was necessary to\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/why-be-out-as-bisexual.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why be out as bisexual?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is a follow-up to my post on National Coming Out Day and the subsequent Bisexuality Q&A. Several comments asked why I thought it was necessary to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/why-be-out-as-bisexual.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Unequally Yoked\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-15T22:10:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-11-20T22:17:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/files\/2011\/10\/closet-223x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leah Libresco\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leah Libresco\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/why-be-out-as-bisexual.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/why-be-out-as-bisexual.html\",\"name\":\"Why be out as bisexual?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-15T22:10:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-11-20T22:17:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464\"},\"description\":\"This is a follow-up to my post on National Coming Out Day and the subsequent Bisexuality Q&A. Several comments asked why I thought it was necessary to\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/why-be-out-as-bisexual.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/why-be-out-as-bisexual.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/why-be-out-as-bisexual.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why be out as bisexual?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/\",\"name\":\"Unequally Yoked\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464\",\"name\":\"Leah Libresco\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Leah Libresco\"},\"description\":\"Leah is the author of Arriving at Amen and Building the Benedict Option. Her further writing can be found at leahlibresco.com.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/author\/leahlibresco\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why be out as bisexual?","description":"This is a follow-up to my post on National Coming Out Day and the subsequent Bisexuality Q&A. Several comments asked why I thought it was necessary to","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/why-be-out-as-bisexual.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why be out as bisexual?","og_description":"This is a follow-up to my post on National Coming Out Day and the subsequent Bisexuality Q&A. Several comments asked why I thought it was necessary to","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/why-be-out-as-bisexual.html","og_site_name":"Unequally Yoked","article_published_time":"2011-10-15T22:10:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-11-20T22:17:12+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/files\/2011\/10\/closet-223x300.jpg"}],"author":"Leah Libresco","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Leah Libresco","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/why-be-out-as-bisexual.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/why-be-out-as-bisexual.html","name":"Why be out as bisexual?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-10-15T22:10:04+00:00","dateModified":"2012-11-20T22:17:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464"},"description":"This is a follow-up to my post on National Coming Out Day and the subsequent Bisexuality Q&A. Several comments asked why I thought it was necessary to","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/why-be-out-as-bisexual.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/why-be-out-as-bisexual.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/why-be-out-as-bisexual.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why be out as bisexual?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/","name":"Unequally Yoked","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464","name":"Leah Libresco","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r","caption":"Leah Libresco"},"description":"Leah is the author of Arriving at Amen and Building the Benedict Option. Her further writing can be found at leahlibresco.com.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/author\/leahlibresco"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":599,"date":"2011-10-15T18:10:04","date_gmt":"2011-10-15T22:10:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=599"},"modified":"2012-11-20T17:17:12","modified_gmt":"2012-11-20T22:17:12","slug":"why-be-out-as-bisexual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2011\/10\/why-be-out-as-bisexual.html","title":{"rendered":"Why be out as bisexual?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

This is a follow-up to my post on National Coming Out Day<\/a> and the subsequent Bisexuality Q&A<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Several comments asked why I thought it was necessary to be out as a bisexual if I\u2019m currently dating a guy. \u00a0After all, I admit that although bisexuality is part of my identity, it\u2019s certainly not the most important thing to know about me (that identifier is: giant geek). \u00a0And isn\u2019t it all kinda moot if I\u2019m not currently single?<\/p>\n

Let me run through the reasons I make a point of being out:<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t wait to fight for my rights until I know I need them<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m currently dating a boy, but I don\u2019t know for sure I won\u2019t end up with a girl, in which case the question of gay marriage is gonna get a whole lot less abstract. \u00a0I\u2019ve got plenty of reasons to be pro-gay marriage beside self interest, but I want to mention this point because it\u2019s a reason my bisexuality isn\u2019t irrelevant to me when I\u2019m not dating a girl.<\/p>\n

Being \u2018in\u2019 requires self-censorship<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to think of not-being-out as the default setting, the path of least resistance. \u00a0But being in the closet actually requires me to police my actions and words for no good reason. \u00a0For instance, when a group of friends and I were discussing the pros and cons of Avatar, I probably wouldn\u2019t have been able to add to the pro tally that Michelle Rodriguez is really really<\/em> good looking. \u00a0 $\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

Ok, so maybe Michelle Rodriguez is a bit of a shallow example. \u00a0If I wanted to go into the closet now that I have a boyfriend, I\u2019d have to lie by omission when I talk about my past or switch pronouns when I tell the story of my most\u00a0disastrous\u00a0blind date. \u00a0I see no compelling reason to censor my history.<\/p>\n

Being \u2018in\u2019 cuts me off from a community<\/strong><\/p>\n

If I weren\u2019t open about being bisexual, I wouldn\u2019t be able to be part of the queer community. \u00a0Because I\u2019m out, I was able to have a fun queer film festival with a bi friend, since we both like seeing movies where we feel this special point of commonality with the protagonist and each other. \u00a0I can give romantic advice to bi or lesbian friends and express sympathy born of experience when they find out the cute girl in the math class is straight. \u00a0Ceasing to identify as bisexual whenever I am with a boy means ignoring the ties I have to these people.<\/p>\n

Finally, being out gives me a chance to fix misconceptions<\/strong><\/p>\n

One commenter who thought bisexuals were only happy when dating boys and girls\u00a0simultaneously\u00a0mentioned that he didn\u2019t know any bisexuals personally. \u00a0Well, now he knows one. \u00a0Being out and visible is a chance to combat the stereotypes that all bi girls are polyamorous, promiscuous, secretly gay, really good with power tools, etc. \u00a0(Ok, I\u2019m definitely not a counterexample to that last one, but I could introduce you to some bi friends who are.)<\/p>\n

The fewer bisexuals you know and the more you tend to know of them rather than know them personally, the harder it is to imagine us as a diverse group of people, not an archetype. \u00a0And that\u2019s particularly frightening when some of the archetypes people carry around are so negative.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"