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Is there a Bisexual Culture? For many bisexuals, part of our identity is about who we like to have sex with rather than a bisexual culture. We like sex with both genders to varying degrees at various times and frequencies. Some monosexuals seem to invest their sexuality as part of their identity to a greater extent than other sexualities. One perception is that homosexuals have created a culture around their sexuality and identity. Heterosexuals do as well but it is generally seen as the mainstream culture of a society.

There is a belief that subcultures are composed of persons who have shared experiences, background or interests. The idea of subcultures being based on common sexuality has its roots in the actions of Adolf Brant, a German publisher in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Brant created the first homosexual publication house and followed the egoist philosopher, Max Stirmer's belief about self ownership. It is the concept of property in one's own person, expressed as the moral or natural right of a person to be the exclusive controller of one's own body and life. This includes a belief in a strong commitment to individual rights.

I think that Stirmer's belief would be accepted by many bisexuals. The exclusive controlling aspect as to what a person does with their own body and life would be part of acceptance that who you have sex with is up to the individual rather than the sexual moral of mainstream external forces. Bisexuals do not necessarily see their sexual preference as a static experience for their entire life. This is in part of the fluid aspect of bisexuality. Whether bisexuals see a culture as Brant did may be not as easy to perceive.

LGBT "culture" has been defined as the common culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. It is sometimes referred to as "gay culture” or "queer culture", but those terms can also be specific to gay men's culture. Just exactly who then is really represented by this GLBT cultural group /organization?

Gay Culture often refers acknowledging famous gay people in the arts and politics, famous gay historical people, understanding the political Gay movement, an appreciation of things linked to the stereotype of Gay, figures and symbols of Gay like the rainbow flag, etc. Gays seem to have developed a culture whether it involves drag queens or at one time secret codes as to what sexual activity the gay person was interested in (hankies, bears, twinks etc.). Pop culture has been chosen by gay men as icons whether it was Bette Midlar, Madonna, Lady Gaga but fewer male icons. Drag queens are often noted for portraying these female gay icons. etc. How many of these things are part of being bisexual and bisexuals' identify with these symbols?

Some posters on bi.com seem to promote this identity scenario as being a member of a group/community. Many bisexuals report that when they find such sites such as bi.com, they feel comforted to know that they are not alone. A few bisexuals post that they are searching for famous bisexuals in history, politics and the arts as a means of identifying in a positive manner with other bisexuals. They may be seeking a bisexual culture.

There are written thoughts about gay culture and this is sometimes put under a single banner of a GLBT community. The recent British report on Bisexuality states something different. "It is important to refer to LGBT communities (plural), rather than community (singular), because even within each category (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans) there are inevitably multiple overlapping communities and groups, rather than one explicit community" p17 *

In the early days(1950's) of the Gay Rights movement, reports are written about the conflict within the movement. There were those who believed that Gays should integrate as much as possible with the mainstream heterosexual culture in order to show heterosexuals that homosexuals are just like "them". Others argued to agitate for change. I think that this dichotomy continues between these two perspectives with bisexuals today. Public visibility will make bisexuals acknowledged. Speaking out about bisexual issues will create change in the other sexualities' perspective about bisexuals.

The Lesbian Culture may have influenced Heterosexual Culture when looked at from a certain perspective. There was a dispute in the early1950's between lesbians and whether they should wear pants or dresses in a group identifying itself as "The Daughters of Bilitis". Pants were seen as male and therefore perhaps seen as cross dressing in that era. The role of feminism in the 1960's brought the argument into more mainstream heterosexual content. This created visibility of a more openness for dress codes for women. It was not seen as cross dressing once it became mainstream in the heterosexual culture. It may be argued that the role of cross dressing for men remained more isolated than cross dressing for women due in part to the success of feminism.

The Gay Culture has been successful since the AID's epidemic in promoting the concept of monogamy within the Gay Culture. Studies indicate that gay men have become more monogamous like the other monosexual group, heterosexuals. Have gay men reached a point of proving themselves just like heteros? Some point out that monogamy within Gay Culture may have made gay men more monogamous but there is a very significant number of gay men in relationships who are not monogamous. There is the appearance of being a monogamous couple but the reality is that many are not monogamous. My gay friends point this out to me as well as my bisexual friends who practise casual sex fuck buddy philosophy.

If there are any developing bisexual cultural aspects it is developing to focus on causes such as biphobia and Bi Invisibility within the heterosexual and homosexual groups. Issues remain in part unresolved as to how to promote the sexual fluidity found commonly amongst bisexuals as part of a bisexual culture. There is an attempt to develop bisexual icons such as a bisexual flag and a day for bisexuals. Do the bisexuals know this day and celebrate it? Do the GLBT organizations create parades on this day? I don't see much happening not even on this bisexual web site.

It seems to me that bisexuals are mainly interested in practicing their sexual fluid preferences and to be left alone in peace and acceptance is what they want. We are a sexuality but do we really seem certain if we want a bisexual sub culture? As far as Stirmer's philosophy, bisexuals seem to believe that they are in control of their own body and life but have not clarified any ideas about bisexual morality or rights that we see as essential to be the controller of our own life.

The GLBT organization/culture is not going to do "it" for us either. There is increasing acceptance of same sex activity but not that it is [I]"proper[/I]" (morally correct) to want/need sex with both men and women. There are no ad campaigns being sponsored by the GLBT organizations supporting that a bisexual man may want/need sex with another man but that doesn't negate his emotional love for his female partner. No GLBT organization is demanding scientific research to determine if bisexual men or gay men are the main source of spreading HIV. Some might argue, "What difference does it make whether more gay men are infected with HIV or bisexual men? They are both spreading HIV". Doesn't that read like Bi Erasure[I][B]**[/B][/I]? It does to me.
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[B]*[/B]The Bisexuality Report: Bisexual Inclusion in LGBT equality and diversity (Meg Barker, Christian Richards, Rebecca Jones, Helen Bowes-Catton & Tracey Plowman)

[I][B]**[/B][/I]Bisexual erasure or bisexual invisibility is the tendency to ignore, remove, falsify or re explain evidence of bisexuality in history, academia & research, the news media and other primary sources. In its most extreme form, bisexual erasure can include denying that bisexuality exists.