To: 23 Sep 2017, 6 p.m.
Location: Park Campus
23 September is Bi Visibility Day, an international event to raise awareness of and celebrate bisexuality. Swansea University’s LGBT+ Staff Network will fly the bisexual pride flag from Singleton Abbey on Friday 22nd - Sunday 24th September to celebrate the diversity of sexuality in all its forms. Bisexual people may be misunderstood, or may feel challenged to be open about their sexual identity at home or in work. Bisexuality can often be invisible. You can help make the world, and your workplace, better, by improving your knowledge and raising awareness of bisexuality.
The LGBT+ Staff Network exists to support all those who may have questions about sexuality, gender identity, sexual identity and other issues. Contact us for further information at lgbtplus@swansea.ac.uk.
---
What is bisexuality?
Bisexuality means sexual or romantic attraction towards more than one gender - this can include men, women, and non-binary people (i.e. people who do not define as a man or a woman).
What is "a bisexual"?
A bisexual is someone who has romantic and/or sexual feelings towards other people of more than one gender. A bisexual may be more attracted to one gender than others, attracted equally to all, or find people's gender unimportant. The strength of their attractions to people of different genders may vary over time.
Aren't bisexuals just going through a phase/confused about their sexuality?
No - many of us know that we are attracted to multiple genders; there is no confusion. For most people bisexuality is a lifelong, committed sexual orientation. And even for those who ultimately do not stay bisexual for life, that does not make it any the less valid as a sexual orientation. Sexual orientation can shift over time; sexuality is dynamic, not fixed. It may be a small shift, or a major change of lifestyle; but this does not make the points in between in any sense "wrong". Life is a continuous process, and few of us remain exactly the same over long periods of time.
Does bisexuality mean you are attracted to everyone?
Just because people who are bisexual have the potential to be attracted to people of all genders does not mean that they are attracted to everyone they meet, no more than heterosexuals are attracted to every person of the opposite gender or lesbians and gay men are attracted to every person of the same gender.
Are bisexuals equally attracted to both genders?
Most bisexuals are attracted to people of all genders, not only men and women. Some bisexuals feel they have a "preference" for one gender over another, but other bisexuals have no preference, and instead focus their attractions on qualities they see in an individual regardless of that person's gender.
Do bisexuals have to have lovers of both genders to be bisexual?
No. People who call themselves bisexual are saying that they are attracted to men, women, and non-binary people. They don't necessarily have to act on that attraction, any more than straight or gay people have to act on their attraction to people of the same sex as their partner.
Are bisexuals capable of being faithful?
Yes! A bisexual deciding to be faithful is not deciding to be "gay" or "straight." They are still bisexual; they have chosen a person to live their life with, not an orientation, preference or ideology. It is important to recognize that they still feel bisexual. Being bisexual means that a person has the potential to be romantically or sexually involved with people of any gender, not that a person requires involvement with people of multiple genders at the same time to feel fulfilled.
Contact: Cath Elms (Email: lgbtplus@swansea.ac.uk) - Telephone: 01792513687
Website: http://www.swansea.ac.uk/personnel/equal-opportunities/networks/lgbt/
Event created by: c.l.elms