A bisexual fundraiser is wanting to change the negative stereotypes that come along with his sexuality.
John Anderson, originally from Aigburth, explained that although he “might be attracted to anyone”, it does not mean he “is attracted to everyone”. The 28-year-old claimed that “greed” is just one of the preconceived ideas many people have about the bisexual community.
The grants and trusts officer for The Brain Charity told the ECHO: “I am bisexual because I feel it deep down with my soul. The term feels like home. But, it just seems that bisexual continues to be a dirty word, even or especially among communities who profess to be inclusive and radical. Or, if not a dirty word, then something inscrutable and incongruous, to be feared, always caught in-between, a watered-down brand of queerness.”
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John has “always known” he was bisexual, long before he discovered the term itself. He recalled how at the age of eight a conversation around another family member being gay was brought up at the dining table and his mum “immediately” looked at him “with a derisive smirk, like John Krasinski, staring down the lens in The Office”, as though John was in on the joke as well.
He added: “My first crushes as an adolescent were girls, but those were dictated by a natural desire to want to fit in. I’ve always had the capacity to be attracted to anyone - men, women, and people that shirk the gender binary. Growing up being bisexual wasn’t confusing for me, but it was confusing talking to other people and getting them to understand. I’ve had people tell me they don’t believe me and tell me to pick a side.”
John claimed that “it’s not that gender doesn’t play a role, gender simply isn’t a prohibitive factor,” before adding: “We all implicitly know that the long-held image of bisexuals as greedy or disproportionately promiscuous is false. After several periods of serial monogamy in my late teens and early twenties, I spent months and months becoming comfortable - happy, even - with being single.”
The former University of Leicester student isn’t alone in the community as a new study, commissioned by LGBTQ+ charity, Stonewall, suggests more people are identifying as bisexual than gay or lesbian. The poll found bisexuality is the next-most-common identity after heterosexuality. The charity said the findings told a “positive story” but emphasised more needed to be done to help bisexual people feel safe.
The Ancient History graduate believes one way of doing this - and tackling negative stereotypes - is by working against bisexuality culture erasure. On a recent trip to a bookshop, John was able to “buy out the entire section” of bisexuality as it only comprised of four novels - which was nothing in comparison to the section dedicated to stories telling of gay and lesbian love.
John said: “For a while, my sense of self was damaged because it felt like who I was as a person was being erased. It can be anything as small as the movie Brokeback Mountain, a film which is culturally referred to as ‘the gay cowboy movie’, but when you watch it, they are bisexual and have wives.
"It doesn’t take away from positive LGBTQ+ representation but labels like gay and lesbian are so easy to place on someone because they are often so visible when bisexuality isn’t. Bisexuality is its own identity, it's not 50% gay and 50% straight. Sometimes I look at the LGBTQ+ community and even feel excluded when people say they are going to ‘gay clubs’ or ‘gay pride’, it's hard to feel part of the group in a way.”
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