Between a Gay and a Straight Place: Bisexual Individuals’ Experiences with Monosexism

Bisexual people experience monosexism, the privileging of sexual attraction to one sex or gender, from heterosexual, gay, and lesbian communities. The current study of 745 bisexual-identified participants explored their experiences of monosexism with heterosexual family members, heterosexual friends, gay family members, and gay friends. Results indicated that bisexual individuals reported significantly more discrimination from the heterosexual community in comparison to the gay or lesbian community, although the effect size was small. Acceptance of bisexuality from family and acceptance of bisexuality from friends were negative predictors of antibisexual discrimination. Clinical and research implications are discussed.