< The Bisexuality Report | Articles | Bisexuality FAQ >
If you're asking yourself "Am I Bisexual?" then here's a handy checklist:
If you answered "No", to any or all of the questions in our list above then we feel it's okay for you to call yourself bisexual. We don't care how attracted you are to the genders around you - you're bisexual as soon as you stop being exclusively attracted to only one gender.
That's it. It really is as easy as that.
How you chose to self-identify is up to you - you can call yourself bi-curious, or pansexual, or biromantic, or omnisexual if you feel more comfortable with those terms (see our article "Is Bisexuality Mandatory?" for more on this).Some people identify as straight and have same-sex attractions. Some identify as gay and have different-sex attractions. How you label yourself is a matter of personal choice, but no matter what you add into the definition of gay, straight, or how you define bicurious or pansexual, the definition of bisexual as a sexuality remains very simple.
Some people describe their attraction as being to "men and women". Our "more than one" definition for bisexuality covers this.
Some people see gender as fluid, or as having more options than two. They describe their own pattern of attraction as being to "all genders". Our "more than one" definition covers this if they want to identify as bisexual.
Many people have attitudes about bisexuals, based around myths and assumptions, and these have been tagged on to the definition of bisexual over the years.
It's time to strip those off. The greatest tool in awareness is language, and bisexual has a very clear meaning.
Don't worry about not being a 'proper' or 'true' bisexual - it's okay to have a preference or to only be attracted to one gender at a time for parts of your life. The dictionary definition does not say "currently", or "equally", or "simultaneously" or "only", and neither does ours!
This is how we define it: A bisexual is someone who is attracted to more than one gender. You might care about the gender of your partner a lot, a little, or not at all - but their gender doesn't prevent you from being attracted to them.
That's all it takes, seriously. Are you bisexual?