Originally Posted by
cadillac59
Obviously people can and do define themselves as they like. I know that. And we have to go by what they say about themselves. But people never choose their sexual orientation.
Now, female bisexuality may well exist and that's a completely different subject. I really have no opinion about that (I note with interest the number of threads by women asking if they should be considered bisexual and so on and how they have same-sex and opposite sex attractions at the same time but this is simply not what I am concerned with on this thread).
The reality is about half (40% or so) of all men who report being bisexual today will later proclaim they are and always were gay. Why? Probably because of confusion over definitions (not confusion over how they feel)-- in other words, if they've ever had sex with a woman, even if it were just once compared with 99 other times with men they might assume that makes them "bi" by definition, which it does not. Or, contrariwise, if they've always loved and had sex with women but just tried sex once or twice with a male friend- even to later decide they didn't like it- they might assume that meant they were bi. But it does not. Or, they might be trying very hard not to be gay, they might be suppressing same-sex attraction and forcing on themselves sex with women (maybe even a marriage) just to try to change or convince others they are not gay and because of this believe they are bi. None of these things make a man bisexual.
The reason I come out so strongly against the notion of bisexuality in men is not only because I don't think it exists, but also because I think the belief it exists is harmful. I've heard of couples who remained married for years believing the husband was bisexual and only needed to get out once and a while and be with a guy to satisfy his needs, only to find out a decade or so later that he was gay all along and that there was no possible hope for the marraige. I've heard of guys staying in marriages -even re-marrying- because of the belief they were bi only to hurt some woman in the process when they later decided they were not bi but just gay.