Happy Bi Visibility Day: The Best Bisexual Representation on TV
Dear TV writers and boomers, bisexuality is not a phase or a stepping stone.
Though bisexual people make up roughly 52% of the LGBTQ+ community, they've been underrepresented on television and in media for a long time.
When they do appear, they're frequently painted as sociopaths (cough, Villanelle on Killing Eve) or are painted as promiscuous or confused, if their identities are addressed at all.
Fortunately, many recent TV shows have been making up for decades of bisexual erasure and misrepresentation by featuring nuanced bisexual characters. On this Bisexual Visibility Day, here are some of TV's greatest bisexual icons.
2. Rosa Diaz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
When Rosa Diaz came out as bisexual on NBC's comedic crime show, it was a groundbreaking moment that illuminated just how rarely overt bisexual representation actually occurs on TV. Unlike most bisexual characters, whose sexuality is implied at best, Diaz publically declares that she is actually bisexual.
According to the actress, "I remember seeing the initial draft of the script, and that word was in there, and I got very overwhelmed and emotional, I pointed to the page and I said, 'This word is important. We have to keep this word in. We can't just dance around what Rosa is saying and who Rosa is."
It's even more moving that Stephanie Beatriz herself is bisexual. "I'm engaged to be married to a man, and one of the main things I hear on social media again and again is, 'Wait, I thought you were bi,'" she said. "To me, that's laughable but also really frustrating. It doesn't matter who I'm with. My sexuality remains the same."
The truth is that every kind of bisexual person is different, just as every person of any particular identity is different. Still, the most important thing to know is that bisexuality is a valid identity, and it doesn't mean that you have to act any particular kind of way. You can be sexually promiscuous or perpetually single; you can be cis, trans, or anything and everything in between. You can be in a straight relationship or gay relationship and still be bisexual, or you can deviate from expectations about your sexual orientation without feeling bad about disloyalty to the queer cause. Don't let TV or the Internet tell you what to think or dictate your reality or tell you what it means to be a "good" or "bad" bisexual (or person). Just love who you want to love, and if you feel up to it, be out, loud and proud this Bisexual Visiblity Day and every day.
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