Tag: #BisexualMenExist

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Bi Twitter Rises Up As #BisexualMenExist Trends

(images via Twitter)
Bisexual men want you to know they exist and are not ‘confused’ whether they are dating men or women. The hashtag #BisexualMenExist was trending throughout Tuesday after software engineer Vaneet Mehta tweeted he had noticed an increase in biphobia recently.

In follow-up tweets, he encouraged non-binary, pansexuals, omnisexual, polysexuals and bicurious to use the hashtag and share photos of themselves as well. In an interview with HuffPost, Mehta shared that his tweet was in response to an exchange he saw on Twitter about Netflix’s new reality show, Love Is Blind. In one installment, a couple gets into a heated argument after the guy in the relationship, Carlton, comes out as bisexual to his fiancée, Diamond. The revelation led Diamond to doubt Carlton’s sexuality. Folks on Twitter apparently sided with Diamond. “One of the main things I saw on Twitter was a poll trending asking women whether they would ever date a bi man,” Mehta told HuffPost. “Most people voted no. I also saw quite a few comments insinuating that bi men were basically gay and just lying to themselves. It was upsetting.” Mehta added that many of the conversations he was seeing on Twitter about bisexuality included comments like “it’s just a phase,” which results in bisexual erasure. “These stereotypes about bisexual people erase my identity entirely, telling me I’m not valid,” said Mehta. “And it means people feel that they couldn’t date me because I’m only going to come out or I’m still in the closet.” In fact, bisexuals make up the largest share of LGBTQ Americans. A 2013 survey of LGBTQ Americans by Pew Research showed 40% of respondents identified as bisexual, while 36% identified as gay men, 19% as lesbians and 5% as transgender. Bi men from across the Twitterverse chimed in sharing their photos and stories including actor Joshua Rush (Disney Channels’ Andi Mack) and former NFL player Ryan Russell (Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers).