ILLUSTRATION FERNANDO SAOFNT
Over the past few years, a particularly heated debate has raged about the definition of bisexuality and its distinction – or otherwise – from pansexuality (as well as polysexuality, omni-sexuality and other associated terms). As more and more people adopt pan and pan-related labels, bisexuals are increasingly exposed to accusations that “bisexual” implies a “binary” in the form of attraction to just two genders (cis-males and cis-females), rather than being defined as an attraction to one’s own gender and other genders. DIVA spoke to members of both communities to try and get to the root of this polarising issue…
Patricia Silva, 40, is editor of the Larker bisexual anthology. “The bi equals binary debate keeps queer people divided,” she laments. “Bisexual desire does not hinge on fixed positions, just like pan capacities. As a bisexual person, I am neither a genital nor a gender fetishist, so emotionally and physically, I don’t understand people’s need to divide attraction into cis or non-cis categories.”