Two-thirds of straight women and one-third of straight men are unwilling to date a bisexual person of the opposite sex, according to a YouGov poll published today, during Bisexuality Visibility Week. The poll illustrates how lingering stereotypes negatively affect people’s impressions of bisexual individuals.

The poll — which surveyed 5,983 Britons during late March, including 2,031 straight women and 1,517 straight men — found that 48% of all respondents had positive views of bisexual people and only 8% had negative views. The remaining percentage had neither a positive nor a negative view of bisexuals.

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When the survey asked straight women and men why they were unwilling to date a bisexual person of the opposite sex, most (16% and 19%, respectively) said they “just don’t” or claimed, “It’s just a preference.”

A nearly similar portion, 17% of straight women and 16% of straight men, said they felt like bi people are more inclined to cheat, or that they themselves would feel insecure that they’d be unable to provide a bi partner whatever they get from a same-sex partner.

Interestingly, 9% of straight women said they feel disgust or discomfort towards men with same-sex experiences, 8% worried about possible sexual health risks, and 10% of straight men said they considered bisexuality to be either religiously or morally “wrong.” Approximately 12-13% of all straight respondents said they just wanted their dating partner to be heterosexual.

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[–] 18 points 4 days ago (6 children)

I'm a straight woman who very briefly dated a bi guy. I never cared. It felt like none of my business who he had been with before me. He was an absolute sweetheart, and I miss him dearly.

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  • [–] 9 points 4 days ago (1 child)

    @lonefighter @velma
    "It felt like none of my business who he had been with before me."
    True, that's private stuff. Only parts of it that may be important to share are those that will objectively impact the relationship. (Stalker ex, for example.)

    Also to add for others, being bi does not mean having a sexual history with partners of at least two genders. It does not even mean having any sexual history at all.

    I felt compelled to add this to account for bi erasure.

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  • [–] 5 points 4 days ago (3 children)
  • [–] 13 points 4 days ago (2 children)

    I was dealing with some mental health struggles and really horrible life events and he tried to be there for me but I ended up inadvertently taking things out on him and he quite justifiably ended things. I apologized, he forgave me, we still text every few months and are on friendly terms, but that bridge is burned forever and I'm still low key heartbroken about it because he is a good dude.

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