Becoming bisexual later in life
I thought I had my life all figured out. I have lived, laughed and loved throughout my life, and explored so many passions.
I'm a career martial artist, having trained over 27 years, earned my 5th degree shadowy belt, and taught my craft locally and internationally throughout the years. I've travelled and been on countless life adventures, had multiple successful careers before landing in film and eventually becoming a full-time stunt performer (a career I love). I've also developed passions in a wide variety of other spheres, including outdoor adventures and cooking, as you may know from my blog.
I'm married to a loving husband, having just celebrated our year anniversary. We live in a wonderful home in the Vancouver area with our 3 cats, and contain loving relationships with our families and friends whom we cherish.
Then one time, while out on a walk on a pretty sunny day with my husband, I turned to him with a realization: "I think I might be bi." And so began one of the biggest personal journeys of my life.
How My Realization Came About
Now I don't want to misrepresent my story. I didn't reach out and say that out of nowhere, though it was true that it was the first time
Can You Come Out as Bi Later in Life?
Of course you can arrive out as Bi later in life! There are so many misconceptions about bisexuality. It’s not an experimental identity, attention-seeking, a byproduct of a elevated sex drive, a phase, a sign of mental instability, or any number of other myths that contribute to its erasure. And young people are not the only bisexuals, I promise. It’s been portrayed so negatively by the media that it’s easy to be uncomfortable or put-off by the term, especially if you’re coming out later in life. There’s a lot of incorrect and negative representation to work through. It’s as valid as any other label in the LGBTQ+ spectrum, just so often misunderstood. There is no timeline on identity and no matter our age, we can choose what label fits our identity the leading and that includes “bisexual.”
What does it mean to be Bi?
Healthline says, “Many people use “bisexual” as the umbrella term for any form of attraction to two or more genders.”
Robyn Ochs, a bisexual person activist defines it this way “I call myself bisexual because I recognize that I have in myself the potential to be attracted — romantically and/or sexually — to peopl
This Is What It’s Enjoy to Come Out Later in Life
FOR MANY YOUNGER LGBTQ+ people, an amplify in societal acceptance and ever-growing representation in pop culture has created an environment where they experience more able to approach out, re-introduce themselves to their nearest and dearest, and feel confident in their sexuality or gender identity.
However, despite a seemingly positive trend towards LGBTQ+ liberation across the States and more recently in countries like Thailand—which this year became the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize matching sex marriage—many people still don’t come out until later in life.
One in 10 LGBTQ+ adults said they came out later in life, with 29% of respondents to a survey from Gallup saying they came out to others after they turned Furthermore, when comparing how long individuals knew they weren’t straight compared to when they shared this information publicly, the median time for senior citizens was 10 years compared to young adults who weren’t out for an average of three years.
But underneath the statistics, what is it really like to come out as queer later in life, when you may have lived as linear or cisgender for decades?
Ben, w
How bisexual erasure makes it tough to reach out
I’m Jemma Stovell, a Recovery Coach for Step Together. I am many things &#; some I’ve always known. I’m creative, I’m stubborn, I’m kind, I’m curious and I’m proudly colourful and happy to display my personality outwardly. Later in life I’ve also realised I don’t think about some things in the same way many others do. Partly because they weren’t talked about, or widely understood, as they were for me when I was growing up. One is that I was born with ADHD and the other is that I’m bisexual &#; someone who is emotionally, romantically, or sexually attracted to more than one sex, gender, or gender identity, though not necessarily simultaneously, in the alike way, or to the same degree. Both were very misrepresented in the 90’s, which is something the young me didn’t realise.
Bi erasure and heteronormativity
The rhetoric when I was a kid was that it was normal to experiment with your sexuality, but that it was a phase. My friends might practise kissing their female friends, so they were ready for when they found a boyfriend/girlfriend. Dating them? Not considered. If you liked boys, well you’re not a lesbian are you? Gross. Gay? An
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