glantern954
Nov 19, 2006, 4:18 PM
Just saw this today. At the bottom he respondes. He mostly back-pedals.
Title: NEED WOOD: Responding to bisexual outrage
Published: Friday, November 17, 2006
Hey Woody!
I recently read your response to “Tired,” a man who was confused by his friend labeling himself as bisexual when, according to “Tired,” his friend was, in fact, gay.
I found your response disrespectful to “Tired’s” friend and disgustingly bi-phobic. What right do you or “Tired” think you have to determine his friend’s sexual orientation or question his self-label?
Bi Outrage
Hey Woody!
Yet another gay or straight “expert” pronounces that bisexual people don’t exist. Or, at the very least, that bisexual men don’t exist.
It’s very funny to bisexual people whenever we hear this pronouncement. In fact, in my bisexual discussion group that has been running for more than 12 years, we are always complaining there are too many guys.
Why are you mono-sexuals so freaked out that some people can actually love and lust after people of more than one gender?
Bi Outrage 2
Hey Woody!
In response to your advice on bisexuals,
I have to say that you are surely entitled to your opinion, and I appreciate that you do at least label your opinion as opinion. But, your article is still very disappointing.
Had you clicked a couple more links while researching the New York Times article, you would have seen responses from GLAAD, the HRC and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force condemning the article.
Bi Outrage 3
Hey Woody!
The study you quoted involving the penis sensors has been peer-reviewed as faulty. Having taken courses in psychological statistics, I know that creating and running an accurate research study is difficult at best.
To deny someone’s sexuality whom you have never met is something I find reprehensible. There is a reason that secondhand information is not allowed as legal testimony in court cases. There is enough bias from straight people without getting it from gay people, too.
Bi Outrage 4
Dear Outraged Queens,
Yes, there are flaws in the penis sensors, but you know what — I’d put my money on flawed studies that didn’t rely on self-assessment before I ever would on a bunch of men who “self-report” their sexuality.
Now, whether, in fact, bisexuals have an orientation or an unusual amount of sexual greed is another question. I kid.
Now, look, of course bisexuality exists! What I was talking about is prevalence.
I’m sticking to what I said: bisexuality is rare in men. But if “rare” is even one half of one percent, that’s still millions of people when you consider the world’s population.
The truth is also that a lot of closeted gay men claim to be bisexual because it protects them from society’s wrath. When was the last time you heard Jerry Falwell say “We’ve got to save America from the bisexual agenda!”
When was the last time you heard bisexuals accused of “recruiting,” or called “moral perversions?” Does the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy apply to bisexuals? Do churches refuse to ordain bisexual priests? Ever heard of a “bisexual bashing?”
There is tremendous pressure for gay men to declare themselves bisexuals. In many ways, it’s an act of survival. It buys you protection from society and borrows time for your brain to catch up with your body. But that means that self-reports are necessarily flawed and skewing the statistics on actual bisexuals.
Now, on the question of whether it’s an orientation, I defer to Margaret Cho. She once said (and I’m paraphrasing), “One day I woke up with a woman in my bed. The next day with a man. I thought, Oh my God! I’m so confused! Am I a lesbian? Am I straight? And then it hit me: I’m neither. I’m a slut!”
Link: http://www.washblade.com/2006/11-17/eclipsemag/need/need.cfm
Title: NEED WOOD: Responding to bisexual outrage
Published: Friday, November 17, 2006
Hey Woody!
I recently read your response to “Tired,” a man who was confused by his friend labeling himself as bisexual when, according to “Tired,” his friend was, in fact, gay.
I found your response disrespectful to “Tired’s” friend and disgustingly bi-phobic. What right do you or “Tired” think you have to determine his friend’s sexual orientation or question his self-label?
Bi Outrage
Hey Woody!
Yet another gay or straight “expert” pronounces that bisexual people don’t exist. Or, at the very least, that bisexual men don’t exist.
It’s very funny to bisexual people whenever we hear this pronouncement. In fact, in my bisexual discussion group that has been running for more than 12 years, we are always complaining there are too many guys.
Why are you mono-sexuals so freaked out that some people can actually love and lust after people of more than one gender?
Bi Outrage 2
Hey Woody!
In response to your advice on bisexuals,
I have to say that you are surely entitled to your opinion, and I appreciate that you do at least label your opinion as opinion. But, your article is still very disappointing.
Had you clicked a couple more links while researching the New York Times article, you would have seen responses from GLAAD, the HRC and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force condemning the article.
Bi Outrage 3
Hey Woody!
The study you quoted involving the penis sensors has been peer-reviewed as faulty. Having taken courses in psychological statistics, I know that creating and running an accurate research study is difficult at best.
To deny someone’s sexuality whom you have never met is something I find reprehensible. There is a reason that secondhand information is not allowed as legal testimony in court cases. There is enough bias from straight people without getting it from gay people, too.
Bi Outrage 4
Dear Outraged Queens,
Yes, there are flaws in the penis sensors, but you know what — I’d put my money on flawed studies that didn’t rely on self-assessment before I ever would on a bunch of men who “self-report” their sexuality.
Now, whether, in fact, bisexuals have an orientation or an unusual amount of sexual greed is another question. I kid.
Now, look, of course bisexuality exists! What I was talking about is prevalence.
I’m sticking to what I said: bisexuality is rare in men. But if “rare” is even one half of one percent, that’s still millions of people when you consider the world’s population.
The truth is also that a lot of closeted gay men claim to be bisexual because it protects them from society’s wrath. When was the last time you heard Jerry Falwell say “We’ve got to save America from the bisexual agenda!”
When was the last time you heard bisexuals accused of “recruiting,” or called “moral perversions?” Does the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy apply to bisexuals? Do churches refuse to ordain bisexual priests? Ever heard of a “bisexual bashing?”
There is tremendous pressure for gay men to declare themselves bisexuals. In many ways, it’s an act of survival. It buys you protection from society and borrows time for your brain to catch up with your body. But that means that self-reports are necessarily flawed and skewing the statistics on actual bisexuals.
Now, on the question of whether it’s an orientation, I defer to Margaret Cho. She once said (and I’m paraphrasing), “One day I woke up with a woman in my bed. The next day with a man. I thought, Oh my God! I’m so confused! Am I a lesbian? Am I straight? And then it hit me: I’m neither. I’m a slut!”
Link: http://www.washblade.com/2006/11-17/eclipsemag/need/need.cfm