Bisexual

Research has shown that bisexuals have poorer health outcomes than heterosexuals, gays, or lesbians, particularly with regard to mental health and substance use. However, research on bisexuals is often hampered by issues in defining bisexuality, small sample sizes, and by the failure to address age differences between bisexuals and other groups or age gradients in mental health. The Risk & Resilience Survey of Bisexual Mental Health collected data on 405 bisexuals from Ontario, Canada, using respondent-driven sampling, a network-based sampling method for hidden populations. The weighted prevalence of severe depression (PHQ-9≥20) was 4.7%, possible anxiety disorder (OASIS≥8) was 30.9%, possible post-traumatic stress disorder (PCL-C≥50) was 10.8%, and past year suicide attempt was 1.9%. With respect to substance use, the weighted prevalence of problem drinking (AUDIT≥5) was 31.2%, and the weighted prevalence of illicit polydrug use was 30.5%. Daily smoking was low in this sample, with a weighted prevalence of 7.9%. Youth (aged 16–24) reported significantly higher weighted mean scores on depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, and higher rates of past year suicidal ideation (29.7% vs. 15.2%) compared with those aged 25 and older. The burden of mental health and substance use among bisexuals in Ontario is high relative to population-based studies of other sexual orientation groups. Bisexual youth appear to be at risk for poor mental health. Additional research is needed to understand if and how minority stress explains this burden.

Drawing upon PhD research in kinky, BDSM and queer clubbing spaces, this paper addresses the importance of kinky and queer identities in the development of the researcher’s field positionality and self-understanding. It will be argued that through the ethnographic immersion the researcher needs to work through conflicting emotions, both personal and academic, to achieve a deeper sensitivity and connection with the researched (Blackman, 2007, Commane, 2012, Ellis, 1991a, 1991b, 1992, Gender, 2005, Ronai, 1992). Included in this sensitivity is the importance of the researcher recognising their own personal and emotional developments achieved through the help and support off participants and friends in the research. Although immersion into subcultural and taboo spaces is not something new, what is important to address is the positive impact field experiences have on the researcher and how these experiences challenge wider social ‘concerns’ about marginalised spaces (Blackman and Commane, 2011, Campbell, 1981, Commane, 2007, 2012, Sumner, 1994, Weeks 1991, 1995). These ‘concerns’ do still present massive issues when applied to female participants in the field, but there needs to be further recognition of the impact these concerns have on women researching sexual and subversive field locations. To sustain agency and value from the personal contexts and shared journeys of the participants and researcher alike; it will be argued that it is vital for the researcher to understand that the field experience becomes part of their biography and not something meaningless or throw-away after research has ended. Through shared journeys of self-discovery and acceptance in the kinky-queer spaces in PhD research, the paper will demonstrate how affective research can develop the way you look at yourself, your gender and your sense of belonging (Commane, 2012).

This petition argues that erotic comics are an important cultural record of the way in which diverse sexualities are understood and portrayed, and sexual fantasies explored. An Erotic Comics Anglophone Archive (ErotiCAA) will preserve these works for research by scholars in many different disciplines.

One of the biggest problems facing anyone researching pornography/erotica or comics, and therefore doubly so for anyone researching erotic/pornographic comics, is finding and gaining access to primary materials. So we have decided to have a go at establishing an archive in the UK to collect and catalogue English-language porn and erotic comics.

We intend to approach a number of libraries and research institutions to host and/or fund the archive. Persuading them to support us will be a lot easier if we an show that there is a need for this archive, so to help with that we’ve started this petition.

We’ve already got this kick-ass logo designed for us by Alison Lucy Stone and meetings set up with a couple of big libraries. Help us out by signing the petition? And if you’d like to be more involved, please tweet Dr Anna Madill @UKFujoshi or Dr Jude Roberts @tangendentalism - we’d love to hear from you!

Most studies on men seeking men and who use the Internet for sexual purposes have focused on the epidemiological outcomes of Internet cruising. Other research has only focused on online sexual behaviours such as cybersex. The present study examines men who find the acts of Internet cruising and emailing to be erotic as self-contained behaviours. We surveyed 499 men who used craigslist.org for sexually-oriented purposes, and ran an ordinary least squares multiple regression model to determine the demographic characteristics of men seeking men who found Internet cruising erotic. Our results showed that younger compared to older men seeking men found the acts erotic. Likewise, men seeking men from mid-sized cities and large cities compared to men from smaller cities found Internet cruising and emailing to be erotic. Most notably, bisexual- and heterosexual-identifying men seeking men compared to gay-identifying men found these acts to be more erotic. Our results suggested that self-contained Internet cruising might provide dual functions. For some men (e.g., heterosexual-identifying men), the behaviour provides a sexual outlet in which fantasy and experimentation may be explored without risking stigmatization. For other men (e.g., those from large cities), the behaviour may be an alternative to offset sexual risk while still being able to ‘get off’.La mayoría de los estudios acerca de hombres que buscan hombres (HBH) y sobre hombres que usan la Internet para fines sexuales se ha centrado en los resultados epidemiológicos de los “ligues” cibernéticos. Otras investigaciones han dirigido su enfoque al comportamiento sexual en línea, como por ejemplo, el cibersexo. El presente estudio se orienta al análisis de hombres que opinan que el intercambiar correos electrónicos y los actos vinculados al ligar por Internet resultan eróticos en tanto comportamientos autocontenidos. Los autores encuestaron a 499 hombres que usan craigslist.org para fines sexuales. Posteriormente, corrieron un modelo de regresión múltiple de mínimos cuadrados ordinarios de los resultados, con el fin de determinar las características demográficas de los HBH que consideran que el ligue cibernético es erótico. Los resultados obtenidos demuestran que, comparando hombres mayores vs. hombres jóvenes, quienes en mayor medida encuentran erótico el acto de ligar por la Internet, son los hombres jóvenes. Asimismo, se constató que, en relación a los HBH que residen en ciudades pequeñas, aquellos que lo hacen en ciudades medianas y grandes muestran mayor tendencia a encontrar erótico el ligue cibernético y el intercambio de correos electrónicos. En particular, cabe señalar que, en comparación con los hombres que se autoidentifican como gay, aquellos HBH que se autoidentifican como bisexuales o heterosexuales, muestran mayor predisposición a considerar eróticos los actos referidos. Los resultados también demuestran que el ligue cibernético autocontenido podría desempeñar una función dual. Para algunos hombres -por ejemplo, quienes se autoidentifican como heterosexuales-, este comportamiento constituye una satisfacción sexual en la que se pueden realizar fantasías y experimentaciones sin arriesgarse a ser estigmatizados. Para otros -por ejemplo, los de ciudades grandes-, este comportamiento puede ser una alternativa que disminuye el riesgo sexual y de todas maneras permite el goce sexual.La plupart des études sur les hommes qui cherchent à rencontrer d'autres hommes et utilisent Internet dans un but sexuel se sont interrogées sur les conséquences épidémiologiques de la drague via Internet. D'autres se sont concentrées sur les seuls comportements sexuels en ligne comme le cybersexe. Cette étude s'est focalisée sur des hommes qui pensent que les actes de drague et de communication (courriels) via Internet sont aussi érotiques que les comportements autonomes. Nous avons interrogé 499 hommes utilisant craiglist.org dans un but sexuel et suivi un modèle ordinaire de régression multiple des moindres carrés pour déterminer les caractéristiques démographiques d'hommes cherchant à rencontrer d'autres hommes et percevant la drague sur Internet comme érotique. Nos résultats montrent que parmi ces hommes, comparativement aux plus âgés, ce sont les plus jeunes qui trouvaient ces actes érotiques. De même, comparativement aux hommes résidant dans les plus petites villes, ce sont les hommes vivant dans les villes moyennes et plus importantes qui trouvaient la drague sur Internet et les emails érotiques. Plus particulièrement, les hommes s'identifiant comme bisexuels ou hétérosexuels et cherchant à rencontrer d'autres hommes, comparativement aux hommes s'identifiant comme gays, trouvaient ces actes plus érotiques encore. Nos résultats suggèrent que la drague autonome sur Internet pourrait avoir une double fonction. Pour certains hommes (par ex. ceux qui s'identifient comme hétérosexuels), ce comportement offre un débouché sexuel, dans lequel phantasme et expérimentation peuvent être explorés sans risque de stigmatisation. Pour d'autres (par ex. ceux qui vivent dans les grandes villes), ce comportement serait peut-être une alternative de compensation du risque sexuel, alors qu'ils sont encore capables de «baiser».

The recent release of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) booklets, policy, and practice guidance addressing the need to address homophobic bullying in schools represents a distinct shift in how diverse student sexualities are conceptualized in education around the world. Nations, states, specific education sectors, and individual schools are increasingly addressing the issue of homophobia in official policies. Such policies can include spaces for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer (GLBTIQ), and other related student subjects. Recent research shows that bisexual identities have increased significantly among same-sex attracted Australian female students in particular. This paper considers the extent to which bisexual subjectivity is reflected in Australian education policies, sexuality education practices, and school provisions. Analysis is based on a review of over 80 Australian education policies, and data from a national Australian survey on GLBTIQ students aged 14–21. The paper compares the general invisibility of bisexuality in education policy to its prevalence across GLBTIQ student identities and experiences.  Issues unique to bisexual students are discussed, and the paper argues the need for school staff to fulfil the strong desire of bisexual students to have their identities reflected in school-based discussions through inclusion of bisexual students in relevant policy statements.

""The present article represents a quite literal take on the theme of the special issue of Australian Feminist Law Journal in which it appears by discussing the public park as a garden of justice: on the one hand a concrete, geographical setting in which law and morality become manifest, on the other hand the site of a more intangible space which is constituted by the struggles between different spatial definitions. The article focuses on the case of Ørstedsparken in Copenhagen, a well-known cruising site where bi- and homosexual men have been meeting up to have sex for more than a century. In response to this use of the park, in recent years the municipality of Copenhagen has cut down vegetation in the park in order to expose (and thereby attempt to prevent) these activities. In doing so, the authorities attempt to reclaim the contested public space of the park and return it to a site of order (law) and potential justice.

This reaction can be related to Andreas Philippopoulos-Mihalopoulos’ notion of spatial justice, which sees the need for withdrawal from the space one occupies as essential, and to the problems related to several agents laying claim to the same space at the same time. The article also proposes that the desire to expose those who retreat to public parks to have sex may in part be a result of the hiddenness of the people who engage in these activities, since this represents a space which can be perceived as extralegal in a formal sense. Further, in connection with this discussion, the article also considers the informal implications that this specific use of the park as a homosexual cruising site has on the perception of safety and – by extension – law and suggests that unlike many other types of illegal activities, the use of parks as cruising sites means that they in some cases come to be seen as safer recreational areas for women than other parks, because the male homosexual use is perceived as precluding other types of illicit activity (e.g. heterosexual rape, robbery, drug dealing).

The article also addresses the fact that while the cutting of bushes can be seen as a physical manifestation of the presence of law, the specific targeting of this homosexual cruising site may point to a moral aspect of justice. Given that it is no longer possible to suggest the removal of homosexual desire in people, the cutting down of bushes at gay cruising sites could be interpreted as a surrogate way of imposing moral law upon those who fall outside of heteronormativity. This argument is underpinned by an analysis of the debate and critique of the sexual activities in the park in the media which seems to move not primarily on the level of legality, but on that of morality and justice.

The article ends with an analysis of a sign stipulating the conditions of the use of Ørstedsparken as a cruising site, which was placed at the gates of the park in April 2012. The sign is analysed and related to the struggle for spatial definition and the notion of spatial justice.""