“Examined Masculinity”: Bi + Men’s Experiences of Sexuality and Gender across Heteronormative & Queer Spaces

Bi + individuals make up the largest proportion of the LGBTQ + community (Gates, 2011 Gates, G. J. (2011). How many people are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender?. The Williams Institute. Retrieved from https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/how-many-people-lgbt/ [Google Scholar]), but are often underrepresented in the literature (Galupo at al., 2017). Most research on bi + experiences focuses on discrimination (Roberts et al., 2015 Roberts, T. S., Horne, S. G., & Hoyt, W. T. (2015). Between a gay and a straight place: Bisexual individuals’ experiences with monosexism. Journal of Bisexuality, 15(4), 554–569. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299716.2015.1111183[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Sarno et al., 2020 Sarno, E. L., Newcomb, M. E., Feinstein, B. A., & Mustanski, B. (2020). Bisexual men’s experiences with discrimination, internalized binegativity, and identity affirmation: Differences by partner gender. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49(5), 1783–1798. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01712-z[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Weiss, 2003 Weiss, J. T. (2003). GL vs. BT: The archaeology of biphobia and transphobia within the u.s. gay and lesbian community. Journal of Bisexuality, 3(3–4), 25–55. https://doi.org/10.1300/J159v03n03_02[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]), whereas less research has examined the ways in which bi + men develop their own self-concepts of gender and sexuality while facing negative stigmatization and erasure from both heterosexual and queer communities. This study implements Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR; Hill et al., 1997 Hill, C. E., Thompson, B. J., & Williams, E. N. (1997). A guide to conducting consensual qualitative research. The Counseling Psychologist, 25(4), 517–572. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000097254001[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Hill et al., 2005 Hill, C. E., Knox, S., Thompson, B. J., Williams, E. N., Hess, S. A., & Ladany, N. (2005). Consensual qualitative research: An update. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52(2), 196–205. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.52.2.196[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) to examine the question: how do bi + men develop and express their masculinity and sexuality while moving between and within heteronormative and queer sociocultural spaces? Findings consist of six domains including: (1) Beyond labels; (2) Fighting for authenticity; (3) Policing identity; (4) Importance of social support; (5) Intersecting identities; and (6) Family influence. Ultimately, bi + men described flexibility in their gender and sexual identities, a resilient pursuit of authenticity amidst negative experiences and ostracization from possible spaces in which to explore identity, the influence of racial, religious and cultural values on their identity development, and the invaluable nature of an affirming, accepting and encouraging environment.