Where is the B?
We all know the acronym GLBT, some of us use GLBTQ, and it’s pretty common knowledge what all the letters stand for. This site was created to focus on books from all spectrums of GLBTQ but when it comes to the B…there’s some frustration.
A large percentage of the GLBTQ books being published these days are gay male stories, but what about readers like me who are looking for quality fiction from the other areas of the rainbow? Quality lesbian fiction may not be as popular in the ebook community, but there is a plethora of fiction out there if you know where to look. Transgender fiction is even harder to find, but there’re stories out there. So what about bisexual stories? I’ve identified as bisexual for over 15 years now, and after years of reading books I’ve come to the conclusion that finding quality fiction with bisexual characters is much harder than it seems.
A 2002 survey in the US by the National Center for Health Statistics found that of people ages 18-44, 1.8% of men and 2.8% of women consider themselves bisexual. That’s compared to 2.3% of men and 1.3% of women that consider themselves homosexual. That’s just one survey and there are numerous studies with other numbers but the common conclusion is that there is a solid percentage of the population that identifies as bisexual. So why is it so hard to find bisexual fiction?
Being bisexual means that you are attracted to both men and women. A bisexual male might be in a relationship with a female, or he might be in a relationship with a male. Both are love in every sense of the word, but on the surface what do those relationships appear to be? When with a female, the man appears to be in a heterosexual relationship. When with a male, the man appears to be in a homosexual relationship. When a book is written based on one of these relationships, the gut reaction for most publishers, and readers, is to categorize the book based on what the relationship “looks” like. The fact that one of the characters is bisexual gets lost in the shuffle.
Many publishers have what are presented as bisexual selections, and the vast majority of the time these are ménage stories. Typically, you’ll have a bisexual male in a relationship with both a male and a female. This is definitely one way to find bisexual characters, where bisexuality and polyamory are joined together, but what about readers who are looking for bisexual characters in monogamous relationships? Where do we go to find characters that reflect our own lives?
On the one hand, readers that identify as bisexual are at a great advantage as we have a wider array of fiction that we can read and enjoy since we love and are attracted to people of both genders. Yet on the other hand, we end up reading either heterosexual or homosexual characters and not often getting a character we can truly identify with. Of course, books usually focus on one relationship so a character’s bisexuality doesn’t really come up except through details of past relationships. Rock? Meet hard place.
After reading for years and years, I’ve only found a small handful of fiction books that feature bisexual characters in monogamous relationships. A search of “bisexual” on Amazon returns 87 romance titles, with 75 labeled Erotica and 18 labeled contemporary. The majority of those titles appear to involve polyamory. There are 841 books returned under Gay & Lesbian, and glancing through the beginning of the list are numerous non-fiction books with real life tales from bisexuals. Many are phenomenal books, yet still not fiction.
Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer to this one. I will just continue to search for fiction with bisexual characters. If you have any recommendations please share them!
Posted in Ramblings
Hi Emily
Lethe Press releases queer fiction including bisexual stories, although they are mostly in anthologies. I believe Dianne Fox and Anah Crow write bi romances (since one of them is bi) as well as gay, so they are one source for queer books. If I can think of others I’ll be in touch.
Hi Wave!
I have enjoyed Lethe Press books so I’ll definitely have to peruse their catalog again and see what bisexual stories they have available.
Now that I think of it, I believe one of the main characters of Dianne & Anah’s Renovations series is bisexual so you’re absolutely right! I’ll have to take another look through their books to see what other books of theirs feature bisexual characters.
Thanks for the recommendations!
Excellent point. I want more of those, too. I tend to write mostly about bisexual guys, which are then labelled off as “gay” because of the primary relationship in the m/m stuff I’m writing. However, I’ve recently tried harsder to make sure that they come across as bisexual and people can’t ignore “that other side” as easily. I’ll have to see if I succeeded.
Thanks for stopping by!!
I think there are a lot more bisexual characters out there, but like you said they get “labeled off” as something else based on the primary relationship in the story. I will definitely add your stories to my list of books to read for bisexual characters.
HI Emily
I have one pro published story, Interstitial:
http://logophilos.net/?page_id=102
and one long self-pubbed (free to read) series (Pindone Files)
http://logophilos.net/?page_id=50
Where the male characters are bi and their opposite sex relationships are either very recent, or constantly referenced (so very much not just background.)
Most of my stories feature bisexuals. You might also like this free to read story, Means of Support:
http://www.logophilos.net/means_of_support/means_of_support_1_1.php
Thanks for the recommendations!
I’ll definitely have to take a look through your stories.
Well the character of Toreth in The Administration series by Manna Francis is bisexual as is his partner Warrick.
In the Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold, Miles father Aral is bisexual, though this is never a big part of the storyline.
Awesome ~ more books for me to check out. Thanks for the recommendations!
Most of Naomi’s and my stuff features (at least nominally) bisexual characters who end up in (for the most part) monogamous relationships.
Sean Dempsey of Shell-Shocked identifies as bi. He has had sex exclusively with women before getting into the relationship with Gabe.
Torturo the Pain King in Alive on the Inside is omnisexual. Breathing is the minimum standard for him, and he’s flexible on that point. But he really wants one person to love exclusively.
Matt Court of “Showdown at Yellowstone River” is actively bisexual but sees his same-sex urges as unseemly.
Edward Kilsby, Lord Withycombe, and his secretary, Charlie Doyle, from Curse of the Pharaoh’s Manicurists are actively bisexual, although they tend to reserve their emotional intimacy for each other.
Even our Robin Hood in Heart of A Forest is unfashed when the lovely princess in his arms turns out to come with a little bit of extra equipment.
Thanks for all of the recommendations! I already have Alive on the Inside on my ever-growing TBR list so I definitely need to move it up to the top of the list and I will have to check out the others as well!