I Am Not Half Gay
Recently, I watched a trailer on YouTube for the new Freddie Mercury biopic. Then I noticed in the comments, someone said they’re “making him straight” in the movie when he “was gay” in real life, and someone else replied to point out that he wasn’t gay, he was bisexual. The original commenter replied that bisexuals are “half gay” so therefore he was gay.
Wait: what the hell is “half gay”?
I am bisexual. I am not half gay. I am not half a person. I am a whole me.
Too many people still see sexuality as an either/or duality: you’re either straight or you’re gay. Bisexuality occupies a murky middle ground and cannot be defined as anything so simple as half gay/half straight.
I spent thirty years oblivious to my same sex attractions. The first time I took the Kinsey test, a few years ago, I fell somewhere around a 2. I just took two versions of the test today, and I got a 1 on the first site (0 is 100% straight and 10 is 100% gay. Does that make me 10–20% gay?), and an “F – The test failed to match you to a Kinsey Type profile. Either you answered some questions wrong, or you are a very unusual person” on the second site. Sounds like I somehow failed? I dunno.
Sexuality, like gender, is a spectrum. The middle can be labeled “bisexual” or “pansexual” or “queer” but it covers much more than just a 50/50 attraction to male and female. And, even if you are a 5 on the Kinsey scale, that wouldn’t be “half gay” as you are still a complete person.
I don’t know if they’re making Freddie Mercury straight in the movie, but I do know he wasn’t half gay in real life. No one is.
