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The question whether some men have a bisexual orientation—that is, whether they are substantially sexually aroused and attracted to both sexes—has remained controversial among both scientists and laypersons. Skeptics believe that male sexual orientation can only be homosexual or heterosexual, and that bisexual identification reflects nonsexual concerns, such as a desire to deemphasize homosexuality. Although most bisexual-identified men report that they are attracted to both men and women, self-report data cannot refute these claims. Patterns of physiological (genital) arousal to male and female erotic stimuli can provide compelling evidence for male sexual orientation. (In contrast, most women provide similar physiological responses to male and female stimuli.) We investigated whether men who self-report bisexual feelings tend to produce bisexual arousal patterns. Prior studies of this issue have been small, used potentially invalid statistical tests, and produced inconsistent findings. We combined nearly all previously published data (from eight previous studies in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada), yielding a sample of 474 to 588 men (depending on analysis). All participants were cisgender males. Highly robust results showed that bisexual-identified men’s genital and subjective arousal patterns were more bisexual than were those who identified as exclusively heterosexual or homosexual. These findings support the view that male sexual orientation contains a range, from heterosexuality, to bisexuality, to homosexuality.

There is ample evidence of and concern about the invisibility of bisexualϩ individuals, which results from the tendency to deny or ignore their identities. Recent research has begun to examine whether and how bisexualϩ individuals (an umbrella term that includes all individuals who are attracted to more than one gender, regardless of the specific identity label they use) attempt to make their identity visible to others. This study builds on prior research by exploring novel questions regarding how, when, and why bisexualϩ individuals attempt to make their identity visible, using data from an Internet survey of 715 individuals who reported attractions to more than one gender. Results indicated that participants were most likely to use biϩ visibility attempt strategies involving indirect forms of communication (e.g., sharing things related to their identity on social media) and direct forms of communication (e.g., telling others in person), though they perceived indirect communication as less successful at communicating their identity to others than direct communication. They were most likely to make biϩ visibility attempts in situations with other bisexualϩ individuals or in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender contexts, as well as with partners or when single, and they did so for reasons related to a sense of activism or pride. Future directions for research and barriers to biϩ visibility are discussed. Public Significance StatementThis study suggests that many bisexualϩ individuals want to be visible and are actively engaging in strategies to make their identity visible to others. However, they are doing so in relatively "safe" situations, suggesting that more work is needed to foster an environment in which it is safer for bisexualϩ individuals to be visible.

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