An exploration of sexual citizenship among bisexual men and women of colour in the United Kingdom and South Africa

Abstract

Bisexuality and it's intersectionality with race is of yet vastly unexplored within academia. In the attempt to contribute to the growing academic literature, this qualitative research project is designed to explore the sexual citizenship among bisexual men and women of colour in South Africa and the UK; with the particular interest on the intersection of race and sexuality and the varying social attitudes and legislative landscapes of the UK and South Africa. This study adopts a relativist, phenomenological, approach which allowed me to develop a detailed insight into the lived experiences of six self-identifying bisexuals through the medium of semi-structured interviews and secondary data analysis. The central findings of this research reveal that despite recent academic interest, legislative changes and awareness of bisexuality, the participants agreed about what it meant to be bisexual, but that it is still broadly misunderstood especially its intersection with race, in both South Africa and the UK. The participants achieve their sexual citizenship through disputing the notion that bisexuality is unAfrican and unnatural. Furthermore, that bisexual people of colour impacts their life in a negative way, resulting in marginalisation and the constant struggle for acceptance.