Responsible for the title of this post, Kristen Stewart may have the most internet-famous gay AF moment. Despite a public history of hetero relationships (even derailing her career by sleeping with the married male director of her film Snow White & The Huntsman), Stewart claimed the gay label during her SNL opening monologue in 2017. Lest you worry about invalidating her ⭐lesbianism, she does identify as bisexual.Cynthia Nixon has made a lot of statements about her sexuality. Though she admits that "the technically precise term for [her] orientation is bisexual" (and once believed "we’re all bisexual”), she now shies away from the word, claiming that lesbians get more respect for their same-sex attraction than bisexual women do. Cynthia, who has also called herself "gay as a political stance," continues to use the lesbian moniker in her campaign for governor of New York.I gave a speech recently, an empowerment speech to a gay audience, and it included the line "I’ve been straight and I’ve been gay, and gay is better." And they tried to get me to change it because they said it implies that homosexuality can be a choice. And for me, it is a choice. I understand that for many people it’s not, but for me, it’s a choice, and you don't get to define my gayness for me.
I am very annoyed about this issue. Why can't it be a choice? Why is that any less legitimate? I don't pull out the "bisexual" word because nobody likes the bisexuals. Everybody likes to dump on the bisexuals... We get no respect.
At the other end of the spectrum,
Michelle Rodriquez made a point to distance herself from the lesbian label after being included on the cover of
Curve without her knowledge (which many fans took as her coming out). She said
the misconception that she's gay could hurt her career.
There are certain things that can close doors between a celebrity and certain audiences…If I were Ellen [DeGeneres] I may get away with the ‘I’m gay’ level of exposure, but I’m not a comedian, I like men (real ones anyway) and I’ve only been in this business for seven years, not 20.Michelle later came out as bisexual, saying "Eventually it's going to wrinkle up and I won't be able to use it. I wanted to be honest about who I am and see what happens."
Queen
Gillian Anderson,
proud bisexual, speculated that her experience as a young woman was easier than a lesbian girl's because she still had a place in hetero society.I was in a relationship with a girl for a long time when I was in high school... If I had thought I was 100% gay, would it have been a different experience for me? Would it have been a bigger deal if shame had been attached to it and all those things that become huge life-altering issues for youngsters in that situation? It’s possible that my attitude around it came, on some level, from knowing that I still liked boys. It wasGore Vidal'sfamily that insisted on labeling him gay despite his identifying as bisexual. In this case, though, his family may have been right. Vidal, who was born in 1925, believed'gay' could only be used to describe sex acts and not a person's identityor orientation. For someone of his generation, 'gay' referred only to men perceived as weak because of their 'femininity' (including being the penetrated partner); Vidal was a socially and physically powerful man who reportedly always topped.Classical history major side note: This is somewhat similar to the ancient Greek understanding of sexual orientation: classification is based on giving/receiving or dom/sub in sex acts rather than on the sex(es) involved.Like Vidal's family,
Cara Delevingne's friends insist on calling her gay when she is in a same-sex relationship. Cara rejects the label, though, saying: "Once I spoke about my sexual fluidity, people were like, 'So you’re gay.' And I’m like, '
No, I’m not gay.'"
*For the sake of simplicity, I've included anyone who has relationships with both men and women, even if they identify as pansexual, queer, or label-free.Margaret Cho. "I just can't decide, I just want to have sex with everybody. [...] Of course, I've had relationships with women, but my politics are more queer than my lifestyle." (Cho is also poly.)
Bai Ling. Before she was fluent in English: "My name is pronounced 'bi,' so when I was asked, 'Are you bi?' I said, 'Yes, I am Bai.' Later I found out what it means, and I said, 'Sure, I am bi!'"
Evan Rachel Wood. "This is part of who I am, and I'm old enough to really know who I am by now."
Azealia Banks. "I can't be homophobic because I'm bisexual."
Drew Barrymore. "Do I like women sexually? Yes, I do. Totally. I think a woman and a woman together are beautiful, just as a man and a woman together are beautiful."
Tila Tequila. "I was the first one to put out a TV show about bisexuality...right after season 2, Katy Perry made “I Kissed a Girl” and then everybody was kissing girls and then Ellen came out and everybody started coming out, slowly. It became a topic of conversation.
You don’t have to like me but I did it first."
Demi Lovato. "All of my songs are based off of personal experiences. I don't think there's anything wrong with experimentation at all."
Andy Dick. Calls himself 'try-sexual' ("I'll try anything once"). "Both [the gay and straight communities] want to push me gay."
Fergie."I think women are beautiful. I've had a lot of fun with women, and I'm not ashamed of it.
The problem is that I also love a well-endowed man."
Zoe Saldana."As of today, I've been attracted to the male species, but if one day I wake up and want to be with a woman, I will do that because it is my life, therefore it is my decision."
Snooki. Considers herself bisexual, but says, "I would never
be with a girl because I like...penis."
Billie Joe Armstrong. "Not sure if [he is] still bisexual" despite lots of past romantic/sexual relationships with both men and women.
Saffron Burrows. “If I was going to make a broad generalization, I’d say that I prefer the company of women. ...
For a woman to say she has had a dalliance with another woman is quite trendy these days, but I do not like that trendiness. Life isn’t about dalliances – it’s about individuals. You come across people in your life that you find very interesting. It’s not about something flighty."
More celebs on our team:Besse Smith | Angelina Jolie | David Bowie | Clive Davis | Janis Joplin | Sir Alec Guinness | Kesha | Anna Paquin | Sia | Lady Gaga | Vanessa Carlton | Bella Thorne | Pete Townshend | Aaron Carter | Ani DiFranco | Frenchie Davis | Miley Cyrus | Kathleen Hanna (Julie Ruin) | Amanda Palmer | Adrianne Curry | Dave Davies | Meshell Ndegeocello | Amber Rose | Jillian Michaels | Joan Baez | Rachel Williams | Jane Wiedlin | Kathy Najimy | Carrie Brownstein | Orlando Jordan | Kate Pierson | Sapphire | Joe Dallesandro | Bif Naked | Miranda July | Mike White | Brian Molko | Iyari Limón | Alan Cumming | Amber Heard | and even more on Wikipedia Source: My encyclopedic knowledge of my fellow Bs and
this list.
Do you appropriate labels, ONTD?