Cynthia Nixon: Being Bisexual "Is Not a Choice"

Actress Cynthia Nixon is bisexual and that "is not a choice," she said in an exclusive statement to The Advocate.

The former star of Sex and the City who is now on Broadway in Wit has been the focus of heated discussion among the LGBT community because of a comment she made to The New York Times Magazine earlier this month.

"For me, it is a choice," she had said of being in a relationship with Christine Marinoni, who she has a child with and plans to marry. In a follow-up interview with The Daily Beast, she revealed that gay Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson will be marrying the couple.

It was while talking to the Beast that Nixon, who was in a relationship with a man for 15 years and had two children, said she's bisexual. And she admitted being leery of identifying by any label, especially that one. "Everybody likes to dump on the bisexuals," she told the Beast.

Outrage spread online that Nixon might be saying being gay is not genetic, followed by discussions of whether it even matters. Now Nixon is clarifying her words in a carefully thought-out statement, with the hope that finally what she intended to say comes through.

Read the complete statement below.

"My recent comments in The New York Times were about me and my personal story of being gay. I believe we all have different ways we came to the gay community and we can't and shouldn't be pigeon-holed into one cultural narrative which can be uninclusive and disempowering. However, to the extent that anyone wishes to interpret my words in a strictly legal context I would like to clarify:

"While I don't often use the word, the technically precise term for my orientation is bisexual. I believe bisexuality is not a choice, it is a fact. What I have 'chosen' is to be in a gay relationship.

"As I said in the Times and will say again here, I do, however, believe that most members of our community -- as well as the majority of heterosexuals -- cannot and do not choose the gender of the persons with whom they seek to have intimate relationships because, unlike me, they are only attracted to one sex.

"Our community is not a monolith, thank goodness, any more than America itself is. I look forward to and will continue to work toward the day when America recognizes all of us as full and equal citizens."