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I'm From Driftwood Presents: 'You're Bisexual? Then Why Not Choose To Be Normal?'

I'm From Driftwood Presents: 'You're Bisexual? Then Why Not Choose To Be Normal?'

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A video from the LGBT story archive I'm From Driftwood asks, 'what's normal anyway?'

In the latest video from the LGBT story archive project I'm from Driftwood, bisexual activist Mike Szymanski reflected on his journey to being a proud bisexual man and pushing back on ill-informed challenges to his identity.

"I didn't really know what bisexuality meant ... because I came out as gay first, and I told my parents and it was a big deal [that] I came out as gay," Szymasnki explains in the video, published September 10. "And then I was sleeping around with a woman, and they thought that it was strange. I was living in West Hollywood, and we would go to gay clubs, but I was with a woman. And then I thought, 'Well, okay, maybe I'm bisexual,' and she introduced me as her gay boyfriend. Then my dad said, 'Well if you're bisexual, why would you choose the wrong way?'"

It's a question many bisexual people have heard, arguably because a lot of straight -- and gay-- people still believe that bisexuality is a choice. While individuals of any orientation can ultimately choose who they pursue a relationship with, the idea that someone can be attracted to more than one gender does not mean bisexual people can choose with whom they fall in love.

In the six-minute video, Szymanski reflects on the intimate parts of his life that led him to become a bisexual activist and to his husband, who he has been with for 18 years. "We're together and we both identify as bisexuals and that throws a lot of people off," Szymanski says in the video.

Ultimately, Syzmanski concludes with some advice for people of all sexualities: "Just be yourself, be comfortable ... and don't try to squelch your interest in whomever you're interested in. I think that's the best way to go about your life."

Meet Mike Szymanski in the video below:

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