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Turning a Love Is Blind Storyline Into a Celebration of Bisexual Men
Turning a Love Is Blind Storyline Into a Celebration of Bisexual Men
Writer Vaneet Mehta speaks to The Advocate about how he found a silver lining in a biphobic moment on a popular reality show.
Twitter is seeing an outpouring of stories celebrating bisexual men in response to writer and blogger Vaneet Mehta's tweet reigniting the hashtag #BisexualMenExist in an effort to promote visibility.
\u201cThe biphobia towards Bi men recently has been so shit and honestly, in MY LGBT+ history month?! How dare! So I\u2019m bring back #BisexualMenExist for some much needed positivity! Drop a pic below with the hashtag and RT this thread! Allies, also RT! I\u2019ll start! \ud83d\udc96\ud83d\udc9c\ud83d\udc99\u201d— Vaneet Mehta (@Vaneet Mehta) 1582570184
In his original tweet, Mehta writes: "The biphobia towards bi men recently has been so shit. So I'm bringing back #BisexualMenExist for some much needed positivity! Drop a pic below with the hashtag and retweet this thread!"
Mehta tells The Advocate he first sent the tweet when he saw an "uptick" in biphobia towards men on Twitter, following a recent episode of Netflix's reality show Love Is Blind, in which an different sex couple have a blowout argument -- and ultimately end their engagement in reality show dramatic fashion -- after the male-identified partner, Carlton, comes out as bisexual.
"I saw several successive comments after [the Love Is Blind episode] that really upset me," Mehta says. "My hope was to pull the conversation back! The biphobia towards men had been a mess and I wanted spread some positivity instead. I did the same thing before, using the same hashtag. So I decided to bring it back and start a positive conversation, and maybe cheer myself up in the process."
In the Love is Blind episode, Carlton opens up about his sexuality while he and his fiancee, Diamond, are together in Mexico. The scene ultimatedly ends in a tumultuous argument, which prompted many viewers to take to Twitter in what became a slew of attacks against bisexual men.
After Mehta's tweet, the hashtag #BisexualMenExist went viral, with positive messages that ultimately drowned out the negative ones.
"The response has been incredible!" shares Mehta. "Beyond my wildest imagination! There's been a few awful people but everyone has embraced it to readily! Tons of support from Bi women and other LGBTQ+ folk. It started trending in the UK and the U.S. People even used it as an opportunity to come out. I feel very blessed to have started something so positive."
Check out some of our favorite tweets:
\u201cThis summer, NFL free agent @RKRelentless came out as bisexual, providing much-needed LGBTQ representation in professional sports and visibility for bisexual men everywhere. #BisexualMenExist\u201d— Human Rights Campaign (@Human Rights Campaign) 1582647243
None— \u2627\u271d\ufe0fSacerdotus\u2122\u269b\u2721\ud83c\uddfb\ud83c\udde6\u2627 (@\u2627\u271d\ufe0fSacerdotus\u2122\u269b\u2721\ud83c\uddfb\ud83c\udde6\u2627) 1582645554
\u201cWhen I date a guy, I\u2019m bisexual. When I date a girl, I\u2019m still bisexual. #BisexualMenExist\u201d— Bicon (He/Him) (@Bicon (He/Him)) 1582644307
None— \u2206 (@\u2206) 1582648296
\u201cOf course us #BisexualMenExist! If you think otherwise it's because we're too busy being lit af, playing with swords and exploring the wilderness. Tiocfaidh \u00e1r l\u00e1 \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 pals!\u201d— Asal M\u00f3r na h\u00c9ireann (@Asal M\u00f3r na h\u00c9ireann) 1582641697
\u201cgood news everyone! #BisexualMenExist and we're honestly pretty damn cool\u201d— aaron (@aaron) 1582648286
\u201c#BisexualMenExist is trending on twitter this morning and we are 100% HERE FOR THIS! \n\nBi men face unique forms of discrimination from both inside and outside of LGBT communities, leaving many feeling unable to live their lives openly and celebrate their bisexuality.\u201d— LGBT Foundation (@LGBT Foundation) 1582620795
\u201cStonewall research showed that almost half of bi men (46 per cent) aren\u2019t open about their sexual orientation to anyone in their family. George, co-chair of Stonewall's bi network, talks about the importance of bi visibility. #BisexualMenExist\n\nhttps://t.co/I53H9eGkVM\u201d— Stonewall (@Stonewall) 1582623232
\u201cThe amount of homophobic tweets I have received from my #bisexualmenexist tweet , is proof why this hashtag is needed!\n\ud83d\udc6c\ud83d\udc6d\ud83d\udc6b\ud83e\udd8a\u201d— James Hinchliffe (@James Hinchliffe) 1582650177
\u201c@nintendomad888 I'm trans masc (in yellow), my partner is cis. we're both bisexual & cute! #BisexualMenExist\u201d— Vaneet Mehta (@Vaneet Mehta) 1582570184
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