Is there really such thing as bisexual? Aren't you either gay or straight?

Question:

My son's "friend" told him a few days ago that she's bisexual. Can you explain this to me? I've read things that say there is no such thing as bisexuality. You're either gay or not gay. True or not true? Or do you know? In any case, what are the chances that someone who is bisexual could be faithful to anyone? I mean if you are attracted to both, aren't you going to constantly be going back and forth? Inquiring minds want to know.

Answer:

Good question and one that comes up often, even in the gay community. For some reason, people have a hard time understanding people who don't "pick a team". The answer is simple, though. Yes, there are bisexual people and that is what puts the B in  LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender). If a person says they are attracted to both men and women, why should we doubt them? If you want empirical data on that, we have several friends who consider themselves bisexual and have personally witnessed them have relationships with both men and women. (In social settings, you sicko! Get your mind out of the gutter!)

As for the faithful part of the question, there are so many ways to approach an answer to this that we had a hard time trying to figure out a concise answer. The first thing that comes to our minds is to ask the question, what does faithful mean? The term faithful can mean different things to different people. And every relationship has different ground rules. Some couples might consider sexual thoughts about another person unfaithful, while others may think having sex is where the line is drawn, and still others don't mind any of that, as long as their partner doesn't fall in love with another person. Then there is everything in between. Taking all of that into consideration, though, it is our belief that bisexual people are just as capable as gay or straight people of honoring the rules of whatever relationship they are in. 

However, we suspect that the faithful question is really about whether a bisexual person can be satisfied with just one set of genitalia if they are attracted to both. The answer is yes. Think about it, is any one person completely perfect? Any person who has had a relationship, gay, straight or bisexual could list at least one thing they wished their lover had that that they don't. Whether it is firmer breasts, a bigger penis, better breath, a larger bank account, etc.. If anyone reading this says they can't list at least one thing they would like to change or add, they are lying- either to us or themselves! But whatever it is that might be missing, it doesn't (usually) send them out looking for someone else to satisfy that specific desire.

That is exactly why sex toys shops do such great business.

(Update: Corrected misspelling of bisexual in title. How embarrassing!)