"Sexual Identity and Bisexual Identities: The Struggle for Self-Description in a Changing Sexual Landscape" / 228

Sexual orientation and schools has been a major controversy in the last few years. In a documentary titled It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in Schools (1997), primary and middle school students share stories about same sex marriages, teaching and learning tolerance, and valuing diversity (http://www.rethinkingschools.org/Archives/11_03/rofes.htm). But in the late 1970s, when Paula Rust was beginning her research in lesbian communities, talking openly and carefully investigating sexual orientation was not well received in academia. Still, theories about bisexual identity have been around for years.

Rust points out, however, that when we recollect what made us who we are today, when we identify our selves, perhaps the most important thing--our sexual orientation--is still usually left out of the conversation. And this really makes little sense, because as the editors of WRA point out, "resources for knowing ourselves include language, the words we have readily available to describe ourselves, and the existence of communities that we can attach our identities to and go to for support" (228).

A list of lesbian/gay/bisexual information resources can be found at http://www.lesbigay.com/Res.htm, and a review of Rust's Bisexuality and the Challenge to Lesbian Politics: Sex, Loyalty, and the Revolution (1998) can be found at http://www.indiana.edu/~glbtlib/reviews/r00601.html. The critical readings offered provide additional perspectives.