Ever since Frank Ocean disclosed his sexual preference through Tumblr, the internet has been buzzing with speculation that Kanye West or Pharrell Williams is the man that Frank was in love with. Despite the fact Frank's beautiful coming out letter stated that, his former male lover was also 19 when they first met, pundits maintained it was a cover up to protect his ex's identity. The link between Frank and Kanye was made because he is officially known as one of Kanye's protege's, and the link between Frank and Pharell is due to their close working relationship and the fact that Frank views him as an idol. In addition to this, Kanye and Pharrell have for years been dogged by rumours and so called 'eye witness reports' that they are in fact men who love men.
All this incessant speculating and rumour spreading aside, there were also some heated debates about whether Frank is gay or bisexual? It turns out that the answer depends on who you ask. Most gay men who were asked about this question felt that a bisexual man is just someone who hasn't come all the way out yet. This opinion was shared by people who had very close relationships with gay men, or whose own relationships ended when they found out their boyfriend or husband was in love with another man.
In an interview that reporters recently dug up of Kanye West (below), he discusses the issue of gay vs bisexual. At the 2:10 mark he says; "There's no such thing as a bisexual guy, if a guy is bisexual, that makes him gay. Don't try to re-term it or something like that."
He also tries quite hard to explain all the reasons why he is a heterosexual man. (There is also some pretty funny stuff in there about bloggers which gave me a good laugh, but that's a topic for another post).
On the other hand people who had few very close relationships with gay people, or have never experienced what it's like to find out that your man is with another man, felt that it is possible for a man to be bisexual. The respondents age also factored into their opinion on this topic. Those who were 25 or younger were more likely to say that Frank is bisexual, while those who are 25 and above would say he is a gay man.
So what does it really matter if a person labels themselves gay or bisexual? It doesn't matter to me, I say call yourself whatever you feel like. I remember one of my fave old school crooners used to call himself trisexual, as in, he would try anything once. It does however matter to certain openly gay men who have been on the battle grounds of the gay rights movement for a long time, they feel like the word bisexual is all just semantics. They feel like it's a front for certain men who like men, to mitigate some of the consequences of being gay in this homophobic world. They feel like it's a way for them to somehow set themselves a part as better then the full blown gay man, it's like playing the fence.
Most people would say it's all just labels at the end of the day, all that matters is your opinion of yourself. I agree with you to a certain extent, but when those labels start to affect your civil liberties it's more than just a few letters on a name badge. If it affects your right to marriage, employment, safety and so forth; wouldn't you agree that it's important to at least write the correct words on the label?
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