Declining Bisexual Identification Reflects Its Status as a Low-Cost, Status-Seeking Label
Source: https://www.facebook.com/americanspectator/. "The Decline of Bisexuality | The American Spectator | USA News and Politics." October 3, 2026. spectator.org
The Gist
The author argues that fewer young people are calling themselves bisexual because this label was mostly adopted to gain social status as a victim group, without requiring any real lifestyle change—since most self-identified bisexuals still date or marry people of the opposite sex. As the social rewards for claiming an LGBTQ identity shrink, these low-commitment bisexual labels are the first to go.
Conclusion
Bisexual self-identification is declining because it was largely adopted for social status/victimhood benefits rather than reflecting genuine behavioral or relational commitment, and most self-identified bisexuals actually live conventionally heterosexual lives.
Premises
- Recent data (CDC Youth Risk Survey, Gallup, Kaufmann's college study) show sharp declines in bisexual and broader LGBTQ identification among high schoolers and college students between 2021-2025.
- Bisexual identity requires no behavioral change or sacrifice—a person can identify as bisexual while still marrying someone of the opposite sex and having biological children, unlike lesbian or nonbinary identities which impose real lifestyle demands.
- Prominent self-identified bisexual public figures (Kate Brown, Kyrsten Sinema) have remained in opposite-sex marriages or relationships without any observable same-sex relationships, demonstrating the identity's lack of practical consequence.
- Pew Research found 84 percent of self-identified bisexuals are in opposite-sex relationships, supporting the claim that bisexual identity rarely translates into bisexual behavior.
- In a cultural environment where LGBTQ identity previously conferred social status and victimhood credentials, bisexuality was the easiest and lowest-cost identity to adopt for those seeking such status.
- As the social prestige of LGBTQ identity in general declines, bisexuals—having the least invested in the identity—are likely to be the first to abandon it.
- Some on the left now view bisexuality as insufficiently progressive (implying only two genders), pushing adoption of 'pansexual' instead, further eroding bisexual identification specifically.
Assumptions
- That self-reported identity change necessarily reflects motivational shifts (status-seeking) rather than genuine shifts in self-understanding or comfort being honest about orientation.
- That lack of visible same-sex relationship behavior proves an identity was adopted primarily for social benefit rather than reflecting actual attraction that is simply not acted upon.
- That social status/victimhood was a primary or significant driver of bisexual identification among young people, rather than increased willingness to report pre-existing attractions in a more accepting climate.
- That public figures' private relationship choices can be generalized to explain broader population-level trends.
- That behavior (specifically relationship choice) is the appropriate measure of the authenticity or meaningfulness of a sexual identity, rather than internal attraction or self-conception.