Bisexuality in the Netherlands: Connecting Bisexual Passing, Communities, and Identities

Abstract

This article explores bisexual passing and participants’ perceptions of (and, sometimes, experiences with) the Dutch organized bisexual community and other bisexual communities in The Netherlands. On the basis of 21 interviews with bisexual women and 10 with bisexual men, the author discusses firstly why people often pass as heterosexual, lesbian, or gay in everyday situations, activities, and encounters, and secondly why people do not take part in the Dutch organized bisexual community. After engaging with bisexual theorising, the author use Schatzki's theory of practice to better explore and link bisexual passing and bisexual communities by focusing on how people, via participating in practices, relate to others and the social world. This theory shows not only that people find disclosing their bisexuality not relevant, appropriate, or acceptable in everyday practices, but also that this affects people's position towards the organized bisexual community.