Myself, Us and Them out of the binary: constructing bisexual and pansexual stories in a binary world.

Decades of bi+ activism, research, and politics highlighted how Western societies enforce binary understandings of sexes, genders, and sexual orientations to maintain their own hegemonic structures. Resisting these binarism, bisexual communities thrive and struggle within and outside LG spaces, between hetero and homonormativity, accusing bisexuals of weakening the stability of their orientation and demands. Without support from LG groups, bi + people face more di culties, have worse health conditions, more minority-stress and higher rates of IPV. is contribution presents narrative research on the bi+ identity construction of 54 participants, a racted to more than one gender, on how they negotiate their identities in relevant networks. e quali-quantitative interview showed the validity and rea rming of their sexual orientations as well as the strategies for nding authenticity in a binary world. Bi+ people o en avoid LG associations due to biphobia, rejection, fetishization or because they anticipate the delegitimization of their orientation. e study highlights how sexual orientation construction shapes the biographies and experiences of Bi + people who thrive in a monosexual world devoid of representation, politics, and spaces for bisexualities.