WHAT I MEANT...

Cynthia Nixon Clarifies: “Bisexuality Is Not A Choice, It Is A Fact”

In a statement to The Advocate, actress Cynthia Nixon has clarified her controversial statements about homosexuality being “a choice.”

In an interview in the New York Times magazine last week, Nixon stated:

I understand that for many people it’s not, but for me it’s a choice, and you don’t get to define my gayness for me. A certain section of our community is very concerned that it not be seen as a choice, because if it’s a choice, then we could opt out. I say it doesn’t matter if we flew here or we swam here, it matters that we are here and we are one group and let us stop trying to make a litmus test for who is considered gay and who is not.

In her new statement, Nixon doesn’t go so far as to recant her earlier position but she says she wasn’t trying to speak for everyone in the community:

My recent comments in The New York Times were about me and my personal story of being gay. I believe we all have different ways we came to the gay community and we can’t and shouldn’t be pigeon-holed into one cultural narrative which can be uninclusive and disempowering. However, to the extent that anyone wishes to interpret my words in a strictly legal context I would like to clarify:

“While I don’t often use the word, the technically precise term for my orientation is bisexual. I believe bisexuality is not a choice, it is a fact. What I have ‘chosen’ is to be in a gay relationship.

“As I said in the Times and will say again here, I do, however, believe that most members of our community — as well as the majority of heterosexuals — cannot and do not choose the gender of the persons with whom they seek to have intimate relationships because, unlike me, they are only attracted to one sex.

“Our community is not a monolith, thank goodness, any more than America itself is. I look forward to and will continue to work toward the day when America recognizes all of us as full and equal citizens.”

It kind of sounds like Cynthia is backpedaling from her statement—not so surprising since she’s basically carrying a new Broadway show and is part of a still-viable film/TV franchise with particular gay appeal.

We didn’t agree with her “choice” argument but it did raise an interesting side topic—should it matter if it’s a choice or not? The LGBT community has been working so hard to get people to believe we have no say in our sexuality, as if it’s a handicap we can’t be blamed for. What if it was chosen? Would that mean we’re any less deserving of equality?

Source: Nick Step

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