In Bisexual Awareness Week and Visibility Day, we celebrate the lives and experiences of our bisexual siblings all over the world. Three brave rainbow Catholics share their witnesses about being bisexual and faithful Catholics beyond the prejudices among their sexual orientation or being labeled acording to their current partners.
Tyrone Grima in Bisexual Awareness Week: “It is a matter of me being authentic to myself and to others.”
Tyron is a Theologian and Senior Lecturer in Malta. He is part of Drachma LGBTI and a member of GNRC Theology Committee.
Being a bisexual person offers an added challenge from the Catholic perspective. The ‘pressure’ to opt for the heterosexual side, to be in conformity with official Catholic teachings is more pronounced. Furthermore, there is also some resistance within the community: as a bisexual man I have had people telling me that it is about time that I take a side. It was only through discernment that I realised that my bisexuality is also a gift that allows me to perceive the world in a deeper manner and to relate and express myself in a more holistic way.
Being attracted to both men and women, means to me that I am attracted to the person, who may happen to be male or female. It is not a matter of a choice. It not a matter of taking a side. It is not a matter of pushing one part of me over another to be more in accordance with the Catholic Church. It is a matter of me being authentic to myself and to others. I am bisexual, attracted to both sexes and married with another bisexual man. That is me. My beautiful and whole me.
Maritza Fuenzalida in Bisexual Awareness Week: “I am a woman, bisexual, Catholic, believer in this God who loves us above all.”
Maritza is a Technical in Nursering and Administrative Assistant in Chile. She is part of Diversidad Vocal and a member of GNRC Embracing Womyns Committee.
Today I can write these lines calmly, without questioning and above all happy. Today I have the maturity to understand that not all of us are educated equally, and we do not all want to deconstruct ourselves. While not only many of my LGBTIQA+ peers asked me to “define myself by some side”, also did believers, secular and religious people. Those who forgot that we are all in the image and likeness of God who is mother and father, who makes no mistake when creating us and loves us as we are. What’s wrong with that? Why should I define myself?
Today I can proudly say that I am a woman, bisexual, Catholic, believer in this God who loves us above all. Thanks to María and la Ruah, who have accompanied me on this path, who has had difficulties, acceptances and joys, I can say: and I’m happy”.
Christopher Vella in Bisexual Awareness Week: “Being bisexual helped me to look at things with a wider lens.”
Chris is a Historian and History Teacher in Malta. He is part of Drachma LGBTI and Co-chair in the Board of the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics.
I am a bisexual man, living in a heteronormative and binary Catholic society, and married to another bisexual man. Growing up, the fact that I felt attracted to both men and women created for me additional difficulties. I was often asked to ‘choose’. I was told I could not fit into two pigeon holes. I was encouraged to marry ‘normally’, have kids and fit the happy family norm.
They used to tell me, that as I also was attracted to women, it should be less of a problem and I could do the transition easier. For me, though, it was never just about settling down, or to pick and choose at random. It was about meeting the right person, loving that person, and making a family with that person. In my case, that person happened to be my husband today. Being bisexual helped me to look at things with a wider lens. It helped me be myself.