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[–]8bitgay 11 insightful - 1 fun11 insightful - 0 fun12 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Giving them the benefit of the doubt, many people identify as bi before moving on to identify as gay/lesbian. This is because finding out your sexuality isn't always an easy process, and might involve a lot of internal work. So, in theory, I can understand why someone who is a straight transman would identify as lesbian in the process of accepting himself as trans.

That being said... There's a lot to unravel here. In Page's post there wasn't a single mention to formerly identifying as lesbian/gay. It isn't worth even a quick acknowledgment. In a coming out post about being trans, Page managed to also mention racial and geopolitical issues, but sexuality wasn't worth a nod - even though we're always being told that the LGBTQ+ community must stand in union.

I also think there's a large difference between a regular person claiming to be bi in his personal life in the process of accepting himself as gay, and a public person boldly saying to the world she's lesbian with all assurance of it and then claiming the lesbian community and the lesbian cause as her own. I wonder how many homophobes ever asked her if she was sure she was really lesbian. Well, according to Page they were right.

Lastly, going back to the bisexuality point. I've often seen a criticism from the LGBTQ+ community that bisexuality is not a phase before coming out as gay/lesbian. And while I agree with that, it doesn't deny that many people first claim to be bi before accepting themselves as homo. But to the TQ+ this is biphobic, and media that depict characters this way is also biphobic. So there's obviously a double standard in the way people reacted to Page.

[–]Three_oneFourWanted for thought crimes in countless ideologies 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

it doesn't deny that many people first claim to be bi before accepting themselves as homo

I can relate to that. Long before I ever told a single soul, I was in denial about my sexuality because I simply didn't understand it or know much about homosexuality at the time. I went from a rediculous 12 year old's idea of "I'm straight and I'll get a wife one day, I just really like looking at unclothed men" to "I'm bisexual" before finally acknowledging my homosexuality years later. I never was actually bisexual, but falsely identifying as such was a step in my acceptance of myself. As long as homosexuals do grow out of identifying as bisexual before too long, I don't think there is much problem with it, but I'm not qualified to speak on the ramifications of that kind of thing.