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[–]PenseePansyBio-Sex or Bust 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Well, I hate to be the skunk at the garden party here, BUT... calling a relationship between a man and a woman "straight" is bi erasure. It's as good as saying that being in such a relationship means that you are straight. And yeah, that is significant to bisexuals, since we're always struggling against the perception that: A.] there's no such thing as bisexuality; B.] thus we are actually either gay or straight; and C.] which one is determined by our relationship. Terms like "straight/heterosexual relationship" (or, for that matter, "gay/homosexual relationship") play right into this.

And it's so unnecessary! Just call it an opposite-sex relationship! Puts both heterosexuals and bisexuals on equal footing. Ditto "same-sex relationship": works just fine for gay and bi alike.

I'm also kinda skeptical that there's only ONE snowflake in the posted dispute; given that the other person speaks with approval of "queer rep" (and what those who bandy the Q-word about tend to be like), that thread may well be a veritable blizzard...

[–]jiljol 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

calling a relationship between a man and a woman "straight" is bi erasure

It is simply factual. It's important to understand that "straight" and "gay" can be used to define individuals and the dynamics that can arise between people: "gay man/sex/relationship", "lesbian woman/sex/relationship", "straight person/sex/relationship", etc. You could even talk of "bisexual sex" or "bisexual relationships" when 3 or more people of different sexes are romantically and sexually involved with each other. "Straight", like you have clearly illustrated in your second paragraph, is just a shorthand for "opposite-sex".