The Sudden DISAPPEARANCE of men like us
TL;DR
Representation isn’t just about visibility—it’s about survival. For Bi+ Black men, media erasure and rising political hostility are feeding a mental health crisis we can’t afford to ignore.
The Problem
If you’re a Bi+ Black man in America, chances are you’ve never seen your full self on screen. Not in love. Not in joy. Not in power.
And when we do appear, we’re often cut down to half-truths or hidden in plain sight: coded, criminalized, or consumed through trauma (Cook, 2018).
This isn’t an accident. It’s a pattern. From Hollywood scripts to government websites, our existence is too often treated like a liability—and now, that erasure is expanding beyond pop culture into policy.
Just this year, the Stonewall National Monument website erased nearly all references to bisexual identity (Hansford, 2025; Them.us, 2025), quietly rewriting history under a federal administration that’s also pushing aggressive rollbacks of LGBTQ+ rights. These changes mirror a dangerous trend—one that makes it easier to justify discrimination, harder to build community, and nearly impossible to feel safe.
The Psychology
Let’s name what this really is:
Chronic, systemic identity denial.
And the brain doesn’t process that passively.
When you rarely see affirming stories of Bi+ Black men, your mind adapts in one of two ways:
It numbs you (“Maybe I am just confused…”)
Or it exhausts you (“Why do I have to explain who I am everywhere I go?”)
Research shows that identity invalidation can trigger the same neurological and hormonal stress responses as physical trauma. Bi+ people report elevated rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation compared to gay, lesbian, or straight peers (TherapyDen, 2022).
Layer in anti-Black racism, biphobia, and gendered stereotypes, and that stress compounds. One study found that young Black gay and bisexual men frequently experience compounded stigma related to their race, sexuality, masculinity, and HIV status—exacerbated by their lack of representation in media and public discourse (PubMed, 2021).
And here’s the quietest danger:
Discrimination becomes familiar.
When you’re erased long enough, you stop fighting it. You start adapting to survive.
That adaptation?
It kills parts of you slowly.
The Policy Threat
This year, we’ve seen more than media silence—we’ve seen legislative erasure.
The Stonewall edit wasn’t just symbolic—it was federal. That monument is run by the National Park Service. Its rewrite reflects an ongoing campaign to whitewash LGBTQ+ history, especially Bi+ and trans contributions (Hansford, 2025).
The far-right’s “Project 2025” platform, drafted by the Heritage Foundation, explicitly calls for dismantling gender-inclusive policies, LGBTQ+ youth protections, and federal DEI programs (GLAAD, 2025).
Since 2022, over 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced across the country. Most do not mention Bi+ people directly—which is exactly the point. Our exclusion is coded into the silence.
These aren’t just policies. They’re permission slips for more erasure, more violence, more shame.
The Advice
1. Remember: You are not a phase, a secret, or a subplot.
Don’t let media—or lawmakers—decide your worth.
You are real, whole, and deeply rooted. And the more loudly we exist, the harder we are to erase.
2. Your mental health is political.
When the world invalidates who you are, it’s not “just your imagination.”
The depression, the exhaustion, the anxiety—it’s a response to real harm. Protect your peace like you would your body.
That means therapy, rest, joy, and sometimes rage (TherapyDen, 2022).
3. Stay close to your people.
There’s medicine in being around other Bi+ Black men.
Not just to vent—but to remember what’s normal, what’s possible, and what’s sacred.
We remind each other that love exists in every direction. That stillness doesn’t mean silence. That we’ve always been here—even when the credits roll without us.
Spending time in community is a radical act of preservation. It keeps you from normalizing the microaggressions, the misrepresentation, the state-sanctioned neglect (Bi Resource Center, 2025).
So whether it’s an online support group, a private text thread, or a safe space like Bi+ Black Men, return to your brothers. Often.
4. Speak up—even if it’s just once.
Tweet your truth. Submit that poem. Wear the shirt. Challenge the stereotype.
If it feels like the world doesn’t care, that’s because you haven’t spoken yet.
And your voice could be the echo someone else needs.
Join the Conversation
There’s power in being seen—but there’s revolution in seeing each other.
The more we write ourselves into the story, the less they can write us out.
What are you creating? Who are you protecting? And when’s the last time you called your Bi+ Black brother just to check in?
Join us on the Bi+ Black Men app to connect, share, and protect what’s ours. This isn’t just community—it’s resistance.
Robert Saint Michael
Certified Mental Health Life Coach
Master NLP Practitioner
References
Bi Resource Center. (2025). Lessons from the field: What we’re learning about representation from Black bi men. https://biresource.org/lessons-from-the-field-what-we-are-learning-about-representation-from-black-bi-men/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Cook, M. (2018). Media portrayals of bisexuality. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_portrayals_of_bisexuality?utm_source=chatgpt.com
GLAAD. (2025). Project 2025: The threat to LGBTQ+ Americans. https://glaad.org/project-2025/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Hansford, A. (2025, July 11). Bisexual people erased from Stonewall National Monument website. PinkNews. https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/07/11/stonewall-erases-bisexual-lgbt-monument/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
PubMed. (2021). Media representation, perception and stigmatisation of race, sexuality, and HIV among young Black gay and bisexual men. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34895082/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Them.us. (2025, July 11). After axing the word ‘transgender,’ Stonewall monument website quietly cuts ‘bisexual’ too. https://www.them.us/story/stonewall-bisexuals?utm_source=chatgpt.com
TherapyDen. (2022). The impact of bi-erasure on Black men in the community. https://www.therapyden.com/blog/the-impact-of-bi-sexual-erasure-on-black-men-in-the-community-how-sex-therapy-can-help?utm_source=chatgpt.com
