Sexual Fluidity Quotes

“Antigay activists have historically maintained that same-sex sexuality is a lifestyle choice that should be discouraged, deemed illegitimate, and even punished by the culture at large. In other words, if lesbian/gay/bisexual people to not have to be gay but are simply choosing a path of decadence and deviance, then the government should have no obligation to protect their civil rights or honor their relationships; to the contrary, the state should actively condemn same-sex sexuality and deny it legal and social recognition in order to discourage others from following that path.
Not surprisingly, advocates for gay/lesbian/bisexual rights see things differently. They counter that sexual orientation is not a matter of choice but an inborn trait that is much beyond an individual's control as skin or eye color. Accordingly, since gay/lesbian/bisexual individuals cannot choose to be heterosexual, it is unethical to discriminate against them and to deny legal recognition to same-sex relationships.
(...)
Perhaps instead of arguing that gay/lesbian/bisexual individuals deserve civil rights because they are powerless to change their behavior, we should affirm the fundamental rights of all people to determine their own emotional and sexual lives.”
― Lisa Diamond, Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women's Love and Desire

“(...) I think your definition changes based on your experiences." (age twenty-two, bisexual)

Six years later, this same woman noted:

"I date both men and women, but i don't like the word "bisexual", because I think it implies polarity. I guess I started thinking about this around 4 1/2 years ago, when I was involved in a long-term committed relationship with a man, but a queer man. And it made me redefine things, because I didn't believe that a queer man and a queer woman together in a relationship like ours was conventionally heterosexual." (age twenty-eight, bisexual)”
― Lisa Diamond, Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women's Love and Desire

“Although most of the women I interviewed felt that their sexual
attractions paralleled their emotional attachments, this was not always
the case. In fact, women reported that on average, the percentage
of physical same-sex attractions they experienced differed
from their emotional same-sex attractions by about 15 percentage
points in either direction (in other words, some women were more
emotionally than physically drawn to women, whereas others were
more physically than emotionally drawn). A small number of
women reported discrepancies of up to 40 percentage points.
Like women with nonexclusive attractions, women with significant
gaps between their emotional and physical feelings often
faced challenges in selecting a comfortable identity label. They had
to decide whether their sexual identity was better categorized by
patterns of “love” or patterns of “lust,” and they had to forecast
what sort of relationships they might desire in the future. Many
of these women found it difficult to make these determinations.
Sue, for example, felt that her attractions were riddled with
contradictions: “I prefer to make out with men, but the idea of having
sex with a man utterly repulses me. I would, however, like to
marry a woman, and that’s who I want to make a long-term commitment
to.”
― Lisa Diamond, Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women's Love and Desire

“For those of us who question, your whole life becomes a question. Do you then reach some level of understanding, and then it's static? I don't think so" (age twenty-two, unlabeled)”
― Lisa Diamond, Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women's Love and Desire