Girl Crushes
Faith O’leary on being a bi master’s student, coming out, and navigating girl crushes while growing up religious.
Faith O'Leary is a psychology master’s student at Roosevelt University.
Why are you interested in research on bisexuality?
As a bisexual and a researcher, I want to use my experiences to be able to influence the work that I do. I find bisexuality is under-researched and I would love to be a part in changing the literature and misconceptions that exist around the topic.
How do you define bisexuality?
Bisexuality is the ability to love someone regardless of their gender or sex.
3 things you wish everyone knew about bisexuality?
You are still bisexual even if you're in a straight passing relationship!
Bisexuals who have only dated people of the opposite sex/gender are still valid.
Bisexuality is not transphobic.
What are the most pressing concerns within the bisexual community in 2020?
The biggest one to me is to study the ways bisexuals feel inclusion; because of the nature of bisexuality, we can find that we don't fit in with gay or straight communities and often feel like we don't belong to either of them. I think belonging can play a big role in mental health and self-acceptance.
What bi research would you like people to know about?
Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution by Shiri Eisner is a good resource.
Getting more personal…
Are you bi? Yes!
Does being bisexual change how you approach your work?
Of course! Being bisexual allows me to have first hand experience in the community and be able to identify specific needs in the population that might not have been identified otherwise.
Can you tell me a bit about your experience…when did you know you were bi?
Looking back on it now, I can see I had many girl crushes growing up that I never realized because of my religious upbringing.
But I finally came to understand it myself when I was in my sophomore year of college.
Do your friends and family know you are bi?
They do! They've all been very supportive in my life and I'm lucky to have them.
Do your colleagues know you are bi?
Most of my colleagues don't know I'm bi. It's not something that comes up often, but I'm always ready to share when it does come up.
When did you come out as bi?
I'm actually in the process of coming out right now.
It's taken a long time, but I'm hoping that being a part of this research will help in the process. I decided to come out as bi because I personally don't like having secrets. Plus,
I wanted to be able to openly do more advocacy work and be able to be a voice for the community and for others who may not be in a place where they can come out yet.
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