Does it Matter?

[geminigirl]

In preparing for a program I have to do at a site in a few weeks, and in recalling my frequent complaints about the lack of accessible, appropriate, sexual health information for bisexual people, I pose the following questions:

Oh, and if you're not comfortable with the sexual orientation question, (because I did make the poll viewable to all,) please skip it but answer the rest. And jaclyn if you want to take this poll and use it in vaginapagina or would like one similar to it to use over there, go ahead and use it or let me know what you need to add/remove/change)


[Poll #258535]

Comments

[geminigirl]

No they're not. One is about the gender of the person, and one is about the sexual orientation of the person.

Unless you're seeing something different from what I did.

[deza.livejournal.com]

Not really. One is "would you prefer to get info from a girl or a guy" and the other is "would you prefer to get info from a het, bi, or gay". Unless I completely mis-read them.

[geminigirl]

Nah, you got it.

[melaniesuzanne.livejournal.com]

D'oh. I misread the question and deleted my previous comment.

Expanding On My Comment.

[walterwz.livejournal.com]

In my particular organization, we do safer sex education with the MSM community pretty excusively. As far as sexual health goes I think the gender/sexual orientation issue is nutral. It would be good to have solid data here we do not.

My own experience in therapy is another matter. I have had a woman therapist. Her sexual orientation was not definitely known. My second therapist was a straight man. My current therapist is a gay man.

My therapy with the straight therapist was problematic. While he seemed to tolerate my sexuality and said he was "gay friendly". He seemed dismissive of my desire and any effort to form healthy homosexual relationships. I left that experience with an intense feeling of mistrust and resentment.

The key issue on the level of psychotherapy is that a full and total acceptance of one's sexuality is essential to healthy development and wholeness. Holding onto the belief that how one loves, who one loves and how one conducts the most intimate aspects of their lives is in some way sinful or less than is a tremendous barrier to this goal. I will go further and say that this belief will make healthy adjustment impossible.

[jaclyn.livejournal.com]

we can totally use this one. ive been slacking on the other one, Im a crap shoot. when I get back from Canada, Ill ping you on it. maybe then we'll just post two at once and archive it.

[lovingboth]

The answer to the last is based on UK experience - if you let exclusively gay men do health promotion for 'gay and bisexual men', they ignore the latter.

Did you know women don't have arseholes, for example?