In honor of Bisexual Awareness Week, openly bisexual actress Evan Rachel Wood is shedding insight on the struggles faced within that community.
In honor of Bisexual Awareness Week, which begins Sept. 20, openly bisexual actress Evan Rachel Wood is shedding insight on the struggles faced within that community.
"Bisexual people are the largest single group within the LGBT community, yet we are hardly recognized," she tweeted Thursday. "I can assure you that whatever 'straight privilege' I sometimes get accused of having, gets erased by #biphobia."
Bisexual people are the largest single group within the LGBT community, yet we are hardly recognized.
— #EvanRachelWould (@evanrachelwood) September 17, 2015MORE: Evan Rachel Wood Opens Up About Ex-Fiance Marilyn Manson
Earlier in the day Deputy Director of the Health and Aging Program at the Human Rights Campaign was quoted in an HRC blog post as saying that discrimination against bisexual people can even come from inside the LGBT community, which can discourage bisexual people from "engaging in and benefitting from the work that LGBT advocates are doing to address our mental, physical and sexual health."
"Remember, bisexuality doesn't mean halfway between gay or straight," Wood tweeted. "It is its own identity. I think in some cases people don't want to be labeled because they are ashamed to be bisexual. And this needs to stop."
Wood, 28, went on to share her own internal struggles with her bisexuality.
"I have battled with myself most of my life because I wasn't gay or straight enough," she wrote. "I used to think I would never be happy ... Point being, it's ok. We do exist. Don't let anyone make you feel unworthy. No one knows your journey but you. #BisexualAwareness."
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Wood's tweets came after a fan asked for clarity as to whether she was still bisexual following her split from ex-husband Jamie Bell, the father of her son.
"No matter who I am with I am #stillbisexual," she responded.
According to the HRC, "studies show that bisexuals face elevated rates of poor health outcomes ranging from cancer and heart disease, to obesity, sexually-transmitted infections and mental health issues." Bisexual adults also reportedly have "double the rate of depression than heterosexual adults."
Thank you everyone 4 the outpouring of support for #BisexualAwareness.
!! Really awesome. And I know it means the world to a lot of people.
— #EvanRachelWould (@evanrachelwood) September 18, 2015