Why Are Americans More Accepting of Gays and Lesbians Than Bisexuals and Cross-D

[suzifrommd]

Why Are Americans More Accepting of Gays and Lesbians Than Bisexuals and Cross-Dressers?

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117526/bisexuals-and-cross-dressers-lag-gays-and-lesbians-wider-acceptance

By Eric Sasson, New Republic, April 27, 2014

We seem to be reaching a point where cigarette smokers are more likely to be stigmatized in many parts of the world than gays and lesbians are, and yet the prevalence of cross-dressing—or transvestism, as it was once called—hasn't seen any marked uptick. If anything, the stigma faced by straight men who like to dress up as women may be as strong as ever.

Given the advances in LGBT rights in the last 50 years—and the breathtaking pace these past five—one would expect society's displeasure with cross-dressing to have waned by now. Among the gay population, drag culture is as strong—and increasingly as mainstream—as it's ever been; witness the success of "RuPaul's Drag Race" and Fierstein's Tony-winning musical "Kinky Boots." But cross-dressers are not drag queens. Drag is primarily about performance; an audience is expected, if not required. Men who cross-dress are, as some put it, "expressing another aspect of themselves" or "achieving a feminine sense of self." And while we seem perfectly okay with those who do drag, somehow we're not quite as ready for men who wear ladies' clothes.

[Zumbagirl]

I think there is an important thing missing. We live in a world today where if you asked someone on the street "Do you know a gay or lesbian person?" pretty much anyone can point to someone be they celebrity or family member whatever. But if you asked someone if they know a "cross dresser" they might not know of maybe point out someone from Ru Pauls drag race or something like that. From what I have seen most CDers keep their lives well compartmentalized and the CD part is usually very secretive, due to the stigma.

One reason why I am really starting to like Laverne Cox is she shows a side of our community that's less scary and easier to understand. But we don't have enough faces to point to yet. The ones we do may or may not be trans or not understood. Things will change with time. It took gays and lesbians a long time to feel comfortable to come out and tell the world who they are. Decades of repressions and fear of reprisal haunted many people. Today a lot of that stigma is gone, and although things are changing for us, it's not happening as fast. We still lag but I have high hopes for the future

[Asche]

Another important aspect of this is that policing of masculinity is as strong as it ever was.  Back when I was participating in cross-dressing forums, I was struck by how much the men there felt the need to insist that, when they weren't "dressing", they were 100% masculine.

The acceptance of gays in mainstream life has been able to happen because being gay is no longer seen as unmasculine per se, and because the gayness that has become accepted doesn't include the presentations and behaviors that were seen as particularly unmasculine, e.g., "femme" gay men.  IOW, only the portion of the gay spectrum that is easiest to fit into cis-het norms has actually become accepted.  (I think this is why same-sex marriage has been so quickly seen as mainstream.)

The situation with lesbians (and female bisexuals) and trans men is likely to be different (not necessarily better or worse, just different) because gender policing is different for women.