“Bisexuality’s never enough…”: using composite narratives to explore bisexual students’ experiences within LGBTQ campus spaces

Abstract

Despite ongoing efforts to improve campus climate for marginalized students, queer- and trans-spectrum students continue to experience their college campuses as hostile and unwelcoming spaces. Bisexual students in particular face unique challenges and struggle to fully engage in campus communities that did not fully recognize their bisexual identity. To create safer and more inclusive campuses, colleges and universities often rely on LGBTQ campus spaces, like resource centers and student organizations, to offer affirmation, support, resources, and education for and about queer- and trans-spectrum students, but these spaces are not always inclusive of and affirming to bisexual students despite their mission. Using first-person composite narratives composed of interviews with nine bisexual college students, this study highlights bisexual students’ experiences within LGBTQ campus spaces. The findings can deepen higher education professionals’ understanding of these unique intracommunity dynamics to cultivate more welcoming, affirming, and supportive LGBTQ campus spaces for bisexual students.