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The psychologist Jim McKnight was one of the first to write that the idea of bisexuality is a form of sexual orientation, as suggested implicit in the Kinsey scale, which he cites often in his work. However, despite McKnight and Kinsey's work on human sexuality, this conception of bisexuality has been severely challenged since the work ''Homosexualities ''(c. 1978) was published by Weinberg and his psychologist colleague Alan P. Bell.

==Flag and Symbols==

The bisexual pride flag was designed by a team led by LGBT activist Michael Page in 1998. The flag was created in order to give the bisexual community its own symbol which was easily recognized and comparable to the [[gay]] pride flag (rainbow flag) that represented the larger LGBT community. Page's aim was to increase the visibility of bisexuals, both among society as a whole, and within the LGBT community.

Other symbols used by the bisexual community involve the bisexual crescents (a pair of back-to-back crescents) and the bisexual symbol, an infinity symbol featuring the female (Venus) and male (Mars) symbols as well as a blank circle for the genders and attractions between.

==History of Bisexuality ==

Ancient Greek religious texts, which reflected cultural practices, had bisexual themes throughout. Ancient Greece is generally considered to have been largely accepting of LGBTA individuals, albeit with different standards of morality. Same sex relationships between boys and men were common and considered a part of life and learning, although it was expected that men would have relationships with women to procreate as they grew older.

In Ancient China and Japan, homosexuality and bisexuality was also documented, both men who had sex with men, and women who had sex with women. There were even ancient Japanese art prints, called ''shunga, ''which depicted homosexual relationships in full detail. Ancient China had similar artwork, which even at times depicted polyamory.

The first English-language use of the word bisexual referring to sexual orientation was by the American neurologist Charles Gilbert Chaddock in his 1892 translation of ''Psychopathia Sexualis, ''a seminal work created by Krafft-Ebing. ''Psychopathia Sexualis'' concerned itself with the pathologisation of sexuality and considered homosexuality a mental illness; 'bisexual' therefore referred to those who were both heterosexual ''and'' homosexual (hence 'bi'). Prior to this, the word "bisexual" was used in reference to plants, suggesting that species were hermaphroditic or [[intersex]]'''. '''

===Openly bisexual individuals in early history===

==Etymology==

The Greek prefix bi- means "two", referring to the initial usage of the term to mean "both" heterosexual and homosexual. The bi- prefix is sometimes reinterpreted to refer to "two genders", as bisexuals are attracted to two or more genders.

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[[Category:Sexuality]]

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