William Maltese: BYE-BYE BISEXUAL -- REDUX

At the time I enlisted in the U.S. Army, served for three years and was honorably discharged at the end of that time-line, there was the mind-set, existent among all military top brass (Army, Navy, Air Force, whoot! whoot! Marines), that a male was either heterosexual, and did "it" with women; thereby, being suitable soldier "material" ... or he was homosexual, and did "it" with men; thereby, definitely NOT suitable soldier "material". Strangely, there was no conception of even the possibility of a "middle-ground" man -- a bisexual who did "it" with men and with women. Such a "hybrid" seems to have been entirely out of the realm of reasonable comprehension. Therefore, while homosexuals in the service, even back then (especially back then?), were drummed out when and if discovered, many a bisexual in the service was overlooked because of circumstance that occasionally had him bedding some female. A night on the town, with fellow GI's, at some local whorehouse, provided the "bearding" of many bisexuals that allowed them successfully to maneuver the gauntlets of total terms of service without harassment; that very same thing happening to this very day.

When I first began writing erotica, straight and gay, I, from personal experience, had no reticence, at all, in providing the characters in my books with the whole gamut of their potential "sexual" attributes -- gay, straight, bisexual, and lesbian. And, for awhile, I even got away with it, until I began getting in-house memos that asked me to -- "feel free to write about sex between men and men, between women and women, between women and men, but, please, REFRAIN, William, from writing anything so fanciful as sex between men who go from sex with men to sex with women and back again."

All of which had me write my initial "Bye-Bye Bisexual" article -- for the 5 October 1970 issue of Screw magazine, wherein I conjectured as to whether publishers, like their military big-wig counterparts, actually didn't believe bisexuality existed, or whether it was merely a case of their belief that there weren't enough bisexual readers to constitute a viable market for books written about and for them. The very fact that bisexuality was so often referred to by my publishers and editors as "fanciful conjecture" led me to conclude, then, and to conclude, now, it was just their unabashed disbelief in any such animal.

Alas, poor bisexuals, even today, seem to get the short-shrift, more often than not totally overlooked, at each and every turn!

My detective series of STUD DRAQUAL MYSTERY novels (A SLIP TO DIE FOR and THAI DIED), continues to cause all sorts of foaming-at-the-mouth brouhaha from gay men who are genuinely upset that my main protagonist, who they immediately labeled "a closeted homosexual", actually not only goes to bed with women but may actually enjoy doing so, while he remains conflicted as regards whether or not he should ever succumb to any of the frequent sexual propositions he receives from men. I'm not sure I've heard even one bit of speculation that Stud might be a bisexual and not just another closeted gay, and that he might just end up, when and if he finally does succumb to homosexual temptation, coming (no pun intended) to enjoy "swinging both ways". Rather, it seems always to be the predominant way of thinking that I, as author, am simply hopelessly out of date when I don't allow my "homosexual" to come on out of his closet and freely express himself as the "gay" man he so obviously is. As if some men and women today don't still actually have some conflicts as to where their particular sexualities fit within the big picture, everyone blessedly able, in this day and age, to openly define himself and/or herself as proudly gay, or proudly straight -- (but not proudly bisexual?). For some reason, Stud Draqual has only convinced me that there is still the misconception "out there", among gays and straights alike, that a man is either gay, or straight, never allowed any viable existence within the middle ground. I know, though -- believe me, and take this as The Gospel According to William -- that misconception is just that -- misconception.

So, I shall merely continue, as I have from the get-go, to do my little bit, whenever I can to provide bisexuality more than just lip-service, with the help of at least three publishers more enlightened and savvy than those I've encountered in the past -- namely, Laura Baumbach's MLR Press ... Wildside/Borgo Press ... and Green Candy Press. Yes, my Stud Draqual mystery series may, and possibly one day soon, have Stud succumb to homosexuality, enjoy it, BUT still enjoy sex with women. Yes, bisexuality will remain in my A CONSPIRACY OF RAVENS: A ONE-HAND READ ... Tad Rich still ending up shipped off to live with relatives in England because he got a girl pregnant back in the States ... when that book gets re-issued by MLR Press any day now. There will be more gay novels, like my RIDE THE MAN DOWN, where a character actually marries a woman but continues to have sex with men. I shall continue to insert bisexuality into my predominantly he-men adventure tales, like THE GOMORRAH CONJURATION where Chad Nordell is known for "having a reputation of swinging both ways." Likewise, look for it in more of my mainstream mysteries for Wildside/Borgo, like my THE FAG IS NOT FOR BURNING, with its key character so "into" men and women that his being so completely throws off the investigation conducted by that book's sexually confused police detective.