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The Story of My Life, Such As It Is Part IV

Am I Trisexual?

Well boys and girls, here we are again with the continuing saga and my life and art. When we with left the off, in the last issue of SPEC, Cindy Lang and I had just become sweethearts, and she had decided to leave her home to go on the road with me.

Now, ever since that installment appeared, I've been getting all sorts of letters asking me how come I had a girlfriend, since I'm supposed to be bisexual, or homosexual, or whatever—and one kid from Oregon wrote and told me that he heard I was tri-sexual! I must say, that struck me as a most interesting idea, and so I've been investigating what all these things mean, so that I could explain them to you and myself.

So I hope you don't mind if we digress from the history of my life this time, and explore the charted and uncharted regions of sexuality!

After doing extensive research in the matter, I've come up with a list of all the things it's possible to be, sexual-wise. Actually, I did this once before, a long time ago when the group was just starting, but I thought I'd refresh my memory and at the same time provide this handy list so that you can figure out what everyone is, or what they've been, or what they might become, given the right opportunities.

So let's start with...

HETEROSEXUAL—This is what most (but by no means all) people seem to be. It means that one is attracted exclusively to members of the opposite sex. If you're a boy, you like girls, and if you're a girl, you like boys. Although heterosexuality is predominant in our society, it's considered a little limited these days—people seem to want to expand their horizons. In some places where hang out, heterosexuals are positively exotic! I might add, this is what I am—but if I weren't, I would certainly tell you.

HOMOSEXUAL—This means that one is attracted exclusively to members of one's own sex. Another word for homosexual is "gay," and it can apply to men or women. Occasionally, homosexual men are quite effeminate, and homosexual women are rather masculine, but that's only occasionally. The great majority of homosexuals are rather "normal" in behavior and appearance. And these days, when lots of heterosexual boys wear make-up and high heels, and almost all girls wear pants, it's almost useless to talk about masculinity and feminity in relation to sexuality. It's just a matter of whom you like to love.

BISEXUAL—More and more, it seems to be very hip to be bisexual, meaning one is attracted both to boys and girls. Some psychiatrists say that humans are basically bisexsual—that is, a combination of homosexual and heterosexual, but that society discourage the homosexual part to the extent that it lies buried deep within and never surfaces. However, it does seem to be surfacing more frequently, especially among young people. Also, more older people seem willing to admit to their bisexuality, so it looks like there's a lot of it around, which there is.

TRANSSEXUAL—A transsexual is someone who has, by means of surgery and other medical procedures, changed sexes. In other words, a boy becomes a girl, or vice versa. This is extremely rare, and the number of true transexuals in the whole world must be very small. You will probably never meet one in the course of your life, whereas you will probably meet many homosexuals and bisexuals. It goes without saying that transforming one's sex is a very serious and complex procedure, which is called for only in the most severe cases of sexual confusion.

ASEXUAL—Someone who is not sexually interested in anyone or anything is asexual. It mean "without sexuality." Surprisingly, asexuality is getting big. That's because people don't feel they have to pretend to be turned on when they're not. Asexual people are physically capable of having sex, and sometimes they do, but it's just way down on the list of things that interest them. Many famous and successful people are asexual—to them sex is simply a waste of time. To each his own.

PANSEXUAL—Pansexuality is more theoretical than real. It means that one is sexually attracted to everyone, without caring about sex, age, race, etc. Presumably, the pansexual person does not even notice what sex another person is—but he's turned on nevertheless. This is a nice idea, but practically speaking, it's a long way from being widespread. It's getting there, though.

AUTOSEXUAL—Being turned on by one's self, and preferring one's self to others. Many people are autosexual to some extent. Bianca Jagger said that Mick fell in love with her because she looks like him, and he's always wanted to make love to himself. So who hasn't? It is unusual to find people who are exclusively autosexual, but it's known that certain movie stars do like their mirrors the best.

TRISEXUAL—I can only guess what this means. I suppose it's a combination of bisexual and autosexual—two plus one equals three. A true tri-sexual person would love girls and boys and himself (or herself) just about the same. Actually, I think this would be a great thing to be. It's so democratic, and you'd never get bored—there's always sonieone to get off on, and if there were no one else around, there's always yourself. This is very modern—maybe some day everyone will be trisexual, and wouldn't that be fun?

That's about all I can think of for now. I may have missed a few, but the important thing to remember is that categories are not people. Everyone is different in every way, and that includes sexual preferences as well as every other kind of preference.

When I discussed this whole question with a good friend of mine, this is what he told me: "Well, when I wake up in the morning I feel asexual, but when I get into the shower I start feeling autosexual. Then, if I see an attractive girl I feel heterosexual, and sometimes a boy turns me on and I get homosexual urges, so that means I'm bisexual. And when I've had a few drinks, I want to make it with everyone, so then I'm pansexual. So I can be all those things—except transsexual—in 24 hours, so what does that make me? I don't know what you'd call it, but I don't care. I have a good time."

And I hope you all do too! See you next month!