Politics and Activism
Controversially, Bryson, who describes herself as bisexual (except for what she jokingly referred to as her "3-month lesbian separatist period" in the fall of 1994), has been clear in several interviews that she does not consider either heterosexuality or homosexuality to have a genetic basis, but rather considers them to be the result of many social and environmental factors. From a 2002 interview with Rainbow Network: "People often forget that 'gayness' and 'heterosexuality' are new concepts, less than a hundred and fifty years old... 'Straight' and 'gay' and 'bisexual' are all social constructions anyway, but until the world is more comfortable with same-sex desire I'll be calling myself bisexual, as that word comes the closest to describing my own personal make-up."
In another interview from the same time, she said, "I choose to be queer, and I'm proud of my choice. I'm sick of gay people saying 'it's not my fault,' like being queer is something to be ashamed of." More radically, she suggested the following: "I truly believe that all people are born with bisexual potential, and I feel strongly that the onus should now be on "heterosexuals" to come out, as queer people have already done enough hard work questioning sexual mores."
In London, Bryson was a member of the direct-action pressure group Lesbian Avengers, where she met a long-term girlfriend. Together they fought to have the British immigration system recognise their relationship so that Bryson could get a visa to stay in the country. The case was to drag out 5 years, and Bryson was only allowed to travel freely in the summer of 1999. She has said that she will never forgive the UK Immigration Service for not allowing her to visit her California-based dying grandfather in 1998 (Pink Paper Interview, 2003).
Bryson is on record in 2004 for having said that she's truly fallen in love twice: once with a man and once with a woman (Diva Magazine, 2004). She describes herself as a serial monogamist.
Read more about this topic: Kathleen Bryson
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