Metropolitan Bisexual Men's Relationships: Evidence of a Cohort Effect

Drawing on 90 interviews with openly bisexual men from three metropolitan cities, this research explores experiences related to relationships. In using a comparative cohort research design, the authors demonstrate the presence of a generational effect, with members of the youngest cohort finding that their partners grant the greatest legitimacy to their bisexual identities. The authors also show that men of the older cohort maintained more heteronormative attitudes than men in the younger cohort, particularly concerning marriage and children. Finally, the authors find that though openly bisexual men located in three metropolitan cities were accepting of nonmonogamy for others, they were not largely practicing it themselves.