Dating as a bi male rant
To my fellow bi-dudes, how often do you experience biphobia from the opposite gender when dating? I'd be very curious to learn your perspective.
I'm a male in my mid-30s trying to find my way around the dating scene and currently I'm fed up with how things seem to stack against me. I know nobody's perfect and neither am I, once you enter your 30s you start to learn that everyone has some kind of baggage their bring along with them and you learn to accept that (or so I thought).
I'm not that young anymore (and refuse to call myself old either), I'm divorced, winning a war against depression (full remission, but it did affect my life heavily at some point), I can't really kick my smoking habit, I'm slightly chubby, there's a few things that could make potential partners decide it's a deal-breaker and I'd understand it.
What I can't understand, however, is how time and time again, the biggest deal-breaker for women I meet (gay guys are mostly sweet and not bothered by it at all) is my sexuality. I meet someone, we get along, start to learn more about each other, they learn all the things I'm expecting to be a turn off, they are fine with it and at some point - doesn't matter if it's date 1, 2, 10, 20 - I mention my sexuality and they all immediately leave. Sometimes they'll name it ("sorry, I don't date bi guys"), more often they won't say anything beyond "I stopped feeling it".
I don't date short term, I'm looking for a meaningful connection and building something lasting and thus I don't want to hide anything from the real me. I'm strictly monogamous, when I love a person, I love only them, but I want to be able to fully express myself and be proud of who I am in all aspects of myself and each time, so getting rejected for who I am, for something that not only is beyond any control, but also is something I consider a beautiful aspect of who I am, sucks massively and frankly, makes me lose all hope in my love life altogether.