Two-Spirit and Bisexual People: Different Umbrella, Same Rain

Increasingly, two-spirit identity is being included as one of the identities under the bisexual umbrella, yet there has been very little discussion about how this inclusion might affect two-spirit people, the research that pertains to us, or the services shaped by such data. This article draws upon personal experience as a two-spirit and bisexual woman as well as upon research conducted with two-spirit people in the province of Ontario, Canada. Five points of comparison between bisexual and two-spirit identity are examined: (1) the complexity of our identities, (2) the role of spirituality, (3) our elevated rates of poverty, (4) sexual violence, and (5) the influence of colonialism. Although bisexual and two-spirit identities share a number of commonalities they have key differences in cultural context and meaning.