It’s curious how certain figures in history have had their names attached to things that rarely reflected who they were in life. Take Sappho, for instance. From the scraps and fragments handed down over the centuries, we know she was bisexual, at least by today’s understanding of the term. She was married to a merchant named Cercylas and had a daughter named Celis. Despite all the wonderful love poems to women that she wrote, legend has it that she killed herself by jumping off the Leucadian cliffs for her love of Phaon, a village fisherman.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, her name became synonymous with lesbianism. Yet, when Sappho wrote, “coming off heaven/ throwing off/ his purple cloak,” it was a love poem addressed to one of her male lovers. The marginalization and silencing of bisexual artists in both the larger heterosexual and gay and lesbian communities is nothing new. It will continue as long as people only see the world in black and white dualism: you’re either gay or straight, there is no in-between. Sappho wrote again and again, “your love can be any [gender] that the gods have chosen for you.”

I would argue that all there is in this world is what’s in-between. Dualism is a myth that needs dismantling. Hey baby, open your mind! Embrace the spectrum of human experience, the fluidity of love and identity. In doing so, we honor the true essence of figures like Sappho, who lived and loved beyond the confines of rigid labels. We celebrate the richness of diversity and the beauty of the in-between, where life’s most profound truths often reside. 🙏🏾❤️

©️ Beatriz Esmer