We Are Living For the Male Bisexual Storyline on Grey’s

Arts

Nov 14

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WARNING: GREY’S ANATOMY SEASON 15 SPOILERS AHEAD

Your little bi baby girl started watching Grey’s Anatomy when it debuted in March of 2005. That was ALMOST 14 YEARS AGO YA’LL. Growing up, my mother would bring me to a lot of nursing homes as a mitzvah, and would make me read to the elder folks there, books from the library about kittens and waterfalls in Maine. I fucking hated it. The smell of decay was everywhere, and I felt sorry for the people who would sit in front of box televisions with bad reception, watching soap operas. I never thought I’d be one of those little old ladies at 31.

But I digress. I regret nothing with watching Grey’s - I used to describe it as a guilty pleasure, back when I dated a dude who made me feel bad about myself and my taste in TV shows (do better, College Years Anna!), but now I declare loudly and proudly to anyone who’ll listen that I FUCKING LOVE GREY’S. It’s not only because Ellen Pompeo, lead star, un-aging superwoman, and highest-paid actress on a primetime drama is helming the show as Meredith Gray, but also because the show hasn’t stuck around for 20 years for nothing. Shonda Rhimes is a veritable genius and powerhouse, and Pompeo realized early on how to leverage her newfound fame to set herself up for life. Rhimes literally said that, “The show will go on as long as Ellen wants to do it.” Talk about POWER.

But I digress again; this article isn’t about me fangirling over Pompeo and Rhimes (for NOW), but about how I am positively LIVING for the newest storyline on Grey’s, i.e., one that is promoting a sweet, male, bisexual storyline. Why is this important? Because not only is there a lack of bisexual representation in the media still, unless it is being used to capture a male audience with hot actresses who are playing vampires who want to kiss each other on the CW, but I can’t recall ever seeing a male bisexual love story, at least not on primetime.

But Rhimes is a trailblazer, and she doesn’t give a fuck what anyone thinks. A trend in TV shows this year has been calling out the current administration’s evilness, and damn, if the people who said we were going to get good art out of the Trump administration weren’t right. In every episode of shows like Will & Grace, Modern Family, Grey’s Anatomy, Superstore, and more, there have been consistent storylines flouting 45’s personal vendetta against, well, anyone who isn’t a rich white man. I [hand clap] can’t [hand clap] get [hand clap] e [hand clap] -nough.

But I digress a third time. The two characters currently involved in a will-they-won’t-they romance are Dr. Nico Kim (Alex Landi), Seattle Grace’s first gay male surgeon, and Dr. Levi Schmitt (nicknamed “Glasses” on the show), played by Jake Borelli. The story is so so good, ya’ll - it started when Schmitt saw Kim for the first time, and his reaction was to gasp. Next, we saw them together in surgery, and Schmitt, after staring at Kim for several seconds, commented on how he felt that there was extra “testosterone” in the room. While the writing is comical at times, it’s never hoky, and their romance is slowly unfolding in an organic way.

On one of the more recent episodes, in fact, the “couple” had their first “fight” - and they’re not even officially together. I won’t spoil too much more of the romance for you, but I will tell you why a male bi storyline is important: it’s because that not only do bis, in general, often get a bad rap, I would argue that male bis often have it harder than female bis, and harder than gay men. Bisexuals are already called “greedy,” and told “we’re going through a phase” - with our culture’s focus on toxic masculinity, a male bisexual has to have it much harder in many ways. And I’m not discounting the fact that white male bisexuals still have passing privilege and, of course, benefit from the patriarchy; however, with bisexuals already feeling like we don’t have a safe space in any community, be it in the mainstream world or in queer culture, I think male bisexuals may feel it all the more. Not only to they have to appear “straight enough” to be passing in the mainstream world, but they also have to mentally deal with the pressure of toxic masculinity; in the queer world, they aren’t “gay enough.”

Grey’s has always been a primetime frontrunner with its LGBTQ-focused storylines. This year alone, they’ve already introduced two trans characters, both played by phenomenal trans actors (Alex Blue Davis and Candis Cayne).

So, step up to the plate, everyone else - you’re doing great sweatys, but you’ve got more to do if you want to keep up with Grey’s.

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Anna Jones is a writer and producer currently based in Atlanta. She is the proud owner of digital copywriting agency Girl.Copy and independent film production company Tiny Park Productions. She loves a lot of stuff, but mainly: her husband, kid, and cat, writing and filmmaking, coffee and Diet Coke, millennial pink, sushi, gay stuff, and horror films.

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