(Photo by: MTV.com/Real World) Mike Manning talks about being bisexual on the Real World
It seems that by now almost everyone has heard of the “Real World Controversy” over Mike Manning’s sexuality (Coming Out Bisexual on The Real World). Queerty still seems to feel the need to publish biphobic articles (Will Anyone Ever Believe Real World DC‘s Mike Manning Is Bi? is the worst but there are so many others on that site) when talking about him, and the comments are no better. It is truly amazing how someone’s bisexuality seems to be a huge threat to some people’s feelings of “gayness.” It’s also pretty much public knowledge (Emily’s interview) now that both Mike Manning and Emily Schromm’s sexuality was glossed over the by the editors of The Real World—who made Mike appear to be only with men, when he hooked up with at least one girl on the show, a fellow cast mate, Ashley (Real World DC Episode 8 Aftershow).
Emily had also hooked up with a fellow cast mate, a guy name Ty, but in her AfterEllen interview she said that while on the show she was more into girls and brought several home, that was never shown on the show. Other hookups and relationships by some of the straight cast members were also not shown, so it is conceivable that everything could have just been edited out for the sake of brevity. However, it does seem that at least one or two references to Mike and Emily’s different choices of dates could have been made. Was it just normal editing of a show, or deliberate biphobia and bisexual erasure?
About a month ago, right around the time the Real World DC show ended, MTV aired a Real World DC Reunion Show (viewable here at MTV), where the cast members from the show come back together and talk now that the show has ended. The last portion of the reunion show was particularly interesting, as Mike Manning and Emily Schromm discussed their bisexuality. It started with clips being of other cast members openly doubting Mike’s sexuality during the course of the show; saying he’s really gay.
(Photo by: MTV.com/Real World) Emily Schromm
Mike and Emily both then talked about their bisexuality. Mike said that although he leans more towards men, he is still attracted to women, and what bothers him the most is when people say that he is “lying” (for an example see Queerty’s article The Reason Mike Manning Brought So Many Bros Back to the Real World House?) He said he felt like saying to those people “Who are you to tell me who I am?” He also pointed out that he is fully out, so what would be the point of lying? The host then asked him in a rather skeptical tone how come he brought mostly men home during the show (although she seems to have forgotten the hookup with Ashley being edited out). Mike replied that because for the first time in his life “the candy store was open” when it came to men. Emily then expressed something similar about herself in regards to women, and expressed surprise that none of that was shown on the show. I remember surmising as much about why Mike brought home more men when the controversy first hit, so it was nice to hear him say that. He appears to also have his own blog now on Mike Gets Real, where he plans to talk about many of the issues that came up during the show.
After that, a couple of the cast members started saying that at a party the night before they had seen Mike going for girls. One of them even seemed like he might actually be convinced Mike was really bisexual. At least they took the time to listen to both Mike and Emily without contradicting them this time.
Mike’s question of “Who are you to tell me who I am?” is a very good one that all bisexuals should ask of those who seek to make us invisible or downplay our existence (Take Me Out To The Ballgame). Why is it so important to some people that we don’t exist, and who exactly are they to say that we don’t? Real World did not handle Mike and Emily’s sexuality the best way throughout the season, but it’s good that at least at the end of everything they allowed them to speak for themselves.
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