All people are bisexual
Just before the EURO final match, Ralf Schumacher posted a picture of himself with his partner Étienne. He received a lot of support for this, but some are wondering. After all, Schumacher was married and has a child from this relationship. For sexual scientists Heinz-Jürgen Voß, who researches and teaches at the Social Work, Media, Culture department of the University of Merseburg, this is nothing surprising.
Ralf Schumacher is now 49 years old and is seen with a partner by his side. What does this tell us about his sexuality?
Heinz-Jürgen Voß: First of all, it shows that there is self-determination today and that people make their own partner choices freely and independently. And the reactions to this are also quite positive. From the immediate social environment, from the family, there are very positive reactions, especially from his son. That might be the most important thing for Ralf Schumacher.
There is now this attribution that Ralf Schumacher is homosexual. But that doesn't have to be the case. He could also be pan- or bisexual.
The psychoanalytic Charlotte Wolff says: A person is bisexual throughout their life, and that means every person. This means that we all have more or less parts of ourselves that we could prefer both opposite- and same-sex partners. This can vary depending on the time period. That's also a rather naive understanding of homosexuality, that a homosexual man would be attracted to any man. But it's not about that. It's about a concrete person. That means that in one phase of life, a woman can be loved and sexually desired, and in another phase of life, a man can be exactly the right person for both love and sexual activity.
Is sexual preference really innate and clear for a whole life?
No. In sexual science, we proceed from a psychosexual development. Both physical and physiological and psychological characteristics play a role in the development in relation to gender identity, but also in relation to sexual orientation. Of course, the social environment and experiences come into play, and accordingly, people can make different decisions at certain stages in life. A relatively stable gender identity then forms in some direction. But regarding sexual orientation, we know that people are bisexual to a greater or lesser extent. This is also shown in a larger youth study that we have recently conducted. For example, we found that among 16- to 18-year-old men, a total of 22% report having had same-sex sexual experiences. Among young women, it is 32%. This is also confirmed by Yougov studies conducted in Great Britain and the USA.
What does that mean?
In a society where there is no persecution regarding homosexuality, sexual experiences with both opposite- and same-sex partners can be made. It's a certain liberalization that we now recognize self-determination in the sexual sphere and do not condemn same-sex relationships from the outset. So they can be lived more easily and people can experiment. Young people do this, but people in their 40s do it as well. And that's what Ralf Schumacher is doing.
Despite the EURO final match and the attempt on Trump's life, the Instagram post made it into international news. What's so surprising about that?
There are actually not that many announcements about this matter. However, in professional men's sports, we are still expecting a openly homosexual professional footballer to come out. People are holding back for various reasons, and sometimes for good ones. They calculate with negative reactions if they make a mistake on the field and are then immediately criticized for their sexual orientation. Ralf Schumacher's professional career is over, and therefore it is easier to discuss topics like homosexuality or bisexuality. At the same time, it might also be a sign that there is more courage among men to come out. This has an effect on young people, who then have role models and can identify with them. In the end, it is important. Otherwise, it is always a private matter.
Regarding Ralf Schumacher, there have been rumors about a possible homosexuality for years, as if he had hidden something from the world. Should a person share information about their life, their sexuality, their relationship with their environment?
No. But since he is a public figure, it could be seen as a justifiable reason. Otherwise, it is the difficult handling of homosexuality in society. Young lesbians and gays report that they have experienced psychological or physical violence to approximately two thirds before the age of 18. With the strengthening of the right-wing extremist AfD, we have once again seen a trend that social debates about sexual and gender self-determination are heating up. Not everyone in society wants self-determination in this area. Another reason for the current topic is also not to be underestimated: it is simply because it is now summer. There is a special interest in entertaining summer topics that concern well-known personalities.
The feedback on the post is mostly positive, but Dietmar Bartsch from the Left wrote, for example, in a post that was later retracted, that Schumacher should not celebrate his coming-out so much. What is behind such remarks?
I have also seen that post. Bartsch later apologized and said that it was not smart of him to write that right after the football EM final. But one can see that a coming-out can irritate people: some people have more questions, others find it all so normal in society that they think that there should not be so much talk about homosexuality. Both have their justification and we are a democratic society, so we can handle both perspectives. Many see heterosexuality as self-evident as the norm and everything else as a deviation. This is actually absurd, that it is still assumed that someone brings a partner of the opposite sex home at the age of 16, 17 or 18 - and not a same-sex partner. We still have a relatively clear bourgeois ideal of a relatively stable two-person relationship. Gay saunas, sex in the park, or polyamorous relationships are less accepted and recognized and hardly discussable. Bisexuals are often negatively perceived from a heteronormative perspective, because it is said that this is then a real phase, the other phase is not important? In the LGBTQ+ communities, there are also prejudices, because one is suspected of betraying the lesbian cause or having fear of coming out as gay. From the perspective that people love or desire individuals, we are still a long way off.**
**We apparently still have a hard time dealing with this fluidity.
Yes, but there are new concepts and role models. These are important developments, as people can identify as gender fluid. In our Partner-5 study on Sexuality in the Course of Life, we found that innovativeness and willingness to experiment increase over the lifespan. At the age of 18 or even 20, sexuality is very committed, very love-bound, focused on one person. However, when we look at people in their 30s, 40s, and beyond, we notice that a larger portion of them have also tried out other sexual practices - sex with multiple people, sex in anonymous places. Sexuality is indeed something where one can experiment and should do so with pleasure.
Interview with Heinz-Jürgen Voß (conducted by Solveig Bach)
Given the supportive reactions to Ralf Schumacher's public display of his partner, it raises questions about societal perceptions of sexuality.
Despite the existence of rumors about Schumacher's sexuality for years, the lack of openly homosexual professional athletes in men's sports suggests a hesitance to come out, often due to fear of negative reactions.
In the context of Ralf Schumacher, the public interest in his sexuality raises concerns about the societal acceptance of homosexuality and the fluidity of sexuality across different life stages.
