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“The Real World: Brooklyn” is home to a bisexual cast mate

More often than not, a Real World cast will include someone who is gay. Once, there were two gay men in the same season (Philadelphia), and once there was a lesbian and a gay man (Chicago). This season, The Real World: Brooklyn includes a transgender woman, a gay man and a bisexual woman. (And by bisexual, I don’t mean she’ll just make out with any other chick who happens into the hot tub.)

Sarah is a 22-year-old tattooed artist from San Francisco and is reportedly in her first relationship with a man after having “previously only dated women.” She met her boyfriend through a setup – by her mom. Are you judging her yet? The Real World can be a dangerous place. As fake as it can sometimes be, it also serves as a large fish bowl for some of America’s population. For example, in a recent season, Tricia from the Australia cast touted her Christianity as a reason she did not want to attend Gay Mardi Gras. She also made racist comments about her Iranian castmate, Parisa, and was therefore seen as a bigot before she was made to leave the show (the class act pushed Parisa in a fit of rage over shared telephone usage).

Over the last two decades, only a handful of women who identify as lesbian or bisexual have been on the show, including two (Coral of New York and Brooke of Denver) who were not out while on the series. The only lesbians who actively participated in discussion of their sexuality and dated women while on the show were Aneesa from Chicago, Ruthie from Hawaii, Genesis from Boston and Beth from Los Angeles.

Real World counterpart Road Rules and subsequent spinoffs have had their fair share of drunken hookups, but there has yet to be a bisexual woman who is a positive representation. I hold out hope for Sarah this season, though, as the castmates were allowed to choose their own jobs, and she decided to teach art therapy at the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Center. The Real World: Brooklyn debuts on MTV on Jan. 5. Are you still into the show that spawned reality TV?

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