Bisexual lighting is the simultaneous use of pink, purple, and blue lighting to represent bisexual characters. It has been used in studio lighting for film and television, and has been observed in the cinematography of various films.
While not all films, television shows, photographs, and music videos that use this lighting intend to portray bisexuality, many queer artists have deliberately used this color palette—which resembles that of the bisexual flag—in their work. It is reminiscent of neon lights and is also associated with retrowave.[1]
According to BOWIE Creators, the concept of bisexual lighting was invented in 2014 by a Tumblr fan of Sherlock who believed that the lighting was being used to signal that Dr. Watson was bisexual and would eventually be in a romantic relationship with Sherlock Holmes.[10] This brief suggestion of bisexual lighting had no direct impact on other shows, movies, or music videos containing it, but it did put the idea into the world that bisexual themes could be expressed via this color scheme.[10] Around 2017, left-wing YouTubers such as ContraPoints (who identified as bisexual at the time) began to light their videos with pink, purple, and blue neon lights.[10] The use of bisexual lighting became a popular meme in 2018, with multiple Twitter threads showcasing instances of the lighting scheme going viral, as well as photographs of animals in bisexual lighting being shared widely on social media.
