Feeling like no other choice?

Go for whoever you want. Don't let a fear of another's fear hold you back.

Say what you want. You're looking for someone to hold you.

Your problem is, as far as I am concerned, rather common among bi men who have experience with other men but not with women.

It is kind of uncomfortable when you have recently met a woman (that you might be interested in romantically) and you mention being queer in some implicit context (assuming that your bi-ness isn’t deterministically clear) but you don’t want them to think that you are only interested in other men, because you can imagine having a romantic relationship with them, but perhaps it’s too early to mention that. “I am also interested in women” really screams “I can have sex with you, too”. Bi erasure (especially erasure of bi men) makes it more difficult to approach women (especially non-queer women), because these tend to write you off as a gay man, and as stated above, going for a head-on approach would appear as desperate or simply creepy. The solution is, as dumb as it sounds: Be clear about being bi and look for women who are also queer and/or understand & accept your bi-ness. If you have to mention that you “are also interested in women” after mentioning that you are bi, or if a person simply ignores your attraction for women because you have had a relationship with a man before, that person is very likely not a good partner for you as they will have a hard time processing an integral part of you: Your bisexuality.

Dating apps are an easy way to meet people, I don't recommend tinder unless you absolutely have to, bumble is a good one, and there are a few others. And don't worry so much, just put yourself out there. If you can tell someone is comfortable, just leave them alone, maybe give them a "ok sorry to bother you have a good day/evening" or something. Just be yourself and someone who's a good fit for you won't be offput.

considered myself straight most of my life

I don't have advice but I relate to you here. I'm also a man and have only come to terms with my bisexuality in the last 3 years or so, but I'm probably older than you. I wonder what the future will hold for me. I'm married so that complicates things, and most of my friends think of me as straight, along with all of my family. I wouldn't mind them knowing at this point but I just haven't had a reason to tell them. It would cause some of them stress and I'd just rather not if I don't have to.

longing for someone to hold me

Here I relate to the specifics of your need/desire but not that desire exactly. I do like being held. To my wife's credit I feel mostly satisfied there. I feel a strong need to be desired though, suddenly along with all of this, and I feel dissatisfied there. I want to be wanted badly (sexually). An experience with a gay man that never turned sexual at all is at the start of that, for me, just a year or so ago.

I agree with others here that we are all pretty unique, and I extend that to everyone, everywhere. Good for you for working to understand yourself better.

I don't know if I'm just being dyslexic, but I don't feel like I get the core of your problem. Is it that you're torn between trying to date/hook up with guys (which feels easier but is new?) vs gals (but you're worried that women will find your advances unwanted?)?

If I'm understanding you right, then I've felt the same way. I've actually ended up in a long-term relationship with guy, which isn't something I'd ever imagined, just because I went through a period of time where I was very stressed and busy and didn't have time to date girls in the way I'd been used to, but hooking up with guys (via apps) was super easy and stress free. Just happened to meet a guy that I really hit it off with and now we've been together a long while.

Anyway, if you're worried about guy stuff being new, don't be! People are people, and in the end every man and women is pretty unique, so what seems like a really different thing (dating a different gender from usual) turns out to just be more variety. If you're worried about women not wanting to be approached, I think if you do it nicely, in a relaxed and friendly manner and take a hint if they're not interested then it's okay!

And if you're worried that you somehow need to choose, you don't! That one of many joys of being bi, is you can be interested in anyone who tickles your fancy!

Something that I wouldn't recommend (because I used to do it a lot) is trying to put girls at their ease by dropping hints that I'm bi/queer/interested in guys too. I thought it would help by making me seem less threatening, but only latter found out that depressing number of straight girls have a lot of (subconscious?) biphobia, and assume that if a guy is bi then he's actually just gay and in denial (or worse, is some sort of std ridden slut).