Ways to be More Welcoming

1. Always respect a person’s identity and the language they use to talk about themselves.
2. Learn more about bisexual identity on your own. You might start by reading at least two articles or books or watching video clips that increase your understanding of bisexual identity.
3. Assume that bisexual people are present in your congregation and avoid assumptions based on your perceptions of the gender of the people someone partners with—open yourself to the possibility that any person, in any relationship or in no relationship, might identify as bisexual.
4. Work to challenge myths and negative stereotypes about bisexual people in yourself and in people around you. Be a bisexual ally.
5. Use language that is inclusive of bisexuality. For example, the term “gay marriage” sends the message that all people in same-sex relationships identify as gay, which isn’t true. Similarly, “LGBTQ” sometimes gets used in a way that assumes that all LGBTQ people are in same-sex relationships, invisibilizing bisexual, transgender, and queer people in different-gender relationships. 
6. Expand the ways that sexual orientation is understood and discussed in your congregation beyond the idea that sexual orientation is a born-in, static trait. Although many people believe themselves to have been born lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, or straight, others experience sexuality as fluid and changing throughout their lifetime. Honor this diversity of experience through the ways you talk and teach about sexual orientation.
7. Do continuing education for your congregation at large on bisexual and queer issues. Consider Sunday services, panel discussions, small group ministry topics, and hosting community events. See below for resource suggestions.
8. Talk to children about sexuality in healthy ways. Provide age-appropriate education that acknowledges the diversity of sexual orientation, explicitly talks about bisexuality, and helps children and youth understand how to build healthy relationships regardless of the gender of the people they are attracted to.  
9. Ensure that clergy, pastoral care providers, lay leaders, staff, religious education volunteers, and other congregational leaders are familiar with the specific concerns of bisexual people and are prepared to minister to bisexual people of all ages.
10. Deepen relationships and partnerships between your congregation and LGBTQ community organizations and social justice groups. Ensure that your LGBTQ justice ministry isn’t limited to working only for justice and rights for people in same-sex relationships. Find out more about the needs of bisexual and other polysexual people and take action.