In the course of my work, I am often invited to speak at churches and Christian events on the topic of sexuality, gender, and faith. A few years ago, I was invited to speak as the keynote at a Christian conference. The host warmly introduced me as a bisexual Christian author and pastor, then added: “And he is in a straight marriage.” Nothing hostile was intended. The introduction was meant to be inclusive. But I remember how that small phrase landed. In the same breath my identity was acknowledged, it was also explained away. It was a welcome that flattened even as it included.

I was able to explain to the group why such an introduction was problematic, and we moved forward together. But the experience is familiar to many bisexual Christians in affirming spaces. Over the past two decades, many Canadian congregations have done difficult and meaningful work around 2SLGBTQIA inclusion. Yet much of that work still quietly assumes that people are ultimately either gay or straight, with bisexuality folded into the acronym without being understood on its own terms. This assumption is sometimes described as a monosexual framework, meaning a view of sexuality that treats attraction to only one gender (whether heterosexual or........

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