#bisexual workplace

[hellomynameisbisexual]

In this post...

Today is Bisexual Visibility Day, a day that celebrates the B in LGBT+, and gets content writers like me asking and answering important questions like; ‘what is bi visibility?’, ‘how to celebrate bi visibility day’, and ‘why do we have a day dedicated to bisexuality?’.

In this blog we’ll help with all your questions. We’ll dispell common myths and misconceptions about the bisexual community, and delve into why we need to stop the erasure of bisexual people. We’ll also offer guidance on how we can go about supporting and celebrating our bisexual friends, peers and colleagues.

Misconceptions about bisexuality

First of all, let’s dispel some harmful myths about the bisexual community:

Bisexual people are greedy/non-monogamous

Why people say this:

The idea that bisexual people are greedy or polyamorous relates to the thought that an attraction to more than one gender means a desire to form intimate relationships with everyone. It’s possible that this is linked to the equally harmful misconceptions around the promiscuity of the LGBTQ+ community.

Why it’s harmful:

The main reason this is harmful is because it intrinsically links an individual’s sexual orientation to their sexual activity. If a straight person told you they were straight, it is unlikely that your initial thought following that would include the number of people they sleep with.

When people hold these views of bisexual people, it creates an image of the person that is not necessarily aligned to who that person is. In a work context this can create discomfort, is inappropriate to assume/verbalise, and can lead to bisexual people avoiding conversations that relate to their sexual orientation.

Bisexual people can’t make their mind up

Why people say this:

The harmful perception here is that people are either homosexual or heterosexual, and that bisexual identifying people are just deciding which category they fall into. It dismisses bisexuality as a legitimate sexual identity.

Why it’s harmful:

For anyone that isn’t heterosexual, typically your life before coming out (and often much after), is surrounded by reminders about why your sexual orientation strays from the norm. LGBTQ+ people are often made to hide their sexual orientation, or are deterred from exploring and understanding their sexual identity.

Getting to know yourself, and feeling confident in sharing your sexual orientation with others is therefore a significant life event for many LGBTQ+ people. Bisexual people in particular are often made to feel as if their identity is invalid, not real, or still worth questioning, especially when asked to ‘decide’ or ‘pick’ an orientation.

It must be worse for lesbian/gay men

Why people say this:

Ever since the LGBT acronym and movement for equality formed, there has been discussions around how to equally represent the interests of each community represented by the iconic rainbow flag. Conversations on lesbian rights and gay rights have dominated popular culture, and often for very legitimate reasons. However, this means that a lot of the progress that has been made has been for the benefit of these communities, and not all LGBTQ+ people.

Why it’s harmful:

Bisexual people are more likely to experience mental health challenges than lesbian and gay people. Bisexual people are more likely to attempt suicide, to be impacted by substance abuse, and to experience domestic violence. Clearly, bi-invisibility prevents us from seeing, at multiple levels, very serious issues impacting bisexual people.

The pros of removing bi-invisibility and supporting our bi colleagues

Bi-invisibility or bi-erasure, is when we ignore or re-explain the existence of bisexuality. Take for example a colleague who you met whilst in a same sex relationship, who then leaves that relationship and begins a heteronormative relationship. Comments such as ‘I think they were gay, but they must be straight now’, would be an example of bi-erasure.

Hopefully from the above myth busting you can see why that might be harmful, so, what can you do to be more supportive, and challenge bi-erasure when it happens?

How to support bisexual colleagues at work

We’ve now reached the nitty gritty of the blog, the ‘How to’ apply the learnings from above. What do individuals and organisations need to achieve so that we can ensure that all bisexual employees are able to exist and thrive openly in work without fear of discrimination, bias, and harassment:

Individuals

Stop being so urgent to label people

Our human desire to understand the world around us often forces our minds to categorise things quickly, including someone’s sexual orientation. So if someone refers to a same sex relationship, we assume that they are likely homosexual. If you can acknowledge that there is a whole spectrum of sexuality that people sit within, we can help our bisexual colleagues by preventing them having to continuously correct people, or keep coming out.

Ask inclusive questions

‘What’s your boyfriend’s name?’ assumes the sexuality of the person you’re engaging with, and the gender of their partner. Try asking more inclusive questions such as ‘what’s your partner’s name?’. Alternatively, wait for the person to give a name and gender, and reflect that back to them.

If you’re not sure, ask! A lot of the time people are afraid of asking because they’re worried they’ll cause offence.

Think about that for a second. Being bisexual, or homosexual is not a bad thing. Asking about someone’s sexual orientation politely, in a safe environment, and with good intent isn’t inherently a bad thing.

Apologise and move on

This one’s simple. If you make a mistake, apologise and move on with the conversation. Dwelling, and asking additional and intrusive questions is inappropriate and can make your colleagues feel uncomfortable.

Ask Google!

If you have questions on bisexuality, go to google before you bring them up with your bisexual colleagues. Chances are you’ll find an answer. If you’re looking to understand your colleagues’ experience based on what you’ve taken the time to learn about privately, make sure that they’re comfortable having the conversation before asking.

Organisations

Empower your bi employees to focus on their jobs, not consistently coming out

When you consistently question, deny or incorrectly define the sexual orientation of someone who is bisexual they then need to spend time correcting that. This process of constantly coming out can be exhausting for bisexual people. All of this worry, concern, action, and time, is time that could be spent on other more productive activities.

Save time by getting your policies and processes right first time

To be truly inclusive, don’t assume that an LGBT+ policy, LGBT+ network, or any related initiatives are inclusive of all LGBT+ needs. Consult with bisexual employees, or specialists to understand where gaps might be in your planning. 7% of gay men are not out at work, compared to 49% of bisexual men, and 4% of lesbians compared to 34% of bisexual women. This indicates that on a whole, we have more to do to help bisexual employees feel safe in the decision to be open about their identity. Doing it right the first time means you don’t have to invest further into reviewing and changing your policies in hindsight.

Ensure there’s a safe space by promoting education & visibility

At a company wide level, make issues impacting bisexual employees known through training and education programmes. By spreading awareness, you can create safe spaces by increasing allyship. At a network level, ensure that your networks have bi-visibility at the forefront by having representatives within your network structure.

Give bisexual employees the means to speak up about harassment

Encourage bisexual staff to speak up if they encounter discrimination or harassment. Give them the tools to understand their experiences, by providing useful support systems and information points. Speak up about your reporting pathways.

Offer a variety of ways for people to report to ensure that regardless of the individual’s circumstances, they can find a way to report safely and confidently. For this to be effective, your processes need to be airtight too.

#bisexuality #lgbtq community #lgbtq #bi #support bisexuality #pride #bi tumblr #bisexuality is valid #lgbtq pride #bi pride #bisexual #bi men #bi women #bi people #bisexual men #bisexual women #bisexual people #bisexual work #bisexual workplace #workplace #work #queer nation #bisexual nation #bi visibility #bisexual visibility #bisexual community #bi community

[theangelofbrahma]

#not one straight person in that whole workplace #love those cardiff bisexuals #torchwood #whoniverse #doctor who #captain jack harkness #jack harkness #ianto jones #gwen cooper #tosh sato #toshiko sato #owen harper #angelofbrahmaaa

[muninnhuginn]

Anyway I know I'm putting way too much thought into an anime that is quite literally goofy, but I legit think that as long as Shirosaki is Momose's boss he would not want to abuse that position by doing anything that could be construed as putting moves on him. He knows Momose's history with his abusive boss and has been continually shown to be conscientious around anything that could make Momose uncomfortable.

And, like, that's not a bad thing. There's a reason why a lot of organisations have explicit rules around dating between bosses and those below them in the chain. It's rife for abuse. And the show itself draws the lines between toxic workplace relationships and toxic romantic relationships.

All that said, we also know that employees in the company move out between managers semi-regularly. That Shirosaki used to be directly under Aoyama. So, when Momose is able to work his way up enough the organisation such that Shirosaki's no longer his manager, well, the power abuse becomes much less of an issue.

However, even though Momose's doing well in his new job, it may still be a while before he's ready to try and progress in the company. After all, any new manager he gets may not be as understanding as Shirosaki and I could definitely see that being a hurdle for him.

Anyway, in terms of the apartment, Shirosaki will never ask Momose to stay despite wanting him to because he doesn't want to impose pressure as his boss and the owner of the apartment. And as long as he doesn't do that, Momose will continue to presume that he's imposing on Shirosaki by staying. They're at a standstill despite both wanting the same thing.

But for now, Momose gets the best of both worlds. He's close enough to see Shirosaki (and Hakutou) every day. But he has his own independence such that he doesn't feel like he owes Shirosaki anymore.

#this is ignoring everything about how momose has only just realised bisexuality is even a thing courtesy of kinjo #but like. just from the perspective of momose's whole arc about abuse and workplace and romantic relationships #shirosaki is too respectful to make anything like a move at this point and with momose's history he's not wrong for that #my new boss is goofy #my new boss is goofy spoilers #genuinely kinda sad there are probably minimal chances of a s2 because of lack of manga material #atarashii joushi wa do tennen

[mobblespsycho100]

avenpaz is the most bisexual m/f pairing ever btw and i love it for them

#i also like thinking of them as lesbians . butch lesbian aventurine win #but bi4bi avenpaz is also wonderful. theyre bisexual and also the art for them is for the bisexuals #not maintagging because im embarassed to but i loveee avenpaz/topven theyre cute as hell #goofy workplace relationship #gayventurine is great and probably more canon than biventurine but let bisexuals have fun too <333

[prophetmutual]

I love it when house sexually harrasses chase. someone should.

#diversity win the guy creating a toxic workplace is bisexual etc etc #house md

[qbdatabase]

We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian Nick Russo has worked his way from a rough Brooklyn neighborhood to one of the city's biggest newspapers. But the late 1950s are a hostile time for gay men, and Nick knows that he can't let anyone into his life. He just never counted on meeting someone as impossible to say no to as Andy. View the full summary and rep info on wordpress or check it out for free from the Queer Liberation Library!

#We Could Be So Good #Cat Sebastian #bookblr #bisexual #daily book #gay #MM romance #mlm #queer rep #adult books #historical fiction #journalism #lgbtqia #male protagonist #queer books #Queer Liberation Library #romance #workplace romance

[thinkingabout-girls]

i think chilshi is objectively a good ship and i see why people like it however i don’t ship it because it is my belief that chilchuck would rather die a slow and painful death than ever have a consensual workplace relationship

#workplace romance is one of his top 3 least favorite things #it doesn’t matter how bisexual he is he would rather kill himself i think

[onlybabyscars]

The sky woke up and chose bisexuality

#me #my workplace #Nottingham #bisexuality #sky

[moowithmidnight]

I didn’t get who Tsia was or why people were shipping her with Emily but oh my lord- I get it now because they 100% fucked

Like okay coworkers who had a one-night stand and then proceeded to never act on their feelings, go off

#giving workplace pining #love that for them #emily prentiss #criminal minds #bau #bisexual/lesbian solidarity #guess who is who #s6

[disastroboy]

found dead: guy whose brain is being eaten by a ship with a grand total of 21 works on ao3

#im perishing #why shouldnt a bisexual maniac have a doomed workplace situationship with the wife guy that the hyde to her jekyll is currently enslaving #i HATE that she said 'good luck out there boss' #like bitch thats YOU #THATS YOU #severance tv #severance spoilers #markhelly

[robynochs]

Question #1 for the #bihive

If you identify as bi+ (bi, pan, queer, or by any other nonbinary sexuality):

Have you had a negative or positive experience in the workplace related to your bi+ identity? If yes, please tell me what happened in 50 words or less. The average time it takes to complete this is 2-4 minutes.

Here's the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8D2XQDN

Thanks in advance for your help with this. I'm hoping to get 100 responses in the next couple of days so I really could use your help. Thank you.

#bisexuality #bisexuals #Bisexual #bi+ #bisexuality in the workplace #pansexual #pansexuality #queer #pan

[michi-chelle]

no thank you!!! stans, uhm yea so why am i playing as a fuckin menace?

#i thought haru was cute and funny and relatable ‘cause he’s so ditzy #but maaaaan not the workplace harrassment 🤦🏽‍♀️ that is not how i wanna rizz up hiroshi okay #also i hate hate hateeeeeeee hiroshi’s casual outfit like what in the graphic-design-is-my-passion-ass shirt is that #i mean Relatable™️ but #and what is that color scheme #he’s a plaid-button-up-cuffed-pants-flip-flops bisexual huh #anyway i do enjoy haru and hiroshi’s little dynamic so far lol #i just started chapter 2 #michi yaps #nty!!!

[kingofdinosaurs]

makoto and hazama should have had a vs theme

#I'm enamoured with their weird bisexual workplace warfare #goes without saying that makoto should have had more vs themes just in general. how the fuck does team remix heart not have a theme #how the fuck doesn't she have one for just like noel! or tsubaki! #fuck it if we're giving her all these also give her one with kagura that would be funny #she should have had so many... and yet...

[iressails]

Bayliss is looking extremely bad post shooting of homeless man. Eat his gun bad. He's unmoored without Frank, without his stabilitising influence, without his framing of his world in primary colours. All of Bayliss's stuff about being true to all the parts of himself, trying to reconcile his profession with his sexuality and spirituality and being left with just the former because when it came down to it he fired his gun and killed a man.

He's deleted his website, deleted parts of himself for his job, and I don't know if he has much left. Not with Frank being gone. (Where even if Frank? Did he ditch Bayliss after he left the department? He must have.)

I noticed he had a bit about surviving child abuse on his website, it seems it was ignored/shut down too so he's pushed that back down. Again? Same thing his father did, denied and voiceless again. JFC this is so depressing.

#i dont know if im feeling garbage cause ive zipped through s7 in a couple of days #or if its because im sort of violently back as a young adult who lived through the same shit #leaving most of yourself at the entrance of your workplace and putting a sharp divide between personal and work #and just daily dealing of the world being against you and parts of yourself #or the whole bisexuality thing because before i sort of gave up why #i asked myself why for a good few years or rather what #im twenty years older and its weird but a close friend who ive known since university didnt uh... well i never told her i was bi #it doesn matter or if youre in a long term relationship people just assume #maybe how bayliss is rn and hes def suicidal and idk i barelymade it out alive #heyyy thanks lithium for saving my life but killing my kidneys #tw suicide #hlots #hlots posting #tw child abuse #*with my friend it was literally a couple of days ago i told her i was bi apparently in the 15 years shes not known... i dont go around #telling people i guess #the gf doesnt like it actually #and what does it matter #i think it does matter #my hlots black hole is getting bigger #tw homophobia #tw biphobia

[crabanarchy]

when i was in high school a girl i sort of knew said she would pay me two dollars if i ate a whole 500g tub of salt in front of her, which i did, which obviously made me very very ill, and after throwing up coughing and heaving for hours she tried to nut shot me when i asked her for the two dollars. I learned something very important that day, son: Always get it in writing

#there's a reason the people paying you to eat things off the floor dont have a workplace injury policy #this might also have been what made me bisexual.

[casbeeminestiel]

Grey’s Anatomy is a safety hazard for bi girls

#everyone is hot and everyone has a tragic backstory #I don’t care about the inaccuracies and inappropriate workplace relationships #mcdreamy got in a mcfucking plane crash once #Meredith straight up cannot die #RIP Derek though #your hair was amazing king #duckposting #grey’s anatomy spoilers #grey’s anatomy #local bisexual cries about the hot doctor show