Copyright: Ihnatovich Maryia

Marriage equality is the law of the land and somehow we have all survived the rainbow apocalypse.  Despite winning marriage equality in all fifty states, the LGBT civil rights movement has not ended. There are still many feats yet to accomplish. In order for us to continue gaining wins, we need our allies now more than ever.

Christian allies are especially necessary. Since the anti-LGBT argument is rooted in religion, those who are religious should be the first to stand up and combat that negative narrative.

Here are four ways to be a Christian ally to LGBT people:

Use Inclusive Language

One of the biggest mistakes many Christian allies do is use language and hold conversations that exclude part of the LGBT community.

For example, they will use “gay” in the place of LGBT when “gay’ is not an inclusive term. It only refers to those who are attracted to the same sex. As a bisexual man attracted to more than one gender, this leaves me out of the conversations. It also leaves out the trans community and those who are gender queer.

Spelling out lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender is a start. More frequently, LGBT people have used queer as an inclusive term or many even identify as queer. Learn to use language that includes the entire community to keep all of us in the conversation.

Call out Anti-LGBT sentiments

The Internet is a scary place, especially when you’re talking about social justice topics like LGBT equality.  It’s an even scarier place if you are LGBT and talking about LGBT equality. It shouldn’t be just on us to gently correct individuals who share inaccurate and information about the LGBT community.

Christian allies shouldn’t be afraid to call out religious homophobia.

This goes beyond just online interactions. Allies should be willing to put themselves in the uncomfortable situations in correcting homophobia, biphobic, and transphobic language. Whether they encounter this language at work, with family, or with friends, allies must stand up and call out anti-LGBT sentiments.

Be willing to say “I’m Sorry” and learn

Allies express worry about ‘saying the wrong thing.’ As an ally to various other social justice movements, I can understand that sentiment. We don’t want to purposefully say things that are hurtful and fear the backlash such offensive comments may cause.

Whether we intend to or not our words can have a negative impact. If you find yourself saying ‘the wrong thing’ and see push back from LGBT people, the thing to do next is quite easy – just say 

“I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intent. How can I communicate better in the future?” goes a long ways.

Don’t become defensive when being corrected. This type this response shows you acknowledge your harm (even if you didn’t intend it) and that  you want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Remember who should be at the center of the conversation

Allies make a common mistake when they are excited for a chance to advocate, they make the conversations about themselves. Not about LGBT people.

If you’re a Christian blogger writing about LGBT things, cite other LGBT bloggers in your pieces. Share information from LGBT voices instead of straight voices. If you’re asked to speak about LGBT issues, suggest an LGBT person instead.

This isn’t to say there is no place for the voices of allies. There will always be spaces in which allies voices are welcomed and LGBT voices are excluded. It is those spaces we need allies the most.

If you are in one of those spaces enter it fearlessly with the goal in mind of opening that space up. So that one-day allies’ voices are no longer needed and LGBT voices can be front and center in speaking for ourselves to the wider world.