“I Became Proud of Being Gay and Proud of Being Christian”: The Spiritual Journeys of Queer Christian Women

Abstract

Many Christian leaders have asserted that queer and Christian are two mutually exclusive identities. Several studies have explored how gay men navigate conflicting spiritual and sexual identities. The same research does not exist for queer women. This study included 8 qualitative interviews of lesbian and bisexual women who grew up in nonaffirming Christian environments, and currently describe their spiritual practice as meaningful and affirming. Participants all shared negative experiences with Christianity, and a spiritual journey that resulted in profoundly meaningful spiritual lives. Implications suggest that social workers can offer a safe place for LGBTQ clients to address their spiritual issues.

Keywords:

• lesbian
• Christian
• queer
• faith
• spirituality
• resilience
• gay
• church
• empowerment
• LGBTQ
• bisexual
• women
• religion
• social work
• health
• community
• affirming

Acknowledgments

A special thank you to Katharine Hill, PhD, for offering her time and expertise in preparing this article for publishing.