4 Queer Christians on What Their Religion Means to Them

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Believers is a series running throughout April, examining different facets of faith and religion among young people.

Though queerness and religion can seem antithetical, many LGBTQ+ people have found a home in religious communities.

According to a report from the UCLA School of Law Williams Institute, nearly half of LGBT adults in the United States are religious. While religious affiliation spans age and race, the report found that the most common religion among LGBT people is Protestantism, followed by Catholicism, other Christianity, Judaism, Mormonism, and Islam.

While the report found that older LGBT adults are somewhat more likely to be religious, 40% of those 18-34 said they're religious — meaning young, queer religious people very much exist. Teen Vogue asked four young people how they embrace both sides of their identity.

Mary, 25, she/they

I was always taught that God is love and that as being a “good Catholic” meant being kind, respectful and charitable — not adhering to ultimately contradictory “rules.” We are all made in God’s image and He implored kindness above all, not to judge or shame. I’ve seen the conversations on the news, internet, and social media about a more conservative interpretation and have encountered some of people like that personally, but on the whole, I have been met with people who agree that it is kindness and non-judgement above all and your life is your own. The last time I went to confession I actually had a great conversation with the priest about it and he said that of all the identities one person can hold, the one that is first, last, and always is “child of God,” and that that comes with God’s unconditional love. That’s enough for me, [someone] else’s prejudice or hate is their own business and burden — not mine.

Envy Cameron, 20, he/they

Like many others, finding harmony between my faith and queerness was life saving. I went on a long journey to deconstruct the homophobia and transphobia that I learned in church as a kid, but beyond that I had to learn how to find the joy in my queerness. Making the realization that your queerness is not only “okay” with God, but also a beautiful reflection of God, will change everything for queer people who are trapped in internalized homophobia. My advice for you on your journey: Go where you are celebrated, not where you are tolerated.

Hannah, 25, she/her

My biggest fear is …[being] a confident lesbian, suddenly becoming “convicted” by God that I am living in sin. But God has shown me that I can trust Them. If They have brought me this far, this confident in my faith as a Christian and my identity as a lesbian, I can trust that They will not use me for hate.

My queerness has brought me closer to God, moreso than anything else in my life. It takes great endurance to claw your way back into religious spaces and take up space, after being told the space you should take up is in Hell. In every aspect of my sexuality, I find God. I find it in my relationship with my beloved partner, I find it in my queer communities (both religious and non religious), I find it in the wrestling of gender and sexuality and labels and fluidity. God is fluid, and so am I.

It is a joy to be queer. It is a joy to be queer in the presence of God.

Olivia, 21, she/her

I was raised in the church. I was taught to live my life with love, empathy, compassion, and kindness. I didn’t always have pleasant experiences being queer and Christian but the morals and beliefs instilled in me of love and peace help me be part of a community that is defined by both of those things. The LGBTQ+ community is grounded In community service and there is this welcoming spirit that I’ve only ever found before on Sunday mornings with a Bible in hand.

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue