While the institution of the church has shut so many LGBTQ+ people out, spirituality and tradition still offer much solace for those who feel alone.
written by BEX MUI – The Advocate
As a professional queer and social justice advocate, I never thought I’d want to champion the side of faith and spirituality. I was raised Catholic, but like far too many LGBTQ+ people, I had a brutal and painful falling-out with the church when I came out that I continue to work through.
What I’ve come to realize over the years, though, is all the ways that my life is still shaped by my upbringing in organized religion, and surprisingly to me, the benefits this continues to bring me. It was the first and most formative place that I learned leadership and community, and in many ways where I learned activism.
What has fueled my healing is a deeper understanding of the separation of church and spirituality. Many churches are similar to other institutions (education, the medical system, government, and more) in the United States that are plagued by centuries of white supremacy, colonization, puritanical sex-negativity, ableism, homophobia, and transphobia. Church and religious leaders and the institutions that they have built have no right to own my spirituality or my ability to seek support from higher powers (for me that includes gods, goddesses, gender-fluid spirit guides, and ancestors). In rejecting the institutions they made, I also cut myself off from beliefs, rituals, and practices that I actually want in my life as a queer person of color.
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