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If you’re LGBTQ+ and religion has ever made you feel small, ashamed or invisible, this is for you. Because chances are, somewhere along the way, you were told that being who you are made you less worthy of love, faith, or belonging.
Let’s be clear: that was a lie!
You were never the problem. The problem was a system that chose to protect tradition over truth, silence over honesty, and shame over love.
Religion Has Hurt You, And You’re Not Alone
For centuries, organized religion has treated us in the LGBTQ+ community as something to be fixed, erased, or condemned.
You may have been told you were sinful. Maybe you were warned that your soul was in danger. Maybe they tried to “pray it away.” Maybe they made you feel like your very existence was incompatible with holiness.
You’re not imagining it. The pain, the fear, the guilt, it was real. And it was wrong!
Countless religious institutions have used their power to pass anti-LGBTQ+ laws, normalize rejection, and justify abuse. You’ve been told to sit quietly, stay celibate, and be grateful for half-hearted tolerance. That’s not inclusion, it’s spiritual control.
The Hypocrisy Is Loud
You’ve seen it. The same leaders who preach compassion turn around and fuel hate. They cover up scandals, protect abusers, and hoard wealth, while insisting that your love, your gender, your identity is the real problem.
They talk about “welcoming everyone”, but they mean everyone who fits their mold. They say, “Come as you are”, then demand you change everything once you walk in. You deserve better than that. A lot better.
Conversion Therapy Is Abuse, Not Faith
If you’ve been subjected to conversion therapy, you already know the damage it does. If anyone tried to convince you that your identity could be changed through prayer, counseling, or discipline, it wasn’t therapy. It was psychological harm dressed in spiritual language.
You never needed to be fixed. You needed to be loved.
The trauma, the confusion, the self-doubt you may still carry aren't your sins to carry. They belong to the people who told you that love and authenticity were wrong.
Some Communities Are Changing, But Slowly
Yes, there are inclusive churches, synagogues, mosques, and spiritual circles that affirm LGBTQ+ people exactly as we are. These spaces are real, and they matter. But they are not the norm, they are an exception.
Too many religious spaces still cling to outdated dogma and harmful theology. Too many leaders still treat LGBTQ+ inclusion as a debate. We’re not a debate. We’re human beings. And faith, if it’s real, should make us feel whole, not erased.
You Deserve to Reclaim Faith on Your Own Terms
You may have left religion. You may be trying to make peace with it. You may want nothing to do with it anymore. Wherever you are, you’re allowed to be there.
Faith doesn’t belong to the people who shamed you. The divine doesn’t ask you to be anyone but yourself. You are just as spiritual, just as sacred, and just as worthy of connection as anyone who fits into a traditional mold.
Whether you find peace in nature, meditation, community, silence, or something else entirely, you have the right to define what spirituality looks like for you. And it can be beautiful.
What Religion Organizations Needs to Do
If religious institutions want to do better, and mean it, they need to go beyond rainbow flags and token gestures. They need to:
- Acknowledge the damage done to us LGBTQ+ people, publicly and specifically
- Ban conversion therapy, in every form
- Include LGBTQ+ fully, in leadership, sacraments, and community life
- Fight for LGBTQ+ rights outside the church walls, not just inside
- Teach real inclusion, not just tolerance or quiet acceptance
Anything less is not enough!
You Are Not Broken
Maybe you’ve spent years trying to be “good enough.” Maybe you’ve prayed to be someone else. Maybe you’ve sat in silence, waiting to be accepted. What you must know is that "You were never broken".
There is nothing wrong with your love. Nothing wrong with your gender. Nothing wrong with who you are. You are not a sin, a mistake, or a problem to be solved.
The real problem is the system that taught us otherwise.
You Deserve Healing. You Deserve Peace.
Whatever your story has been with religion, messy, painful, confusing, you don’t have to carry it alone. And you don’t have to carry it forever.
You deserve spaces where you are seen and celebrated. You deserve faith that builds you up, not breaks you down. You deserve unconditional love.
To sum it up, you don’t have to ask for permission to be whole. You already are!
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