Responding to Faith-based LGBTphobia
We should not have to justify our identities to anyone, but there will be some people who we may want to talk about our identities with, and for them to hear and try and understand our experiences.
We’ve collected responses to some of the most common challenges that people face being an LGBT+ person with a religion, faith or belief, and how you could respond if needed.
Challenge
Response
In our scripture it says that homosexuality is a sin/forbidden.
- Where exactly in the scripture does it say that?
- Do you know which interpretation of the scripture you are reading? Did the original text use these words and actually mean this?
- What about the other things that scriptures mentions are forbidden but which people ignore? Why is the focus on singling out LGBT+ identities for criticism?
God created man and woman to be together. Not man and man or woman and woman. It’s not natural.
- If everyone is created by God, then LGBT+ people were also created by God.
- My experiences, my thoughts and who I am all feels completely natural to me.
- Being LGBT+ is not hurting anyone and shouldn’t affect anyone else, so where is the harm?
“You can’t have children if you are LGBT+, it’s not natural.”
- What about people who biologically cannot have children, are they unnatural too?
- LGBT+ people can still have children and are just as worthy of being parents as non-LGBT+ parents.
That doesn’t happen in our culture.
- Just because something isn’t talked about openly in our community or culture, doesn’t mean it’s not happening.
- LGBT+ people exist in every country in the world and exploring gender and sexuality is not new.
Marriage is only between a man and a woman.
- Marriage is about two people committing to each other; in the UK and many other countries it is legal for people of the same gender to get married. Many religions offer LGBT+ blessings for couples within their services.
“Praying more and being more devoutly religious will help you to stop being LGBT+.”
- Being LGBT+ is not a choice, it is who people are. No one can make you become LGBT+ and no one and nothing can make you stop.
- Forcing people to try and change will not help. It will likely make them feel worse about themselves and negatively affect their wellbeing.
God made you a woman/man, so you can’t change that.
- God made me who I am, including my gender identity. The body God gave me isn’t the same thing as my gender.
- God made me with the intention of me having a happy and full life, which may include transition.
- We change our bodies all the time – haircuts, tattoos, medical surgeries, taking hormones. Cisgender people do all these things, so why not trans people?