Religion
In reply to the discussion: 7 Reasons Why LGBTQ+ People Don't Want to Go to Your LGBTQ+ Inclusive Church [View all]blur256
(979 posts)Hopefully getting ordained soon. She has lived in New England for about 8 or 9 years now and I have lived here almost 3. Anyway, her first church she was at said they were ona but when we got married they were shocked. To be fair, she was married to a man prior to our relationship and we started dating while they were still married (with his consent).
They threw a huge fit when another member who had a lesbian mother bought a gay flag to put outside the church. There were several meetings where people said they were supportive of lgbtq causes but didn't feel like the church needed to advertise it. Although I never joined that church, I attended one of those meetings and stated that I had not been to church in years prior to this because I did not feel like I belonged there, but the flag made me feel welcome.
When I first started talking to my wife again (we went to college together) I told her I was willing to try church out. We were living on opposite sides of the country at that point but I told her I would go that Sunday. The first church I found was UNC and they had a rainbow flag outside. Many of the members of that church were lgbtq. It was the first time in a long time that I felt welcomed at church.
Long story short I moved to the east coast to marry my wife. She is now working at another ona church. Although we are only one of maybe three lgbtq couples there we feel so welcome. A lot of church members wear rainbow flag lapel pins every Sunday to let guests know they support our cause.
I get it. I get how exclusive religion can be but it doesn't have to be that way. For my wife's second masters she went to a school where at least 25% of the population was lgbtq. I am hoping that the more the community gets involved that we will see a trend toward inclusion. I get why people don't come. But there are people trying to make it better.