Straight Gods, White Devils: Exploring Paths to Non-Religion in the Lives of Black LGBTQ People

Abstract

To examine paths to non-religion in the lives of black LGBTQ people, I analyze 10 interviews of black LGBTQ people who were raised Christian. Utilizing an intersectional lens, I conclude that lessons of the Christian home, reinforced in religious school and at church, drew a connection between Christianity, one’s racial and ethnic identity, and heterosexuality in such a way that being LGBTQ was marked un-Christian and foreign, and sometimes associated with whiteness. This further shaped how my participants navigated the urban public sphere, one of the only spheres where they could ‘be LGBTQ’ – some neighborhoods were constructed as Christian, connected to one’s childhood and hostile to LGBTQ people, while others were LGBTQ-friendly, albeit largely white and gentrified. The overall impact of Christianity across multiple spheres influenced which non-religious paths my participants took. One remained with a Christian denomination of her childhood and one remained with a Christian denomination of her mother but not her father. The other eight left Christianity behind, with one choosing a different religion and seven becoming non-religious, holding identities from Unitarian Universalist to atheist. Overall, black LGBTQ people struggle to find acceptance of their LGBTQ identities by people closest to them and acceptance of their racial, ethnic and non-religious identities in largely white and often non-religious LGBTQ spaces. In response, they use different strategies to find community and live coherent lives, whenever possible.