Thank you for following this blog in the past months, it has been a joy to write and to explore more into the world of Christians and lesbians.
I feel i have learnt something about the struggles people go through, not only as lesbians, but as Christians as well to accept one another and also to accept themselves as they are.
Within this blog, i have encountered many peoples opinions that i may not have done otherwise. As i explored reasons why Christians may not always of focused on lesbians to why some are focusing far too much hatred towards them today. It has been interesting to see the world from others perspectives and understand a little more about us.
I hope i have managed to answer some of your questions and maybe encourage you to ask a few more as well.
Again, Thank you for reading.
Lauren-Mary.
Monday 3 December 2012
Wednesday 28 November 2012
Lesbians in the Church
As the penultimate post to my blog, i felt it would be a nice idea to end with a discussion of lesbians within the church.
There are many different forms of Christianity, but i have chosen to focus on the main branches, Catholic, Anglican and Protestant.
Recently, there has been a a calling for women to be ordained as priests in the Catholic Church. So the issue of lesbian women within the Catholic church may arise sooner than expected.
Above is a photo of Assistant Bishop of Los Angeles Mary Glasspool. The first openly lesbian female bishop in America and in fact in the entire Anglican church. You can read more about her ordination here.
There are many different forms of Christianity, but i have chosen to focus on the main branches, Catholic, Anglican and Protestant.
Catholic Church
Traditionally, the catholic church does not allow women to serve as priests. Women in the Catholic church may serve as nuns. There are very no reports available of lesbian nuns, perhaps because nuns ma keep their sexuality quiet in order to continue as a nun.Recently, there has been a a calling for women to be ordained as priests in the Catholic Church. So the issue of lesbian women within the Catholic church may arise sooner than expected.
Anglican Churches
Women can be ordained in the Anglican Churches and many are. There is also no issues surrounding openly lesbian Anglican priests. Women being ordained in the Anglican churches has lead to the recent issue of women Bishops, which was recently rejected in the UK. recently rejected. This article also explains how in 1992, women were allowed to be ordained in the Anglican Churches. However, this is just in England, and in America, the first Anglican Lesbian female bishop was recently appointed.
Above is a photo of Assistant Bishop of Los Angeles Mary Glasspool. The first openly lesbian female bishop in America and in fact in the entire Anglican church. You can read more about her ordination here.
Protestant Church
The protest church has had many women priests and bishops for a number of years. Protestant churches have been the most open about LGBT priests out of all of Christianity. Recently the Presbyterian church voted to allow LGBT clergy, the last of the Protestant churches to do so.Monday 19 November 2012
It Gets Better
I decided to dedicate an entire post to the It Gets Better project. For those of you that don't know, the It Gets Better project was created in 2010 to inspire hope for young LGBT people that life does get better, and they are not alone. The project does this by allowing older members of the LGBT community to share their stories of how life got better for them.
The project has an entire section dedicated to religion, and has people of all religious talking about acceptance that they can offer LGBT youths. As this blog focuses on lesbians and Christianity, below i have gathered the videos that deal with these issues.
Speaking from experience, Sarah discusses her journey as a lesbian and Christian towards and her gradual acceptance of the two. Her speech is motivational and encouraging to lesbians who are struggling with their faith and sexuality.
This It Gets Better video shows a variety of LGBT people who are all part of the same ministry in Minnesota. They offer advice to those who are struggling with the balance between sexuality and faith. Members reinstate the teaching that God made each person whole and perfect before they were even born, and that sexuality is part of this. The message from this video is that you can be LGBT and Christian, and that God will never reject a person.
The It Gets Better project has inspired many not to take their own lives as well as to embrace their sexuality. The small part that deals with faith has helped many people who feel they are torn between sexuality and religion to find a place they feel they belong.
The project has an entire section dedicated to religion, and has people of all religious talking about acceptance that they can offer LGBT youths. As this blog focuses on lesbians and Christianity, below i have gathered the videos that deal with these issues.
Speaking from experience, Sarah discusses her journey as a lesbian and Christian towards and her gradual acceptance of the two. Her speech is motivational and encouraging to lesbians who are struggling with their faith and sexuality.
This It Gets Better video shows a variety of LGBT people who are all part of the same ministry in Minnesota. They offer advice to those who are struggling with the balance between sexuality and faith. Members reinstate the teaching that God made each person whole and perfect before they were even born, and that sexuality is part of this. The message from this video is that you can be LGBT and Christian, and that God will never reject a person.
The It Gets Better project has inspired many not to take their own lives as well as to embrace their sexuality. The small part that deals with faith has helped many people who feel they are torn between sexuality and religion to find a place they feel they belong.
Monday 12 November 2012
Lesbian responses to Christianity: Positive
There are many beautiful stories of how, despite all the negativity coming from both Christians and lesbians, many lesbians have managed to hang onto, or even find, faith in Christianity, while remaining lesbian.
There are now many lesbians and Christians that are open about both their sexuality and their faith in everyday life, and many more who hold no hostility towards each other in the slightest.
Writing for the popular LGBTQ website, sisterfriends, the article Unapologetically Christian, Unapologetically Lesbian, discusses what it means to be both a lesbian and Christian. The author states that, 'I love being a Christian and i love being a lesbian because for me it's about living a life of wholeness and gratitude for all that God has done through Christ and for all that God is doing in me'. The article strongly presses the need to be true to oneself as a Christian and in ones sexuality, and is an excellent example of how one can be a Christian and a lesbian at the same time, without contradiciton.
It doesn't take long to see the abundance of websites dedicated to lesbian Christians, for example:
There are now many lesbians and Christians that are open about both their sexuality and their faith in everyday life, and many more who hold no hostility towards each other in the slightest.
Writing for the popular LGBTQ website, sisterfriends, the article Unapologetically Christian, Unapologetically Lesbian, discusses what it means to be both a lesbian and Christian. The author states that, 'I love being a Christian and i love being a lesbian because for me it's about living a life of wholeness and gratitude for all that God has done through Christ and for all that God is doing in me'. The article strongly presses the need to be true to oneself as a Christian and in ones sexuality, and is an excellent example of how one can be a Christian and a lesbian at the same time, without contradiciton.
It doesn't take long to see the abundance of websites dedicated to lesbian Christians, for example:
- www.lgcm.org.uk
- www.lesbepure.com
- www.sisterfriends-together.org
- www.christiangays.com
- www.eflgc.org.uk
- www.christianlesbiandating.com
- www.pinkcupid.com/christian-lesbian-dating/uk/singles.htm
- www.rainbowchristians.com
Saturday 3 November 2012
Lesbian reponses to Christianity: Negative
There are a small amount of lesbians in the world who are anti-christian. In a recent survey, it was found that lesbians were one of the groups that had a predominantly negative image of Christians, with 30% of lesbians interviewed stating that they had a unfavourable impression of Christians. To put this into context, 11 groups were asked to provide their impressions of Christians, for example, republicans had a 22% negative rating of Christians.
Despite this, i struggled to find much evidence of many lesbians or lesbian groups who are against Christianity purely for reasons relating to being a lesbian. The majority appeared to be anti-organised religion and just happened to fall under the LGBT umbrella as well.
To me, this is a happy discovery. As a minority, the majority of lesbians sympathise with Christians who are also becoming a minority, and many others do not associate the two things together at all.
With a lack of information available on the Internet, i turned to my friends to ask their opinions, as lesbians on Christianity. Emma* said 'As a lesbian, i have no problems with Christianity. I do have problems with people discriminating against others, Christian or not'. Emma's words echo those of many other lesbians, that there is no real issue with Christianity, as long as there is no discrimination or lesbophobia.
*Names changed
Despite this, i struggled to find much evidence of many lesbians or lesbian groups who are against Christianity purely for reasons relating to being a lesbian. The majority appeared to be anti-organised religion and just happened to fall under the LGBT umbrella as well.
To me, this is a happy discovery. As a minority, the majority of lesbians sympathise with Christians who are also becoming a minority, and many others do not associate the two things together at all.
With a lack of information available on the Internet, i turned to my friends to ask their opinions, as lesbians on Christianity. Emma* said 'As a lesbian, i have no problems with Christianity. I do have problems with people discriminating against others, Christian or not'. Emma's words echo those of many other lesbians, that there is no real issue with Christianity, as long as there is no discrimination or lesbophobia.
*Names changed
Monday 29 October 2012
Christian responses to Lesbians: Positive
After the upsetting negativity filled previous post, this post focuses on the positive reactions Christians have to lesbians...
There are many websites set up that promote acceptance of lesbians within Christianity. The majority focus on Jesus' teachings about loving your neighbour. I spoke to a few of my friends who are Christan's, because although the Churches teachings on acceptance are widely documented, it is a different matter if they are put into practise.
My friend Oliver*had this to say on the topic, 'As a Christian, i believe that God created each of us as the way we are. Things like sexuality do not matter to God, in the same way things like race do not matter'. Oliver's simple words reflect the way many Christians feel about sexuality, that it is not important to God as long as you are a good person and follow the key teachings of the Christian faith. Another friend of mine, Chloe*, said that 'I understand why some Christians may get upset about lesbians, but at the end of the day, we are all equal in the eyes of God, and why would God create people to be gay if he wasn't cool with it?'. Chloe's words also echo Olivers, spreading the Christian message of equality and love and a faith that God is at the centre of human life and its creation.
*names changed
The number of Christian/Lesbian websites that have arisen in recent years also reflects the positivity in Christianity towards lesbians. Click the link below to visit lesbepure, one of the biggest Christian-Lesbian websites,
Lesbepure contains many articles and links relating to the Christian faith for those who identify as lesbian, and also provides a helpful list of other websites along similar theme. A few clicks away from this is also Christian LGBT dating websites and many blogs that also encourage acceptance within the Christian faith.
There are many websites set up that promote acceptance of lesbians within Christianity. The majority focus on Jesus' teachings about loving your neighbour. I spoke to a few of my friends who are Christan's, because although the Churches teachings on acceptance are widely documented, it is a different matter if they are put into practise.
My friend Oliver*had this to say on the topic, 'As a Christian, i believe that God created each of us as the way we are. Things like sexuality do not matter to God, in the same way things like race do not matter'. Oliver's simple words reflect the way many Christians feel about sexuality, that it is not important to God as long as you are a good person and follow the key teachings of the Christian faith. Another friend of mine, Chloe*, said that 'I understand why some Christians may get upset about lesbians, but at the end of the day, we are all equal in the eyes of God, and why would God create people to be gay if he wasn't cool with it?'. Chloe's words also echo Olivers, spreading the Christian message of equality and love and a faith that God is at the centre of human life and its creation.
*names changed
The number of Christian/Lesbian websites that have arisen in recent years also reflects the positivity in Christianity towards lesbians. Click the link below to visit lesbepure, one of the biggest Christian-Lesbian websites,
Monday 22 October 2012
Christian responses to Lesbians : Negative
It is going to be hard not to generalise on this topic. All Christians are entitled to their own opinions and by no means am i speaking on behalf of all Christians.
There appears to be simply two main Christian responses to lesbianism. Those that tolerate it, and those that do not.
We have all seen and heard of the members of Churches wielding 'God hates fags' signs and spreading their homophobic message throughout the world, especially in southern America and Africa.
There is a lot of really hurtful and disgusting 'information' available on the Internet from the point of view of homophobic Christians, it is incredibly offencive towards the LGBT community and Christians alike.
As you can imagine, the amount of hatred towards lesbians and the LGBT community is rife within the smaller churches, with the Internet being a hotbed for opinions to be easily expressed under the guise of anonymity.
There are far too many homophobic Christian websites to go into in detail, however, a religious tolerance website has complied a brief list of the main websites, including a summary of their content, in case you cannot stomach actually visiting any of the websites yourself.
After trudging through endless websites, i reached the conclusion that the majority of the homophobic Christian websites, much like their real life protesters, fail to provide a convincing argument. They choose to focus on anger and shocking statements, such as 'homosexuals account for half the murders in large cities'. Underneath the anger and brash vile statements, there are very few facts or genuine reasons as to why homophobia could be acceptable within the Christian church. Many of the perpetrators of the homophobia appear to have outrageous 'solutions' to the 'problem', including great ideas such as arresting all members of the LGBT community.
There appears to be simply two main Christian responses to lesbianism. Those that tolerate it, and those that do not.
Christian Homophobia
I'll start with the negative...We have all seen and heard of the members of Churches wielding 'God hates fags' signs and spreading their homophobic message throughout the world, especially in southern America and Africa.
There is a lot of really hurtful and disgusting 'information' available on the Internet from the point of view of homophobic Christians, it is incredibly offencive towards the LGBT community and Christians alike.
As you can imagine, the amount of hatred towards lesbians and the LGBT community is rife within the smaller churches, with the Internet being a hotbed for opinions to be easily expressed under the guise of anonymity.
There are far too many homophobic Christian websites to go into in detail, however, a religious tolerance website has complied a brief list of the main websites, including a summary of their content, in case you cannot stomach actually visiting any of the websites yourself.
After trudging through endless websites, i reached the conclusion that the majority of the homophobic Christian websites, much like their real life protesters, fail to provide a convincing argument. They choose to focus on anger and shocking statements, such as 'homosexuals account for half the murders in large cities'. Underneath the anger and brash vile statements, there are very few facts or genuine reasons as to why homophobia could be acceptable within the Christian church. Many of the perpetrators of the homophobia appear to have outrageous 'solutions' to the 'problem', including great ideas such as arresting all members of the LGBT community.
The hatred towards the LGBT community spreads further than the Internet, and documentary maker Louis Theroux visited the Westboro Baptist church to discover their homophobia...
This is an extreme case of homophobia, and although not specifically directed at lesbians, it still shows the lengths some Christians are willing to go to to express their homophobic attitudes.
The lesbophobia within Christianity appears to becoming more prominent, either with those who are shocked at the actions of a few, or the few who are more determined to make their voices more heard. The question this raises is, will there ever be an end to the hatred and fear that some Christians hold onto towards lesbians and the rest of the LGBT community?
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