The Pew Research Center’s report on religion in America shows some interesting findings regarding the LGB community, according to Advocate.com:
More LGB Americans consider themselves Christian than ever before. In a new Pew Research Center report, 48 percent of LGB Americans identify as Christian, up from 42 percent in 2013. The statistic contrasts the study’s finding of overall decline of Christianity, from 78.4 percent of Americans identifying as Christian, down to 70.6 percent.
In commentary by Candace Chellew-Hodge, USC Annenberg’s Religion Dispatches takes a look at the half that’s rejecting religion:
As for the LGBT community, Pew researchers found that at least 41% could give a rip if the evangelical church welcomes them in their pews, because they’ve given up on religion anyway—at least that type of religion…
The reason so many LGBT people have fled the church tracks closely with why millennials in general have abandoned sanctuaries across the country—a perception that churches are filled with judgmental and hypocritical people.
A survey last year by Pew found that 73% of LGBT people perceived evangelical churches to be unfriendly and 79% said they felt unwelcome in Catholic churches. As for non-evangelical mainstream churches, the survey found that only 10% of LGBT folk viewed such churches as friendly while 44% perceived them as unfriendly.
One-third of religious LGBT people, however, say “there was a conflict between their religious beliefs and their sexual orientation or gender identity,” and many are opting for evangelical churches that maintain a more conservative approach to liturgy while being inclusive.
Read yesterday’s Episcopal Cafe report on the Pew Research Center study here.
Posted by Cara Ellen Modisett