Victor CIOBOTARU
Abstract
In this paper I propose a qualitative exploration of the spiritual and religious identities espoused by members of the LGBT community in Romania using the lenses of queer theory. The spiritual and religious identities of LGBT people, the identities that are the subject of this study, are often denied and ignored by most Christian churches. As I will show in this research, in countries such as Romania, where religion plays an important role, often LGBT people are grown, socialized, and educated in religious families, thus leading to later difficulties in reconciling and integrating spiritual/religious identities with sexual orientation and/or gender identity. 14 members of the LGBT community in Romania, who identify themselves as spiritual and/or religious persons, with different Christian denominational backgrounds (Orthodox, Catholic, Baptist, Adventist, Pentecostal), from diverse social backgrounds, covering a range of ages between 19 and 78 years old, were in-depth interviewed to understand how they relate with religion and spirituality on two levels: the relationship with the church and their personal faith in god/divinity. The research also considers the impact of the climate created by the involvement of the churches in the campaign for the national referendum in 6-7 October 2018, which intended to narrow the definition of family in the Romanian Constitution with the purpose of excluding same-sex families from legal recognition and protection.
Keywords
■ LGBT ■ Queer theology ■ Homosexuality ■ Spirituality ■ Religion ■ Intersectionality ■Identity ■ Queer theory
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