presented at the

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Religion and Non-Heterosexual Identity An
evaluation of cognitive dissonance for religious
lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals.
presented at the University of California,
Irvine To Social Ecology Honors Research
Colleagues By Jeanette Veatch Wayland May 14,
2005
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Introduction
Homophobia and heterosexism are liturgical
threads intricately woven into the doctrine of
traditional world religions. Non-heterosexual
relationships for members are never condoned in
some religions, participants in lesbian, gay or
bisexual relationships are condemned.
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Why should we care?
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Impact of Religious Homophobia on Society
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Impact of Religious Heterosexism on Society

• Heterosexism is the belief that
• heterosexuality is the only
• natural, normal and acceptable
• sexual orientation.
• This is rarely asserted directly and usually
  manifests itself subtly within the institutions
  of society and the attitudes of heterosexuals.
• Examples setting aside certain societal
  benefits for heterosexuals
• (right to marry, right to worship, right to adopt
  children,
• right to file joint tax returns with partner,
  etc.)

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We have seen the effects of religious
heterosexism and homophobia on SOCIETY.
But, what effect does heterosexist and homophobic
religious liturgy have on religious lesbian, gay
and bisexual INDIVIDUALS?
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Hypotheses
H1 A majority of religious lesbian, gay and
bisexual individuals will experience cognitive
dissonance attributable to their exposure to
heterosexist religious liturgy throughout their
childhood. H2 This religious-sexual
orientation dissonance may be correlated with
mental health issues for religious lesbian, gay
and bisexual individuals.
Buddhism Christianity Hindu Islam Jud
aism
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Methodology Self Report Survey

• The survey consisted of forty-one quantitative
  questions including
• Subjects age
• Gender
• Ethnicity Childhood religion and level of
  religiosity
• Adult religion and level of religiosity
• Sexual-orientation
• Closeted status before and after sexual
  orientation awareness
• Level of education
• Current daily activities
• Mental health issues attributable to
  religion-sexual orientation dissonance
• One full page qualitative section where
  participants could write a narrative of their
  experience with religion.
• 15-20 minutes to complete both the quantitative
  and qualitative sections.
• The survey did not include questions regarding
  personal data (names, addresses, email addresses,
  phone numbers, or any identifying
  characteristics. Participation was completely
  anonymous and voluntary.
• Surveys were distributed to LGB community
  centers, churches, and LGB internet list serves.

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H1 Did the incompatibility between religion and
sexual orientation cause you emotional discomfort?
These findings lend support to H1
Extreme Emotional Discomfort
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Some Emotional Discomfort
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Missing data
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No Emotional Discomfort
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H2 Did you experience any mental health issues
as a result of this religion-sexual orientation
dissonance?
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Where do we go from here?

• Future Research
• Larger sample
• Greater heterogeneity in religion, ethnicity,
  education, gender, and region
• Update the Survey to improve its reliability and
  validity
• Personal Interviews with subject population
• Increased resources to collect and analyze data

Theological changes? Hopefully If orthodox
religion expects to remain relevant in society,
it must seek to serve all members of humanity
not just a select few. Eventually, even those
who benefit from heterosexism may tire of this
hypocrisy.
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