opinions on LGBTQIA+ and religion?
I consider myself religious (Christian) but I'm also in the LGBTQIA+ community. almost every religious person I know tells me that the two cannot work together, even if they themselves are okay with my sexuality, and that it cannot fit in with God's plan, but I hope that's not true. I would love to have a girlfriend and if my feelings are this strong about that, it cannot possibly go against God's ways? I do realize this is a controversial topic but I hope I'll find some understanding ears here (as I know quite a few supportive people within the Christian community too)
@sullendreen
You are not alone my friend! 
There are many in the LBGTQ+ community that just so happen to be Christians as well. It all works if you want to make it work! Everyone has an opinion and you have yours. Everyone has a belief and you have yours. Your feelings, opinions and belief system is just as important as anyone elses. There are churches out there that will embrace you with loving arms and people that will embrace you with loving arms. There are churches in some larger geographical areas that are led by people that are LBGTQ+ and are specifically designed to let everyone know that all are welcome in their "house". Seems as if a cornerstone of the worlds biggest religions is "Love one another" *hugs* 
So I identify as lesbian and I'm 16 years old but didn't come out until a few months ago. I've grown up in a very religious family. My dad was a pastor and now teaches bible at a Christian school! When I came out my parents were really upset and I've been told over and over that I'm going off the deep end because there is no way I can be gay and be a Christian. I believe in the phrase to each their own. Your religion is yours and yours alone and no one else should be able to force labels or define what your beliefs are or who you are! It's been tough growing up being taught that being gay is disgusting and it's a sin and honestly it took me two years to accept myself and it is extremely hard right now because I've grown up in a Christian circle. I feel alone and unsupported most of the time but through all this I've learned not to let people define me and me and my religious beliefs are mine and mine alone and no one else's (.)
@caringRainbow3393
Well said, and good feedback for someone struggling to reconcile two very important things about themselves.
@sullendreen
Hi, thanks for sharing what it is like to be Christian and LGBTQIA. I know more people who have fallen away from religion because of their sexual preference than those who have stayed. More power to you for staying strong! I could imagine that it is hard.
You are still made by God and He is still in love with you! If you haven't already, I encourage you to be open about your feelings to Him and allow Him to guide you because afterall He is the one who made you into the wonderful person you are today! * Hugs and prayers coming your way *
@sullendreen
I understand what you're going through and I know how hard it can be. Personally, I'm a bisexual who grew up as a Catholic Christian, and I have abandoned my faith for reasons entirely unrelated to my orientation. I am deeply convinced that any religion that has love as its core value is absolutely compatible with being LGBT. Being a good Christian should be about doing good in this world by acting with love, altruism, empathy, and you can do that whatever your identity is. It implies understanding and not judging. Two people who love each other, that treat each other with respect, care and support, are not harming anyone, they are instead participating in the experience of bringing love to this world. Regardless of their gender.
So you can totally be Christian and part of the LGBT community! There are lot of people who share the same experience and they're wonderful people. Of course, there's always gonna be someone who judges you for it, but that's because they have their own interpretation of what a "good Christian" should be. Don't let them make you feel "wrong". You are perfect just the way you are!
@Aayla
Your contribution to this post was simply amazing! You see things as I do! So beautifully written and so heart felt. Sending *hugs* your way as well!
@sullendreen I'm a lay pastor in an independent church irl, and have done some chaplaincy work on the side as well.
I used to run a Christian group which attracted young LGBT+ people, so I've heard some stories, and I'd like to think I understand at least a little bit what you must going through.
I am very proud that you're not letting people discourage you and are working hard to find affirming spaces.
You are loved and cherished no matter what some people say, much strength to you!
@sullendreen I am personally not religious (I'm agnostic), but most of my family and many of my friends are Christian and I have had uncomfortable conversations with them about my sexuality. I think the most important thing to remember here is that so much is lost in translation. The Bible was originally written in Hebrew so it can be assumed that many of the events, lessons, and themes are not accurately conveyed in English. For example, the major example that Christians cite when they argue against homosexuality is the passage saying "man must not lie with man" (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13). However, in Hebrew, this was interpreted as "man must not lie with boy", therefore denouncing pedophilia and sexual violence. I know it's so hard to get people to accept you by just spitting facts at them but remember that religion is supposed to give a person acceptance, love, and community (I really respect this part of religion and it's part of the reason I'm agnostic and not atheist). If these people are trying to tell you that your identity itself is not valid, they are the ones who need to look at themselves in the mirror and maybe read the Bible again.
Heres the link to one of the websites I used: https://www.hrc.org/resources/what-does-the-bible-say-about-homosexuality
@TheDwarfPlanet
Oh my gosh Planet! I love your contributions to this post! As for me, this post truly has been on my mind as of late. You really have brought up some things that I consider as well. The Bible and our interpretation of it all as well as translation. The difference between religion and spirituality. The Bible, simply being a "story" that sure, may have been sent by God and for man to write down for all to hear, but also the mind of God being different than the mind of men. I wonder if it was sent to man in a way that he could simply understand at that point in time. Kind of like a guide book for better living? Just an allegory.
I have read the Bible 2 times over. Yup! And so I end up feeling that the mind of God is too difficult for the mind of man to understand and so maybe He knows this. Even at the beginning, Adam and Eve, there was Cain and Able. And so Cain is banished and is sent to another land and chooses a wife. Where did that wife come from if those were the only first inhabitants of the earth?
The old testament versus the new testament. Gee, I guess even God reserves the right to change his mind once in awhile?Maybe things do change with the times? Perhaps should He give us an update now? Bible, 2.0?
I consider myself to be someone that is deeply spiritual and not so much religious. There is a difference and big ones! Religions are man made and some of them have been for interesting reasons if we research. No worries, the majority of the worlds largest religions simply boil down to one tenant "love one another". I am so down with that it is not funny! Religion tells me I have to sit in a church pew every Sunday to worship Him and to be a "good" person. My spirituality tells me something vastly different. I have been a part of religion, and I have seen the ugly side of it. I don't see how people could have stood up in my church and said words of hatred towards anyone. Thats not what my God tells me to do. I choose to reject what comes out of the mouths of some men/women. The fighting, talking negatively of one another in a church community, breaking apart and making new churches based on who you don't like that is hired to clean the bathrooms.
I can still be spiritual. I can still pray. I can still believe in a higher power. And maybe we all are truly more alike than we are different, but every ones written word, and translations, messages, from a higher power, well, who knows. Maybe we really are still worshiping the same One but religion steps in. I think faith is good and even if someone is agnostic, well, it's still a faith! I can understand what science tells us and even listened to the words of probably one of the greatest scientists that we have ever seen that tells me there is no God. But I still listened! I can still have deep respect for him and I love him too!
In short, God don't make no junk. He made us all in his image if that is what I choose to believe. I believe in a loving God that loves us all. If He made us, then I guess He loves us, every single last one of us. And maybe it's humans that have lost their way and refuse to love. I just so happen to think that God has a great sense of humor too because if He didn't, He would not have made me. Just part of my spirituality I guess. I think God laughs too. I like to think that God looks down on me and says "good one Gizzy, that was really funny and high fives".
What ever you are, just be a good one! *high fives and big hugs* all of you humans!
@SparkyGizmo
First of all, I just want to say that I admire your eloquence, humor, and honesty.
Religion is fascinating to me but I’ve never considered there to be any difference between spirituality and religion. Your explanation of your religion and spirituality is causing me to question my own definitions. When people ask me why I’m agnostic, I tell them it is because I need there to be a reason, a higher power, or something that gives my life value and gives me a reason to be a good person. Otherwise, murderers would end up in the same place as the Pope: dead. Another reason for my being agnostic is like you said: we humans are probably not able to truly understand the existence of a higher power. Now I’m wondering if this is somehow a version of my own spirituality? That I have decided to believe in a higher power but reject many religious texts?
I wrote a paper last year (my sophomore year of high school) about Christianity and its effect on the American political system. I was naive and unaware of the expansiveness of Christianity (who knew that there are so many denominations?) so I didn’t fully understand the concepts that I wrote about and still don’t (how I did well in that class...I don’t know). However, I did get out of it that religion gives people purpose and it gives people an explanation.
I want to connect that back to your point about the difference between religion and spirituality by outlining my own interpretations. Values such as kindness and compassion seem to be at the core of spirituality but humans manipulate those values to provide an explanation for their actions, resulting in religion. This changes a person’s perceived purpose for their life which leads them to act differently and then further manipulate spiritual values to justify their actions. With this vicious cycle, we stray further from spiritually and further into the depths of religion.
@TheDwarfPlanet
Oh you wonderful Planet! 
I so enjoyed reading your post! Those were powerful words and almost moved me to tears! Just wow! So well said and really gave me some things to think about as well! You my friend are brilliant and an incredibly deep thinker. This will serve you well in life my friend. To think on your own, make up your own mind, learn about who you are, what it means to be you, and come to realizations for yourself is a beautiful thing. It's good to just see it as a journey and to be inquisitive just as you have and I hope you continue to do so!
I took the full tour so to speak. I even took a college course on religion long ago, read about so very many of them. There is beauty in that and beauty in all of the religions. I wonder if that is what helped even to bring me to where I am now. I wanted to do my best to understand, leave no stone unturned. But even still, I'm always learning and always seeking. Here is where I sit, being spiritual but not yet so very religious. So many wonderful things to admire in the religions of others. But again, I still simply come back to "love one another". And so with that, I respect others and respect anyones belief system. What matters to me is are you a good person?
Hand in hand and heart to heart we are all sitting under the same moon and all sitting under the same sun. No one deposited the "truth scrolls" with me, so who am I to judge? Never say never is something I think. And so I still bow my head in prayer, I thank Him, I worship Him in my own way. And I practice my gratitude moments and try to be thankful for what I have and try not to worry about what it is that I don't.
I sit under the same stars you do and science tells me that our bodies are made up mostly of what stars are made up of. Maybe we are all just wonderful stars and glowing in our own ways.
As an aside, I really do love your screen name. If I remember correctly it was Dr. Brown who determined that that planet must be determined as a dwarf planet based on certain things. You know, I heard that poor guy got so much hate mail because of that. But guess what.............I know that planet is still there...............and so do you! I believe, I know what it is, I know it's there. Wondering if you caught that one.......and read between the lines? big *hugs* Stay great my friend!
I'm so, so glad you made this post; it's a heavy topic, but those are sometimes the ones that needed to be discussed the most. What you're going through can be really hard to weather, but you're far from alone.
As someone who doesn't identify as the gender I was assigned at birth and who is bisexual, religion has proved to be a little tricky. That said, I've managed to find faith in divinity and have been met with a good deal of acceptance from all sorts of religious people. If you can't find the support you deserve at home, there are a plethora of LGBTQ+ Christian communities that wholly believe that gender and sexuality have no effect on how God views you. There will always be detractors, but good people are out there too and they'll accept and love you no matter what.
My personal opinion is that, since we're just people, it's impossible to fully comprehend the opinions of a divine entity, but Christianity is built on tolerance, acceptance, and love. People, being imperfect, have projected their own views and opinions onto God. It's important to keep in mind that a person's opinions (even the one I'm typing out right now) will always say more about them than it does about you. If you love God and want to worship Him, do it. No one can judge you but Him, and He'll see the good in your heart even if no one else does. I don't use 'Christian' as a label for myself anymore, I've followed a different path, but divine love seems to be pretty unconditional in most (if not all) of the religions I've researched. As long as you focus on doing no harm to others (or yourself!), I think you're in the clear.
I hope this helps and, more importantly, I hope you find happiness and acceptance as often as you possibly can. You deserve love, and I bet the divine is with me on that one.
@frankyou
woooooooooooo hooooooooooooo Frankie! *high fives and hugs*
I feel that people have so many opinions on that matter but to me it's between you and God..other people's opinions don't matter. I'm BI and I feel close to God. I think so many Christians get it all wrong.. Jesus was like a cool dude imo that treated everyone the same ..Christians forget he was like an immigrant, homeless guy with brown skin...no the white Jesus in all the pics