Reflection 3: My religion says I can’t be gay.
I wanted to complete this reflection by looking at Colombia, a Spanish-speaking country in South America. I lived there for a year and had many close friends that self-identified as being apart of the LGBTQIA+ community; however, we never really talked about their thoughts about acceptance or preference for one language over another because of their identity. So, last week, I reached out to all my Colombia friends LGBTQ or not, asking them to tell me a little bit about the general views on LGBTQIA+ individuals in Colombia.
Surprisingly enough, it was difficult to get any of them to answer my questions in a direct way. Many commented with something along the lines of “Pues, es una situación muy complicada. Alguien puede ser gay pero no Católico” [Well, it’s a very complex situation. Someone can be gay but not Catholic]. I took that to mean that because Catholicism refuses to believe in or accept LGBTQIA+ identities, many struggle with coming out or the idea of expressing their true self.
I remember when I was teaching at a private Catholic school and one of the teachers and I clicked immediately. One day, we were out on the town, and he confessed to me that he was gay, but that I could NEVER tell anyone because he would be fired from the school if they found out. I asked him why he decided to confide in me and his response suggested that it was because I was from the United States where gayness is accepted. I found this incredibly interesting especially because the US is far from being LGBTQIA+ inclusive. But I also thought about how crazy it was that he couldn’t tell any of his closest friends because he would be fired from his job.
I have been thinking a lot about my materials development on LGBTQIA+ identities and if I taught that lesson at my Catholic school in Colombia. I honestly don’t know what would happen. Maybe some students and teachers would be outraged, maybe the Father would fire me. But maybe some students would appreciate the lesson. Maybe some would learn from it. Maybe they would begin to look at LGBTQIA+ people from a different and more inclusive perspective.
I’ll end my reflection with a question for anyone who reads this. Do you think religion, in this context Catholisim, has impeded progress toward a more inclusive society?
Hi Kalina,
Well, I can’t speak for Catholicism but can say a few words about Islam. It’s actually very similar. I don’t know if anywhere in Kuran that says being queer [in the broadest sense] is a sin or not. But it’s the common belief in public in Turkey – and Jacob maybe can concur this based on his experience in different parts of the Muslim world- that it’s a sin. Well first it’s a biological disorder then it’s a sin. Here’s what wikipedia says about Islam and LGBTQ: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_in_Islam
All my gay friends are actually not very religious. But I think it is an interesting intersection to be both religious and gay. Here’s what Human Rights Campaign (HRC) presents in relation to different religions/churches and LGBTQ issues.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the intersection between Islam and LGBTQIA communities. I don’t necessarily think that any religion is at fault for discriminating the LGBTQ community. Rather I think its people in positions of power’s interpretation of the holy word disguised as truth that has perpetuated the idea that being queer is being less than human. I posted a video on this website a while back where people were asked to guess each other’s sexual preferences. One woman identified as a Muslim lover of all people and interpreted the Quran to be accepting of all types of sexuality.
Thanks for sharing, Kalina! We had such similar experiences in Latin America – it never ceases to amaze me! This is exactly how my teacher friend Guilherme felt about his job.
That’s a great question you asked at the end. It’s a difficult question but definitely important. I think that the institution of religion in some ways does impede progress – or at least the way that some people interpret religion. Many people use religious texts to justify sexism/homophobia/other -isms, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that religion itself is the culprite. I wonder if some people who interpret religion in this way would have hate in their hearts even without an institution like religion telling them to act a certain way. for example, people often use the narrative that the bible says that a marriage is “between man and women” – but not all priests are running around pushing this narrative on people and lots of priests identify as LGBTQiA. But then again, if religion shapes entire cultural values – such as . BRazil, Spain, or COsta Rica (the countries I’ve had experience with this in) and culture shapes the way people think – I wonder if religion was removed frmo the equation, how much these biases would manifest themselves in human behavior. Great question!