Polling Which Religion Likes LGBTQIA+ the Most! (And it isn't White Mainline Protestants.)

This is an interesting poll: which religion likes LGBTQIA+ people/community the most?

And the answer is those who identify with pagans.

Kathleen Marchetti, an associate professor of political science at Dickinson College, reported that likely 93% of American pagans agree with policies supporting LGBTQIA+ rights, which is a larger share the 69% of non-pagans who do. Reporter Heather Green of religionnews.com wrote on July 12, 2021: "According to a March 2021 PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute) report, the pagan community collectively shows the highest support for LGBTQ individuals of any religious group. The next closest are white mainline Protestant and (religiously unaffiliated) at 82%, followed by Hispanic Catholics at 81%, according to PRRI. Marchetti went so far to say that support for LGBTQIA+ rights was connected to 'Pagan religious identity.'"

And the lowest acceptance or agreement with policies supporting LGBTQIA+ rights were white evangelical Protestants and Hispanic Protestants, followed by Black Protestants. 

David Salisbury, a pagan author and LGBTQIA+ advocate wrote: "Pagans have always been seen as outliers and oddballs' which accounts for the level of 'empathy expressed,' he said. 'In the 1990s, it was adults reading these spaces and beginning the narratives on these topics. They invited young people to participate,' Salisbury explains. 'The pendulum has swung in the opposite direction. Today, the youth are taking charge, especially in online spaces."

Furthermore, while LGBTQIA+ pagans feel comfortable inside the community of pagans, they often feel threatened outside it. 

And yet, the pagan community is still a "reflection fo society as a whole." While rare, problems do arise within some circles and at community events that can leave queer pagans, particularly those in the trans community, feeling isolated, disconnected and even unwelcome," said pagan Raven Wolf. Some POC (People of Color) who are queer and part of the pagan community have also found it hard to relate to some in the pagan community.

Nevertheless, it is interesting to see where the trend lines are going in terms of support of the LGBTQIA+ community among religious groups, especially as an out gay Presbyterian clergy person, part of the "white mainline Protestant" group. 

And we long for the day when there is 100% support of the LGBTQIA+ community and our rights in all of the religious groups in the US, and abroad. 

For a link to more about this polling, go to: 

https://religionnews.com/2021/07/12/pagans-traditional-gods-and-goddesses-aside-are-the-most-lgbtq-affirming-faith-in-us/

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