Role of LGBTQ+ in causing people to leave their faith groups: New research

Why do people leave their religious tradition? A recent study by the Public Religion Research Institute in the U.S. has some answers.

 

The number one reason for leaving, according to the research, is because people stop believing what their faith group teaches (56%).

 

The number two reason? The negative way a group teaches about and treats LGBTQ+ people. (30%)

 

Other reasons for leaving included scandals involving religious leaders or divides caused by politics.

 

For those who left evangelicalism, the number one reason for leaving was they stopped believing what their churches taught. Negative attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people was number two, prompting 45% to leave.

 

The research did not break those findings down by age. But one area where it did include an age range was about whether LGBTQ+ people should be welcomed into church leadership.

It found that younger people (ages 18-29) are most likely to express a desire for more LGBTQ church leaders (33%), compared to 22% of churchgoers ages 30–49, 21% of churchgoers ages 50–64, and 17% of churchgoers age 65 and over. 

It also found that younger churchgoers 18–29 are more likely (30%) to say they wished their church talked more about transgender rights than those ages 30–49 (18%), 50–64 (15%), and 65 and over (14%). 

Another study, done by Brandon Flannery and reported in Baptist News Global in 2022, found similar results.

 

According to Flannery, negative attitudes towards LGBTQ+ caused almost 28% of Christians to walk away from their church. 

He acknowledged some of his respondents were queer, and not being accepted by their congregations was a critical motive for leaving. 

But there were also straight and cisgender people who responded, “and they ultimately started doubting Christianity when they were told they couldn’t support their queer friends and family. Unable to rectify their love of LGBTQ people with the church, they chose LGBTQ acceptance,” he said. 

“The first thing was noticing how what Christians preached/practiced didn’t seem to align with that I knew to be the character of God, including views on the LGBTQ community, immigration, adoption, mental health issues, ‘mission work,’ and just general treatment of others.”