Queer and Christian: How LGBTQ+ University Students Build Affirming Religious Spaces

How do queer Christian students navigate religious spaces? This project examines this question by focusing on an ecumenical campus ministry’s ‘Queer Bible Study’ (QBS) meetings at a medium-sized university in Florida. The study explores how students reconcile their queer and Christian identities within a religious context. Using ethnographic observation and linguistic analysis, this research highlights how these students create inclusive and affirming spaces where both aspects of their identities can be explored and expressed. Three methods of space formation were identified: physical, cultural, and linguistic. The students used these methods to create a space where they actively renegotiated their identities, challenging the societally perceived incompatibility of their sexualities and faith. This project is significant as it contributes to growing discussions of intersectionality and has implications for educational environments, as a university is a place where many students undergo journeys of self-discovery. By examining how the duality of the students’ queer and Christian identities is reconciled, this research is part of a larger anthropological conversation about culture influences on space formation.