Individual choices revisited: Non-heterosexual Christians in Poland

Abstract

Drawing on qualitative research among highly educated Polish lesbian, gay and bisexual Christians who do not wish to deny their sexual inclinations, seeking instead to integrate their sexuality and religiosity, the author addresses (1) their decision whether to continue to follow Roman Catholicism or seek religious traditions that support such integration, and (2) the choices related to participation in Penance and Eucharist sacraments by those who continue to follow Roman Catholicism. These decisions and choices are structurally conditioned: Christian seekers raised in multidenominational settings and people who are geographically and socially mobile are most ready to challenge the dominant Catholic views on homosexuality and its proscription of the participation of those who are homosexually active in certain aspects of religious practice. The author calls for recognition that, following Bourdieu, the religious field should be interconnected with other social fields, specifically with regard to the analysis of the relationship between religiosity and homosexuality.