Religion, Family, and Ritual: The Production of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Outsiders-within

Abstract

This article analyzes the experiences of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people who attended family weddings in order to understand how outsiderwithin status can be produced during religious ritual. Though all participants constructed themselves as outsiders relative to religion during weddings, only those from religiously conservative families linked their position to family dynamics. Results challenge the idea that rituals necessarily produce a sense of belonging, bring empirical attention to religion as an ongoing family issue for GLBT people, and suggest that religious diversity and liberalism can promote family cohesion.