Identity-affirming religious experience and political activism among LGBT people.

Contrary to stereotypes, recent research indicates that a majority of LGBT people identify as religious. As with heterosexuals, religious belief and activity conditionally act as political resources among LGBT people, augmenting political participation. In recent decades, an increasing number of religious congregations have adopted theologies that explicitly affirm their LGBT congregants' identities. In this study, I quantitatively examine affirming religious experiences, using data collected from a unique survey instrument administered to a sample of LGBT adults in the United States. Building on the resource paradigm of political participation, I hypothesize that attending an affirming religious congregation increases psychological resources such as LGBT group consciousness and internal efficacy that are easily translatable into political participation among marginalized groups. I find that about two in ten LGBT people report attending an affirming congregation and that attendance is positively associated with both psychological resources and political participation across a number of indicators, including volunteerism, financial contributions, and voting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Contemporary Religion is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)