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"Some of Us Are Good, God-Fearing Folks": Justifying Religious Participation in an LGBT Christian Church

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

Published online on

Abstract

In this article, I examine how a group of LGBT Christians explained Christianity. Based on more than 36 months of fieldwork in a southeastern LGBT Christian church, I analyze how a group of LGBT Christians, responding to sexual and religious stigma, justified their Christian belief and practice by (1) denying abnormality, (2) appealing to emotions, and (3) claiming self-sacrifice. In conclusion, I draw out implications for understanding how members of subordinate groups justify seemingly normative behaviors, and some consequences these actions have for the reproduction of inequality.