Nothing neutral about belonging: The language and imagery that help and hinder Swiss LGBTQ+ Christians' feelings of acceptance within churches
Details

UNIL restricted access
State: Public
Version: Final published version
License: Not specified
Serval ID
serval:BIB_1C30879A0AAC
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Nothing neutral about belonging: The language and imagery that help and hinder Swiss LGBTQ+ Christians' feelings of acceptance within churches
Journal
Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy
ISSN
1529-7489
1530-2415
1530-2415
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2025
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
25
Number
1
Pages
e70005
Language
english
Abstract
While much research on churches and the LGBTQ+ communities has been done in North America, little research has focused on this topic in Europe. Since 71% of European LGBTQ+ respondents agreed that better acceptance by religious leaders would allow them to live more comfortably as LGBTQ+ people, we investigated the types of messages and imagery that help and hinder Swiss LGBTQ+ Christians’ feelings of acceptance within churches. We also investigated the impact this content had on the feelings of acceptance of Swiss straight Christians. We found that when LGBTQ+ Christians were presented with affirming church messages and imagery, they felt significantly more accepted. Conversely, LGBTQ+ Christians who were presented with non-affirming church messages and imagery felt significantly less accepted. Straight Christians did not evidence significantly more or less feelings of acceptance in either condition, demonstrating affirming church messages and imagery serve as identity safety cues that help LGBTQ+ Christians the most without excluding straight Christians. In a context like Switzerland, where certain churches can be public institutions, institutional churches should consider the impact their messages and imagery have on LGBTQ+ Christians, and the broader LGBTQ+ communities, to cultivate a space of belonging for all.
Keywords
belonging, Christianity, experiment, identity safety cues, LGBTQ+, social psychology, Switzerland
Create date
08/04/2025 15:33
Last modification date
09/04/2025 7:08