Spirituality and Sexual Orientation: Raising Awareness Around Inclusion

Recently, I attended a conference called "Expanding the Circle: Creating an Inclusive Environment in Higher Education for LGBTQ Students and Studies". Cosponsored by various organizations including The Association for Colleges and Universities Religious Affairs (ACURA), Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU), Campus Climate Index, Global Fund for Women, among others, the conference debuted in its first year to, as the title suggests, creating a welcoming, inclusive space for LGBTQ students on campuses.

My interest specifically lies within the intersection of spirituality and sexuality in students' lives and the often divisive nature that LGBTQ students who are religious or spiritual face within the LGBTQ community. To some, the attitude from nonreligious LGBTQ individuals is "why would you practice a faith that has discriminated, ostracized, and punished GLBTQ people because of their sexuality?" To those who are devoted to a spiritual/religious practice, the response may be that they have found their niche within their particular religious denomination which happens to be progressive, welcoming, and accepting of all. In most cases, it can be difficult enough for students to recognize and accept their sexual identities. At the same time, remaining true to their particular faith traditions can alienate them from the very community they rely on for social and emotional support.

In my work within the Center for Ethics and Religious Affairs, I have seen religious/spiritual organizations approach the issue of sexual orientation from a variety of levels of acceptance or prejudice for LGBTQ individuals. There is no easy answer to this age-old dilemma. The conference exposed the challenges we, as staff and faculty, encounter in supporting and welcoming these students wholeheartedly. Scotty McLennan, Dean for Religious Life at Stanford University, pointed out that we need to be careful about our own misguided liberal assumptions that LGBTQ students will want to be or should be liberal or have liberal views. There are LGBTQ students who practice within a very conservative, orthodox tradition and would not have it any other way. Their faith represents the foundation of who they are and emphasizes the importance of family and community---the very thing they risk losing if they come out. It's the "Gay or God" debacle where there exists antireligious sentiment in the LGBTQ community and antigay sentiment in many religious communities.

The spiritual development of our students is as critical as any other developmental milestone. Within our multi-faith facility, CERA provides an important outlet for spiritual wellness and offering students access to discovering multiple levels of identity. For spiritual/religious LGBTQ students, both identities are part of their story. If they dismiss either one, how do they deal with questions of life and death, ethics, morality, sex, daily behaviors? Wrestling with multiple identities can be challenging, but it is not impossible. Encouraging our students to find the similarities across communities whether they be religious, LGBTQ, racial, and/or cultural can help shape them into confident leaders. And, by including a spiritual component to their education, students can ground themselves in religious/spiritual practices which can ultimately help them navigate ethical decision making---becoming strong, authentic leaders in their communities.

The diversity of the student body at colleges and universities lends itself to ensuring that higher education institutions like Penn State raise awareness of spirituality and its contribution in a holistic education. One of the goals of the Expanding the Circle conference was to raise awareness of the importance of LGBTQ resources on campuses and, as they write, while "some colleges and universities have been incorporating LGBTQ studies for decades, courses and programs continue to be pockets of innovation, rather than models of inclusion for all of higher education." Clearly, we have our work cut out for us. But, conferences like this help remind us that support and resources do exist to make it happen.