New research has uncovered a nuanced relationship between religious practices and the health of sexual minority individuals. Contrary to expectations, the study revealed that being part of religious communities, whether or not they are affirming of LGBQ identities, generally correlates with better health for these individuals, although the benefits vary across different religious traditions.
Traditionally, religion has been associated with positive health outcomes in the general population. However, this relationship is less clear for sexual minorities, who often navigate complex interactions within religious settings that may or may not be welcoming of their identities. Prior research in this area has been limited by small sample sizes and a lack of depth in exploring various religious dimensions. This new study aimed to fill these gaps by examining the health outcomes of sexual minorities in relation to their religious affiliations and practices.
“There is a lot of casual, informal conventional wisdom that has not been empirically tested,” said Stephen Cranney, the author of the new study who serves as a lecturer at the Catholic University of America and a non-resident fellow at Baylor’s Institute for the Studies of Religion.
The study utilized data from the Cooperative Election Study of 2020, a survey featuring over 50,000 participants, which included a substantial subset of sexual minorities. This provided a rare opportunity to analyze a large and diverse group, with 6,611 sexual minority individuals participating. Sexual minority status was determined based on self-identification, with options like heterosexual/straight, lesbian/gay, bisexual, and others.
Cranney looked at various aspects of religiosity – how important religion was to individuals, their religious affiliations, attendance at religious services, and frequency of prayer. He also considered different types of religious denominations, distinguishing between those that were affirming of LGBTQ identities and those that were not.
Denominations were classified as affirming if they supported religious solemnization of same-sex marriages, ordination of sexual minority clergy, or acceptance of same-sex sexuality. This classification was based on the denomination’s national policies.
To measure health, the study used a simple yet effective approach, asking participants to rate their general health on a scale. This self-assessment method has been widely validated as an indicator of overall health.
Cranney found that sexual minority individuals often reported lower overall health compared to their heterosexual counterparts, a disparity that persists despite the generally younger age of the sexual minority group. This aligns with existing literature that suggests health disparities experienced by sexual minorities, potentially due to factors like societal stigma and discrimination.
A significant number of sexual minorities did not affiliate with any religion. More than half reported no religious affiliation, compared to one-third of nonsexual minorities. Among those who did practice a religion, their level of engagement — whether it be attending services, praying, or considering religion important in their lives — was generally lower than that observed in nonsexual minorities.
When it came to the health outcomes of sexual minorities within religious contexts, the study made some surprising revelations. Indicators of religiosity (service attendance, prayer, importance of religion) did not show significant interactions with sexual minority status, suggesting that sexual minorities benefit from religious activity in a similar way to heterosexual individuals.
“The health benefits of religion are more broadly applicable to LGBTQ individuals than I would have thought,” Cranney told PsyPost.
One of the most striking findings was that there was no significant difference in reported health benefits between sexual minorities in affirming and nonaffirming Protestant denominations. This indicates that the health benefits derived from religious affiliation for sexual minorities do not necessarily hinge on the denomination’s stance on LGBTQ issues.
Interestingly, sexual minority individuals who identified as Catholic reported relatively good health outcomes. The study found that the health association for sexual minority Catholics was not significantly different from that of sexual minorities in LGBQ-affirming Protestant denominations. This finding is particularly notable given that the Catholic Church does not officially solemnize same-sex marriages.
The relationship between health and religious affiliation among sexual minority Mormons also presented a nuanced picture. When including all participants who identified as Mormon, including those from the more affirming Community of Christ, there was a positive association with health. However, when focusing solely on members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other more traditional Mormon groups, this association was less clear.
The study also looked at other minority religions and found generally inconclusive results, potentially due to smaller sample sizes. This included groups like Buddhists, Jews, Hindus, and Muslims, as well as those who identified with less common or non-mainstream religious affiliations.
Cranney controlled for variables such as gender, race/ethnicity, age, education, marital status, and state. But, while the study offers valuable insights, it comes with limitations that point to areas for future research.
One key constraint is the reliance on self-rated health measures, which, while useful, might not capture the full complexity of health dynamics. Additionally, the study’s findings on the varying impact of different religious affiliations suggest that future research could benefit from more detailed examinations of how local religious communities and individual beliefs influence the health of sexual minorities.
Another area for exploration is the longitudinal impact of religious affiliation and practices on health outcomes. Such studies could provide deeper insights into the causal relationships and help understand how sexual minorities navigate their identities within religious settings over time.
The study, “Sexual Minorities, Religion, and Self-Rated Health in the United States“, was published November 15, 2023 in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.