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Religious Disaffiliation and Family Relationships: A Grounded Theory Study of LGBTQ+ Women's Experiences

For those who were raised in a religious household, leaving one's religion of origin (religious disaffiliation) can be a significant life event that impacts a person for years to come. Similarly, coming out and living authentically as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or another sexual or gender minority (LGBTQ+) is another event that, although ongoing, shapes the course of one's life significantly. In this grounded theory study, the researcher examines LGBTQ+ women's experiences of religious disaffiliation to create an understanding of what the disaffiliation process is like for LGBTQ+ women, and what happens to family relationships during and after disaffiliation. Several themes emerged, including similarities in why they disaffiliated, how they disaffiliated, and what happened to significant relationships during and after disaffiliation. / Doctor of Philosophy / For those who were raised in a religious household, leaving the religion one was raised in (religion of origin), also called religious disaffiliation, can be a significant life event that impacts a person for years to come. Similarly, coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or another sexual minority (LGBTQ+) is another event that can shape the course of one's life significantly, especially since those who are LGBTQ+ often continue to have to come out to new people in their lives. In this study, the researcher examines what it is like for LGBTQ+ women to disaffiliate from the Christian denominations in which they were raised, as well as what happens to family relationships during and after disaffiliation. There are several common themes shared among disaffiliates, including similarities in why they disaffiliated, how they disaffiliated, and what happened to significant relationships during and after disaffiliation.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/106914
Date17 June 2020
CreatorsGary, Emily Ann
ContributorsAdult Learning and Human Resource Development, Grafsky, Erika L., Shivers, Carolyn, Allen, Katherine R., Russon, Jody M.
PublisherVirginia Tech
Source SetsVirginia Tech Theses and Dissertation
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeDissertation
FormatETD, application/pdf, application/pdf
RightsIn Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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