Transgender People and Religion/Spirituality

Transgender-identified persons are a diverse population—and as a result ascribe to various religions and spiritual beliefs. Many transgender-identified individuals have faced unique gender-related experiences throughout their lives—experiences that have resulted in a different relationship with various religious systems than other non-transgender populations. Within the LGBTQ community, transgender-identified persons have shown higher levels of engagement in religious, spiritual, and faith-based entities than lesbian, gay, or bisexual individuals. At the same time, rates of violence and abuse toward transgender-identified communities have been shown to be extremely high. Religiosity has been connected with social support and coping methods that can assist with facing such sources of adversity, but the role of stigma within many traditional religious institutions can create barriers to religious involvement and increase stress for transgender-identified ...