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Religion, Hate, Love, and Advocacy for LGBT Human Rights in Saint Lucia

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Abstract

Introduction

This article explores how religion and religious institutions affect the lives of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people living in Saint Lucia.

Methods

Drawing on thirty-three interviews conducted as part of an international human rights project, we explore the role that religion can play in both reinforcing marginalization and promoting human rights for sexual minority people.

Results

Thematic analysis of interview data reveals ways in which religion is the foundation for life in Saint Lucia and both marginalizes and sustains sexual minority lives.

Conclusions

Although churches are often viewed as major opponents to LGBT human rights, participants discussed hopes and strategies for churches to become allies in advocating for inclusion.

Policy Implications

We conclude that Saint Lucia is a context in which work toward human rights for sexual minority people must include attention to religion as a powerful and meaningful component of peoples’ lives.

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Notes

  1. The language of “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender” and the LGBT acronym are used here because it was the chosen language for the Canada-based research project. The acronym LGB (Lesbian Gay Bisexual) is used elsewhere in the paper to reflect language used by participants in Saint Lucia.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the staff of United and Strong Saint Lucia for their collaboration in this research. The authors would also like to thank the Saint Lucian participants, individuals, and organizations who made this research possible.

Funding

This research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

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Correspondence to Charmaine C. Williams.

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The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures for the research study were approved by the institutional ethics review board at the University of Toronto and York University.

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Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.

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Williams, C.C., Forbes, J.R., Placide, K. et al. Religion, Hate, Love, and Advocacy for LGBT Human Rights in Saint Lucia. Sex Res Soc Policy 17, 729–740 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-020-00429-x

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