ABSTRACT
This chapter is a case study exploration of Christianity and sexuality in the lives of young lesbians in the UK based on a subset of data involving 16 1 young lesbian women who variously identify as Christian. Religion matters as a personal and political force, but secularising trends arguably obscure its influence upon the complex convergence and intersection of personal, political, familial and institutional realms. Representations of ‘sexual citizenship’ are still positioned as separate from and indeed negated by religious rights and some religions are (mis)positioned as more hostile, tolerating and welcoming than others. These collisions have been apparent in recent UK debates on the Civil Partnership Act (2004), the Equality Act (2006) and the Marriage Act (Same Sex Couples) 2013. All have generated significant controversies, frequently positing Christian backlash against more integrative calls for inclusion. Whilst the ‘question of homosexuality’ has been a central focus in much discussion, highlighting around the presumed discontinuity between sexual identity and Christian identity (O’Brien 2004), there is still a gap in terms of locating first-hand narratives of self-identified young ‘queer’ Christians.
