It doesn't seem to make sense: Why would LGBT people, who seem to be so reviled by organized religion, be religious in the first place? (In the United States, Project Blitz, a litany of legislation aimed to support Christian belief, is well underway.)
But it's worth noting that not all religions are the same that each individual experience is unique.
After Redditor neilader asked the online community, "LGBT religious people, how do you reconcile your identity and your religion?" LGBTs were quick to set the record straight (pun possibly intended) in their own way.
Warning: Some sensitive material ahead.
"I never really..."
I never really had this problem. As far as I remember this topic was never mentioned in my church and same-sex marriage was even possible before my country legalised it. In my school we had service once a week and one time the pastor even spoke about transgender people in a good way. You really have to keep in mind that not every church is the same. I only came into contact with this whole god hates gays stuff over the Internet and then I already was too old to really believe this BS.
"In my religion..."
I am Sikh, transgender, and gay.
In my religion, there is nothing written explicitly against homosexuality or gender changes.
Although, marriage is described as a bond between two souls, and it is often presumed to be between a man and a woman. However, it is not explicitly written.
And gender is not anything. We are not male, nor female, we come together as one under God.
So, despite a majority of Indians being extremely homophobic and transphobic, I do not pay it any mind. I am with God for myself, not for my family or others.
Or something like that hehe.
"Depends..."
Depends on your religion, really! (For context, I am a gay man from India, living there as well)
I was born into Hinduism, but left it due to a lot of reasons. Hinduism itself is a diverse religion - and several sections of Hinduism have shown tolerance and even acceptance toward multiple genders and sexual orientations. Modern Hindus (at least in India) can be, and are, very homophobic and transphobic, but it is more of a cultural thing, than a religious thing. Many gay couples have had Hindu weddings abroad, so maybe there is a way forward? It will take a lot of theological and religious debate before progress is made.
I was an atheist for a while, but now practice Buddhism, which has no proscriptions for laypeople being LGBT. Many Buddhist teachers, monasteries and sects now openly welcome and even ordain LGBT people, and the practice is geared more towards personal liberation rather than a God sitting in judgment. Buddhism has helped me reconcile my identity with my faith to an extent!
"When I came out..."
I'm a gay trans woman who is Jewish. My grandparents are orthodox, a good portion of my older family is conservative, but an even larger portion is reform/non-practicing religiously.
When I came out as trans, I didn't lose a single family member. Not one. None of them said it was wrong, none of them said I was bad or evil. They just... started using my preferred name, asked a few questions, and moved on. As far as they cared I was always "Ellie". My grandparents were among the first I told, and they were the first to tell me that they want me to be happy and to be who I am, and that they're proud of me for being so strong. They've been there for me ever since.
For me, my religion is exactly like my family. It's there for me; it helped raise me, shape me, and gave me lots of tools that I use today to be who I truly am. I don't have to reconcile because it was never a conflict to begin with. I tune in for online services, my partner and I observe Shabbat and holidays, and I sing the Shema every morning. I truly believe HaShem has given gifts beyond my comprehension and I am perfectly fine with it. Even in the darkest moments of my depression and dysphoria I'm comforted by my family and my faith.
Don't get me wrong. It took a long time for me to get where I am, and there's still a lot of work to be done, but I am confident I can get through it with my faith, family, and partner. It's harder some days than others. Sometimes I do question, and sometimes I do get angry at HaShem for the things going on and the many people who suffer including me. However, I strongly believe in being a candle in the darkness. The world can be a scary and confusing place, but in my eyes religion shouldn't be. Your faith should be a haven; a beacon in the shadows, an oasis in the desert, a canopy in the rainforest. It should nourish you, protect you, make you feel loved and safe. It should give you purpose and help you be the best you can be. It breaks my heart that religion isn't that for many people, especially in the LGBTQ+ community. The best thing we can do is move forward and keep completing the work of perfecting the world.
"When I was 19..."
When I was 19, I had a come to Jesus moment after ending up in a psych ward. I was going through a gram of coke every day, rolling every weekend, stealing from my parents, had stopped taking my meds in order to "safely" get blackout drunk nearly every night (stellar logic, I know), self-harming to the point of needing stitches, and was failing all of my classes in college. I ended up in the hospital, and I had a vision of Jesus telling me I was "having all these problems because I forgot how to talk to Him". Even though I thought it was a delusion and hadn't been to church in 6 years, I went back anyway.
I'm coming up on 3 years of sobriety now, I'm on the Dean's List at my university, and I consider myself a devout Catholic. In the time since I went back to church, God had changed every single aspect of my life and personality. I didn't go through any programs like NA, but a combination of psychiatry, therapy and daily mass at 7 am. Despite doing a complete 180, the one thing that never changed was my sexuality. When I was 13, I prayed that I would stop being attracted to girls, and it didn't happen. I stopped going to church because I thought that I would get struck by lightning if I ever entered the house of God again. After my second year of sobriety at age 21, I was grateful for the "new" me, but kind of laughed at how I was still bisexual at the end of it all.
I don't really have the "evidence" from the Bible to back up my claim that God accepts me for being LGBT. I also definitely don't have the support from the general Christian population. But I guess in my experience, when I asked God for help, He looked at my addiction, the state of my mental health, the way I was treating other people, and my self-hatred and went, "This needs to change". And when He looked at my sexuality, He went, "This doesn't."
"Being LGBT does not mean..."
Bi and Buddhist here, initially really struggled with this as my parents are very traditionally Buddhist and conservative which I can imagine might come as a surprise with those familiar with Western Buddhism. Eastern Buddhism is a lot stricter I'd say and specifically Tibetan Buddhism emphasises male-female relationships as a matter of "practicality".
Simply put, LGBT are seen as going against the natural order. In recent times, acceptance has grown, but there's still that belief that being LGBT is being self-indulgent. I disagree with this belief. At the end of the day, just as being LGBT is part of my identity, so is my religion, my parents really helped me to see that. Being LGBT does not mean I'm a bad Buddhist anymore than being a Buddhist meaning I can't be LGBT.
"People ask me this..."
I think it depends on your religion. I am bisexual and a Christian. People ask me this all the time when it comes up, and they often seem to make unfair assumptions about what Christianity actually teaches based on some sort of stereotypical conservative, deep south form of the religion. Christianity is not a cohesive religion where every Christian on the planet believes and practices in the same way; but rather an umbrella term for many different denominations who share a common belief in God and the teachings of Jesus but have other differing beliefs.
I belong to a liberal church. We believe the Bible is a historical text and should be read as such e.g. keeping in mind that it only speaks about issues of biblical times and doesn't necessarily translate directly to our modern day experience. We also believe the most important commandment of our faith is when Jesus said "to love one another as I have loved you". Therefore, in our daily lives we try to practice situation ethics; we always look at each situation and decide what is the most loving thing to do. The focus is primarily on Jesus' teachings about love, kindness and taking care of the less fortunate. For this reason, contrary to the popular image of the conservative Christian, many of our members are actually outspoken socialists.
Being LGBT is not considered a problem at all for us as the most loving thing to do is to accept your fellow humans for who they are. We believe that everyone is part of God's plan, LGBT or otherwise.
"I'm not overtly religious..."
I'm not overtly religious, but grew up in a Catholic/Church of England house. When I first came out, I completely shunned the church as I was taught all my life from the church that gay people were sinners and devils etc. which really made me hate myself. Now though, I've separated my beliefs from the church. Yes, I believe there is a god, but I disagree with organised religion, religious teachings, and a lot of things I grew up with.
Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "" to +1 (310) 299-9390 to talk to him about it.
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.