In a Religious Celebration”? The Religious Defense of LGBT Rights in U.S. Federal Courts

Bibliographic Data

ID7315522
AuthorsK Burke (0000-0001-6302-4446, Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, corresponding author), Emily Kazyak (0000-0002-3488-5914, Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA), Maia Behrendt (0000-0001-5832-1059, Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA)
Year2023
Volume71
Issue10
Pages2400-2423
Publication date2023-07-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Homosexuality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0091-8369 • E-ISSN: 1540-3602
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00918369.2023.2233659
PMID37459598
OpenAlexW4384499860
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited32

This article advances scholarship on the relationship between sexuality, religion, and the law within the United States by analyzing case summaries and court opinions of the federal appellate cases decided between 1990 and 2020 that involve a religion-based claim being used to advance or defend gay and lesbian rights. Contrary to dominant public narratives that position religion uniformly in opposition to progressive sexual values, these cases show how Americans' religious beliefs and practices include diverse sexual identities. We find that the courts' reactions to such cases, however, illustrate the tension within legal discourse and hesitancy for the courts to equate religious and moral values with affirming LGBT identities, people, and rights. Our findings suggest that the courts and litigants define what religion is-and what it is not-by positioning it in relation to sexuality

Criminology · Gay rights · Homosexuality · Human sexuality · Lesbian · Narrative · Opposition (politics · Political science · Politics · Scholarship · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Gender Studies · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy

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