Religion and LGBTQ people are often portrayed as oil and water—not surprising, given the religious motivation of many anti-LGBTQ bigots. One lesbian mom, however, has recently written of how her Christian faith gives her strength as a lesbian and a mother.
Candice Czubernat describes herself as “a writer, advocate, speaker and therapist … also a married lesbian, Christian woman and mother of twins.” She wrote yesterday at Patheos of turning to God for comfort during moments when she might have to come out in front of strangers who will perhaps cause her children to feel shame, albeit unwarranted. She prays, “Help me know how to frame this experience for them as they grow and give them a great capacity to understand what it means that they have 2 moms. Begin to protect their heart from any hatred, or ignorance that will be thrown their way.”
She also writes of what she has gained from those who have come before her:
When I cry out to God in prayer it’s been comforting to know there have been lots of other moms that have traveled this path before me. I look to them for strength and guidance on how to do this motherhood thing; especially as a lesbian mom. I have found solace in mothers in the Bible, like the Canaanite woman.
The rest of her piece explores what she finds resonant in the Canaanite woman’s story, and I encourage you to read it.
I’m an agnostic Jew—fairly far from Czubernat in both type and degree of faith. Yet I admire her piece, for I do believe that one can be both LGBTQ and a person of faith, and that faith can be a positive force in many (though admittedly not all) LGBTQ people’s lives. Czubernat is far from the only example—I see it in my own Jewish Reform congregation and, on a larger scale, in HRC’s Religion Council. We LGBTQ parents are a community diverse in faith (or lack thereof) as in so much else. As in so much else, too, we find strength and role models in many places. Thanks to Czubernat for sharing her experience.