Many local religious organizations are welcoming and supportive of LGBTQIA+ individuals. The Stonewall Center (the LGBTQIA+ resource center at UMass Amherst), in consultation with the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, has compiled a list of religious organizations which fully embrace LGBTQIA+ people, based on the criteria listed below. These organizations...
1. Welcome LGBTQIA+ people to participate fully in all religious and social activities;
2. Allow LGBTQIA+ people to serve in all leadership positions for which they are otherwise qualified;
3. Welcome same-sex couples and, where applicable, perform same-sex marriages;
4. Do not treat LGBTQIA+ people as spiritually incomplete by virtue of their sexuality or gender identity (e.g., LGBTQIA+ individuals do not need to reject their sexuality or gender identity to get to an afterlife, etc.)
The local Congregational/UCC, Episcopal, Lutheran, Unitarian Universalist, Friends Meeting (Quaker), and most local Jewish organizations are fully inclusive of LGBTQIA+individuals and meet all of these criteria.
Other religious organizations may welcome LGBTQIA+ students to participate in worship services and social activities but not necessarily all religious activities or leadership positions. Because they do not meet all of the criteria listed above, and despite the fact that they may welcome LGBTQIA+ people to participate in many of their religious and social activities, such organizations are not included in the list of religious resources for LGBTQIA+ people. Click here to see the complete list (on the Stonewall Center's website).
Please contact the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life or the specific organization for more information about religious resources which are not in the "LGBTQIA+ supportive" list. These organizations may or may not meet your particular needs. It depends on you and what you're looking for!
If your organization is not included in the list, and you believe it should be, please contact us. We wish to be as inclusive and accurate as possible!