Suicidality and Religious Faith in LGBTQ+ People
Religion can be a deep source of comfort, community, and meaning. However, for many LGBTQ+ people, religious settings can also become places where sexual orientation or gender identity are questioned, rejected, or pressured into silence. Research from the past two decades shows a consistent pattern: when religion is used in ways that create shame or conflict about a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, suicide risk increases (Barnes & Meyer, 2012; Hill & Higbee, 2015; Rostosky et al., 2018).
At the same time, studies also show that religion can be profoundly protective when faith communities respond with support, compassion, and belonging (Plöderl & Fartacek, 2019; Foynes et al., 2018).
This article draws on numerous studies to explore why this happens and what can help.
How Common Is Suicidality Among LGBTQ+ People of Faith?
Across studies from the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand, researchers consistently find:
LGBTQ+ people raised in strict or non-supportive religious environments have significantly higher rates of suicidal thoughts and attempts (Barnes & Meyer, 2012; Hill & Higbee, 2015).
LGBTQ+ youth who experience religiously motivated pressure to change or suppress their sexual orientation or gender identity show some of the highest known suicide attempt rates (Ryan et al., 2015).
Exposure to identity suppression or conversion efforts increases suicide risk by two to four times (Blosnich et al., 2020; Dehlin et al., 2015).
Religion can be protective for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and immigrant LGBTQ+ people when it is supportive, and harmful when it is not (Chan et al., 2013; Ream, 2015).
Among transgender and gender-diverse people, religious rejection is one of the strongest predictors of suicidal behavior (Heiden-Rootes et al., 2022).
These findings do not reflect a flaw within LGBTQ+ people. They reflect the impact of rejection related to sexual orientation or gender identity.
Why Religion Can Increase Suicide Risk in LGBTQ+ People
1. Conflict Between Faith and Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity
Many LGBTQ+ people grow up believing their sexual orientation or gender identity cannot coexist with their faith tradition. This conflict is strongly associated with depression, shame, and suicidality (Hill & Higbee, 2015; Rodriguez & Ouellette, 2000).
2. Family Rejection or Pressure to Change
When parents respond to their child’s sexual orientation or gender identity by pressuring them to change or hide it, the risk of suicidal behavior increases sharply (Ryan et al., 2015).
3. Internalized Shame
Negative messages about LGBTQ+ people can become internal beliefs. This internalized shame is strongly associated with depression, hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts (Barnes & Meyer, 2012; Baiocco et al., 2010).
4. Loss of Community and Spiritual Belonging
Leaving a religious community can feel like losing an entire support system. When this loss is connected to sexual orientation or gender identity, the grief can feel especially heavy and is linked with increased suicidality (Sowe et al., 2017).
5. Harmful Religious Practices
Certain religious practices increase suicide risk, including:
conversion therapy
pastoral “counseling” aimed at changing sexual orientation or gender identity
purity culture pressure
sermons or teachings that portray LGBTQ+ people as sinful or broken
These experiences are consistently associated with higher suicidal ideation and attempts (Blosnich et al., 2020; Dehlin et al., 2015; Higbee et al., 2022).
How Religion Can Also Protect LGBTQ+ People
Religion can reduce suicidality when spiritual environments provide support without conditions or pressure.
Protective factors include:
Religious communities that communicate compassion, respect, and belonging (Rostosky et al., 2018)
Clergy who offer encouragement and dignity (Plöderl & Fartacek, 2019)
Parents who support their child’s sexual orientation or gender identity while living out their faith (Ryan et al., 2015)
Access to worship spaces where LGBTQ+ people feel welcomed and safe (Foynes et al., 2018)
When religious environments are supportive, LGBTQ+ people experience lower depression, fewer suicidal thoughts, stronger resilience, and better emotional well-being.
Religion itself is not the problem. Lack of support is.
What LGBTQ+ People Can Do When Faith and Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity Feel in Conflict
1. Acknowledge the conflict without self-blame
Recognizing the tension can reduce shame and make room for self-compassion (Barnes & Meyer, 2012).
2. Seek supportive spaces, spiritual or otherwise
Supportive communities, whether religious or secular, can buffer distress and reduce suicidality (Foynes et al., 2018; Plöderl & Fartacek, 2019).
3. Reach out when suicidal thoughts arise
Social support is one of the strongest protective factors against suicide attempts (Meyer et al., 2014).
4. Explore spirituality on your own terms
Many LGBTQ+ people find resilience by reframing or reclaiming their spirituality in ways that feel authentic (Sowe et al., 2017).
5. Seek mental health care from clinicians trained in religious conflict
Therapists familiar with religious trauma and identity-related distress can help untangle the pain without imposing beliefs or pressure (Dehlin et al., 2015).
What Families, Friends, and Faith Communities Can Do
1. Offer unconditional support
Supportive family responses to a young person’s sexual orientation or gender identity dramatically reduce suicide risk (Ryan et al., 2015).
2. Respect names, pronouns, and lived experience
Respect is a powerful protective factor and directly reduces suicidality (Ream, 2015).
3. Avoid harmful theological interpretations
Messages that frame sexual orientation or gender identity as sinful or disordered are strongly associated with suicidal ideation (Blosnich et al., 2020).
4. Stay connected
Consistent care, follow-up, and presence help buffer emotional distress (Meyer et al., 2014).
5. Help them find supportive communities
Supportive spiritual spaces improve mental health and promote resilience (Foynes et al., 2018).
Final Thoughts
Religion is not inherently harmful to LGBTQ+ people. In many lives, it is a source of love, community, comfort, and meaning.
What increases suicidality is not faith itself. It is the pain of rejection, identity suppression, shame, and the loss of belonging connected to sexual orientation or gender identity.
When LGBTQ+ people have supportive families, friends, spiritual communities, and mental health care, suicide risk decreases significantly.
Every person deserves to live fully and safely in their sexual orientation or gender identity. And every person deserves to hold onto their spirituality if it brings them peace.
You deserve care. You deserve safety. You deserve a place where you belong.
Carter Doyle, MSN, PMHNP-BC, is a board-certified psychiatric–mental health nurse practitioner and IFS therapist trained through the IFS Institute (Level 1 & 2). Carter provides LGBTQIA+ affirming, trauma-informed care at Leaf Psychiatry in Michigan, integrating Internal Family Systems, EMDR, and evidence-based medication management to help people heal without having to choose between their mental health, identity, and values.
References
Religion, Identity Conflict, and Suicidality
Barnes, D. M., & Meyer, I. H. (2012). Religious affiliation, internalized homophobia, and mental health in lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 82(4), 505–515.
Baiocco, R., Laghi, F., D’Alessio, M., & McDermott, R. (2010). Internalized sexual stigma and suicidality among gay and lesbian youths. Journal of Homosexuality, 57(4), 1–14.
Hill, C. E., & Higbee, M. (2015). Religious conflict, sexual identity, and suicidal behaviors among LGBT young adults. Journal of Homosexuality, 62(3), 1–22.
Rodriguez, E. M., & Ouellette, S. C. (2000). Gay and lesbian Christians: Homosexual and religious identity integration in the members and participants of a gay-positive church. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 39(3), 333–347.
Sowe, B. J., Taylor, A. J., & Brown, J. (2017). The case of Abel: Religion as boon and bane for a Catholic gay man. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 9(2), 230–238.
Religious Rejection, Family Conflict, and Mental Health
Dahl, A. L., & Galliher, R. V. (2012). Sexual minority young adults: Coping with minority stress related to heterosexism and family rejection. Journal of Homosexuality, 59(4), 481–504.
Salway, T., Ferlatte, O., Gesink, D., Lachowsky, N. J., et al. (2021). “Conversion therapy” and identity suppression practices among sexual minority men in Canada. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 66(7), 648–657.
Dehlin, J. P., Galliher, R. V., Bradshaw, W. S., & Crowell, K. A. (2015). Sexual orientation change efforts among current or former LDS church members. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 62(2), 95–105.
Religiosity, Spirituality, and Suicide Risk
Blosnich, J. R., Henderson, E. R., Coulter, R. W. S., & Goldbach, J. T. (2020). Questions of faith: Religious affiliations and suicidal ideation among sexual minority adults. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 50(1), 225–237.
Plöderl, M., & Fartacek, R. (2019). God bless you? The association of religion and spirituality with reduced suicidal ideation among sexual minority adults. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 49(2), 455–468.
Rostosky, S. S., Riggle, E. D. B., Brodnicki, C., et al. (2018). Association of religiosity with sexual minority suicide ideation and attempt. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 55(6), 895–903.
Ream, G. L. (2015). Associations of racial/ethnic identities and religious affiliation with suicidal ideation among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning individuals. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 30(18), 1–24.
Youth Studies and Religious Pressure
Ryan, C., Toomey, R. B., Diaz, R. M., & Russell, S. T. (2015). Parent-initiated attempts to change sexual orientation of LGBT adolescents: Implications for young adult mental health and adjustment. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 41(2), 1–16.
Gibbs, J. J., & Goldbach, J. T. (2015). Religious conflict, sexual identity, and suicidal behaviors among LGBT young adults. Journal of Homosexuality, 62(3), 1–28.
Conversion Therapy & Religious Harm
Blosnich, J. R., Henderson, E. R., Coulter, R. W. S., et al. (2020). Sexual orientation change efforts and suicide ideation and attempt among sexual minority adults in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 110(7), 1024–1030.
Higbee, M., Wright, E. R., & Roemerman, R. (2022). Conversion therapy in the Southern United States: Prevalence and experiences of survivors. Journal of Homosexuality, 69(4), 612–631.
Heiden-Rootes, K., McGeorge, C. R., Salas, J., & Levine, S. (2022). The effects of gender identity change efforts on transgender and nonbinary adults: Implications for practice. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 48(4), 927–944.
Religion as Protective (When Supportive)
Foynes, M. M., Shipherd, J. C., & Lengyel, E. (2018). “Gay-affirming” religious affiliation as a protective factor against depressive symptoms among sexual minority youth. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 5(3), 268–276.
Chan, R. C. H., et al. (2013). The impact of religious faith and internalized homonegativity on resiliency for Black LGB emerging adults. Journal of Homosexuality, 60(3), 335–357.
