Study finds that young queer people quit organized religion almost twice as much as others

 

Taylor Valci was seven the first time she spoke in tongues. The daughter of a Pentecostal pastor in California’s Bay Area, she grew up watching Veggie Tales and attending Missionettes, the Assem­blies of God version of Girl Scouts.

But by the time she was attending Gordon College in Massachusetts in 2016, Valci no longer considered herself a Christian, at least in part because she was starting to realize she was queer.

Her experience is a common one. Earlier this year, the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion published a report that said same-sex attraction, behavior, and queer identity are strongly associated with a decision to step away from organized religion, attend church less frequently, or stop going altogether.