Queering Spirituality: Exploring Belief and Practice in Relation to Transgender and Gender-Diverse Experiences

This article explores the lived practices and beliefs of transgender and gender-diverse people, highlighting their fluid understandings of religion and spirituality. Two transgender and six gender-diverse people took part in in-depth qualitative interviews. Each participant, while coming from different experiences of religion and spirituality, emphasised the importance of their individualised beliefs and practices. The participants found categories of 'religion' and 'spirituality' to be constrictive, preferring to highlight their internal connection to both their self and the world. The participants also found that their practices, consciously or unconsciously, were gender affirming. This research highlights the joy that can be found in queer understandings by focusing on the positive, rather than the negative, experiences of spirituality and religion.