Religious freedom for whom? How conservative Christianity erodes the religious freedom of those it seeks to discriminate against

There is a common misconception that to be LGBTQ+ and religious is incompatible. This article deconstructs this binarised understanding, arguing that it delegitimises both sexual and gender identity and also the religious identity of some LGBTQ+ people, hindering their religious freedom. The article is based on findings from a large multifaceted study conducted in Australia. Three sources of data are analysed: a non-representative Australian national survey of religious people that included 463 LGBTQ+ people; a non-representative survey of LGBTQ+ people working in religiously affiliated workplaces in Australia (n = 430); and 42 interviews with LGBTQ+ people working in religiously affiliated workplaces. The surveys show that there is a large minority of religious people who identify as LGBTQ+ and that many LGBTQ+ people working in religiously affiliated workplaces are deeply religious and deliberately choose to work in these workplaces.