“Marching in the Light of God”: an ethnography of LGBTIQ Christian participation in Pride parades in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sydney

Abstract

This project explores the involvement of Christian groups in Pride parades in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sydney. Pride parades are the largest and most public expression of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) identity, capturing a diverse range of voices. Their associated festivals and parties make the parades important social events for building LGBTIQ community. As such, participation in these parades is important for Christian groups that are affirming of LGBTIQ people. However, religious voices remain the loudest opponents of the LGBTIQ movement’s claims for social and legal recognition. Anti-gay religious groups often target parades to proclaim their beliefs that homosexuality is deviant, and some attempt to prevent the parades from happening at all. In Western countries, these voices are overwhelmingly Christian. LGBTIQ Christians thus often express a sense of being caught between two extremes, and sometimes do not feel a sense of belonging in either their own religious tradition or in the LGBTIQ community. Informed by standpoint theory, this project uses ethnographic research methods, including participant-observation and semi-structured interviews, to provide a ritual analysis of Christian participation in Pride. Through the researcher’s participation in and observation of these events, three ritual spaces were identified for analysis: worship services, the fête, and the parade. In all three spaces, the groups included in this study drew on rituals and symbols from both their religious traditions and the LGBTIQ movement, and combined them to publicly express an integrated identity. The study also identifies some of the ways in which these groups navigated tensions between Pride culture and Christian culture, particularly through their responses to the commercialised and sexualised aspects of Pride. The study offers insights into the contemporary LGBTIQ Christian movement and its relationship to the broader LGBTIQ community.