LGBT+ people drawn to minority religions - census

Buddhists Munisha and Pavarabodhi got married in 2017 in Harrow on the Hill, London

The latest census revealed that of all the faiths in England and Wales, the followers of smaller religions were most likely to be LGBT+. The BBC spoke to people about what drew them to their faiths.

Once a staunch atheist, 30-year-old Sif is now a follower of Norse Heathenry - a spiritual movement that recognises a large number of gods and entities from Norse mythology.

It is one of many paths that come under the umbrella of Paganism, which was found by the 2021 census to be the most popular "other religion" in England and Wales.

"Quite honestly, it's very personal to the individual," she says. "Because it's personal, you can pick and choose what you like and what you don't like.

"There's no kind of dogma in terms of, 'This is bad, this is good'."

Sif Brookes is developing an alternative heathen prayer book with a focus on inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community

During her time at university, Sif said she had felt "very unanchored" while she came to terms with her sexuality.

Her journey in discovering Paganism and accepting her bisexuality happened "almost in tandem", as she gradually learnt her atheist beliefs were not giving her "a sense of fulfilment".

Now the Pagan Federation's national LGBTQIA+ manager, she says: "Paganism is seen as an outlying population, so [if you're LGBT+] you're having othering on top of othering... I think it helps immensely when you can find a group or an organisation that truly reflects you."

The 2021 census was the first time residents aged 16 and over had been asked voluntary questions on sexual orientation and gender identity, which the Office for National Statistics grouped separately.

The responses showed "other religions" were followed by the highest proportions of lesbian, gay, bisexual or another minority sexuality (LGB+) people at 14.8% and trans people at 2.9%.

Data from the 2021 census showed followers of "other religions" were more likely to be LGB+ than the overall population of England and Wales.

There were so many LGB+ followers of those "other religions" that they exceeded the combined LGB+ followers of Islam and Sikhism (42,520).

Similarly, there were more trans people within "other religions" (9,089) than in Buddhism, Sikhism, and Judaism combined.

The two additional religions identified as being followed by higher proportions of both LGB+ and trans people were Buddhism and Judaism.

The census question on sexuality was not answered by 3.6 million people - 7.5% of the population of England and Wales - so the proportions of LGB+ people within each religion could be higher or lower.

Kieran Bohan, director of the Open Table Network of communities for LGBT+ Christians, says the census data does have some limitations.

"The national census is often completed by one person on behalf of a household, who may not know the sexual orientation or gender identity of everyone in their home," he says.

"This is perhaps more likely to be true in a household where faith plays a significant role."

In a poll, 90% of the network's community leaders said being LGBT+ was a barrier to belonging in a faith community for some of their members.

Munisha, the European Buddhist Union's vice president, says: "Most religions' official public statements about same sex-relationships are at best ambivalent, and some are outright condemnatory.

"It's not surprising if a lot of people who are attracted to people of their own sex find Buddhist ethics much easier to reconcile with their own values."

Munisha said she had never encountered any Buddhist who had prejudiced views about same-sex relationships

Born in London and raised in the Church of England, she eventually converted to Buddhism in the early-1990s.

The 61-year-old is a member of the Triratna Buddhist Order, a worldwide movement of people who try to engage with the Buddha's teachings in the conditions of the modern world.

She says some religions may have ethical teachings which are "quite black and white" or "state that an authority, creator, judge god, has certain views about same-sex relationships, whereas Buddhism doesn't involve the worship of a god".

"It has ethical principles... but it's up to you to interpret them," she says.

"I've really never encountered any Buddhist who had prejudiced views about same-sex relationships.

"In the early days of our organisation, in the 1970s, people definitely came along feeling hampered by a sense of Christian guilt."

Dual identities

Sharing his take on the census results, Institute for Jewish Policy Research executive director Dr Jonathan Boyd says Jewish migrants to Britain largely predate others and most are "well-aligned with Western norms and sensitivities".

People who identified as being of mixed or multiple ethnic groups were most likely to identify as LGB+, something Dr Boyd says could explain the higher rate among Jews.

"British Jews have long lived with the dual identities of being both British and Jewish," he says.

"The idea of being somewhat different from the mainstream is a profoundly familiar concept to many Jews, so managing the challenges that sometimes come with being LGB+ may come a little easier to Jews than some other religious minorities."

Dr Jonathan Boyd says the idea of being "somewhat different from the mainstream" is familiar to many Jews

In the Indian religions of Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism, Ahimsa is the ethical principle of not causing harm to other living things. It is one that Munisha says is key to Buddhist LGBT+ people.

"Is the fact that you are lesbian actually causing harm? A relationship that you're in might in itself be causing harm," she says.

"Some heterosexual relationships are extremely harmful, some are very lovely and great and beneficial... and the same can be said of same-sex relationships."

It was through a long-term relationship with a Buddhist woman that Munisha gradually took up a Buddhist life, feeling at home in her sexuality and "no longer conflicted".

"I think I had a lot of self doubt," she says. "I was [thinking], 'I might think this is alright, but perhaps it's not really, and who am I to judge?'"

Munisha and wife Pavarabodhi say their wedding vows in front of a Buddhist teacher in Harrow on the Hill, London

In her experience, the census data is reflected on the ground among Buddhists.

"When I was a new young Buddhist, and interested to know who was around me, I would sometimes do little informal counts," she jokes.

"I'd look round the room, and I'd think, 'which of these people have been in a same-sex relationship that I know of?' and I nearly always found it was about 30%.

"It was extremely important to me to look around the room and realise that I was far from alone."

Additional reporting by Miguel Roca-Terry.