| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 社會工作學研究所 === 105 === Spirituality is a basic factor in human existence. In this thesis, we studied the self-identity formation of homosexuals in relation to their religious belief, taking Christians and Buddhists as examples. Through qualitative research, in-depth interviews were carried out with four Christians and four Buddhists, including lesbians, gays, and bisexuals (LGB). The results show how religious belief affects the identity of LGB, and the impact from their significant others, like religious group members, companions, and family, as they participate in religious activities in sangha or church.
For the Christian LGB, we found that the timing in contact with their religious belief was the main factor affecting their self-identity formation. Therefore, we classified these processes into two categories: an LGB born in a Christian family and the one who was the very first Christian in their family. As for the Buddhist LGB, the religious belief had less influence on their self-identity formation; their development of identity mainly depended on the ways they practiced the Buddhist doctrine as well as the different sangha in which they were involved. Thus another two categories were utilized to classify the Buddhist LGB: the LGB in traditional Buddhism sangha and the LGB in a humanistic Buddhism sangha.
In this study, we found that almost all of the participants had discovered their sexual orientation in their teens, i.e. they were more attracted to the same sex. In this stage, some Christians start to develop homophobia due to their religious beliefs; conversely, the Buddhist LGBs did not have such attitudes generally. However, both groups may have become confused as to whether they were LGBs, and thus sought for assistance from their friends to resolve their doubts. After extending their relationship to people with similar sexual orientation, or even developed into an intimate relationship with some of them, they would go on to develop their identity, and try to combine their religious identity and LGB identity. This process would vary with church/sangha, family, companions and their attitudes to such issue. For instance, among our research participants, some devoted Christian LGBs decided to change their sexual orientation to satisfy the expectation of their God, while the others chose to hold onto their beliefs but refused to participate in church activities. On the other hands, the Buddhist LGBs in Buddhism sangha placed more emphasis on the opinions in Buddhist texts than that of the teachers they had converted under. For the LGBs belonging to a humanist Buddhism sangha, the opinion of their teacher was somewhat more important than those recorded in Buddhist texts.
Based on the research findings, we suggest that the professional helpers should take personal religious beliefs into consideration when assisting an LGB who is “coming out”. Moreover, the helpers should also note if there is family violence associated with their religion. Finally, we recommend that the religious organizations and their leaders should lend an ear to the LGBs and try to better understand their lives.
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