 | This articlecontainspromotional content. Please helpimprove it by removingpromotional language and inappropriateexternal links, and by adding encyclopedic text written from aneutral point of view.(November 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Unitarian Universalism, as practiced by theUnitarian Universalist Association (UUA), and theCanadian Unitarian Council (CUC), is anon-creedal andliberal theological tradition and anLGBTQ-affirming denomination.[1]
The full participation of laypeople and theordination of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people who areopen about their sexuality orgender identity; aresexually active if lesbian, gay, or bisexual; or are insame-sex relationships are permitted and welcomed by Unitarian Universalist organizations.[2]
The first of Unitarian Universalism's seven principles is the belief in "the inherent worth and dignity of every person", which is frequently cited as the faith's justification for their views of LGBTQ individuals.[3][4][5]
Unitarianism andUniversalism, two religious movements that merged in 1961 to form Unitarian Universalism, had a long history of reform of social institutions and were a home for many abolitionists, feminists, and other forward thinkers, including gay liberationists.[5]
The annual general assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association has passed more than thirty resolutions on LGBTQ issues, includingsame-sex marriage,LGB people in the military,[6] theEmployment Nondiscrimination Act,[1] andtransgender rights.[7]
In 1970, Unitarian Universalism was the first religion to officially condemndiscrimination against homosexuals.[5] The resolution condemnedbiphobia as well as homophobia.[8]
In 1989, the UUA began a Welcoming Congregation Program to support churches in intentionally becoming more inclusive of LGBTQ people.[9] After meeting requirements related to church policy, education, advocacy, and more, congregations are designated as Welcoming Congregations.[10] As of 2025, more than 80% of all U.S. Unitarian Universalist congregations and 99% of all Canadian Unitarian Universalist congregations had gone through the process of becoming Welcoming Congregations.[11][12]
In 2009, the UUA began a public advocacy campaign called Side With Love (originally Standing on the Side of Love) that “confronts issues of exclusion, oppression, and violence based on identity,” including LGBTQ issues.[13] The campaign was started in reaction to a shooting at a Unitarian Universalist church in Knoxville, TN, which was targeted because it welcomed LGBTQ people.[13][14][15]
In June 2023, Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt, a queer Afro-Latine cis woman, was elected as the UUA’s first outqueer president.[16]
In September 1969, Rev.James L. Stoll publiclycame out as gay, making him the first ordained minister of a major religious group in theUnited States orCanada to do so.[5][17][18] The denomination ordained its first openly gay minister in 1979, and its first openly transgender minister was ordained in 1988.[1][8]
In 1971, the Unitarian Universalist Association publishedAbout Your Sexuality, an all-encompassing sex education program for teenagers in Unitarian Universalist churches that treated homosexuality as a valid and normal form of sexuality.[19] The program was revised several times over the next several decades and in 1999 was replaced withOur Whole Lives, a joint program with theUnited Church of Christ that continues to affirm LGBTQ identities in its curricula.[20]
The first documented same-sex weddings conducted by Unitarian Universalist ministers were performed by Rev. Ernest Pipes Jr., at the Community Church ofSanta Monica, California, in 1957, and Rev. Harry Barron Scholefield, at theFirst Unitarian Church ofSan Francisco, in 1958.[21]
The first same-sex marriage performed by a church in Canada (after the 1972 civil same-sex marriage ofMichel Girouard and Rejean Tremblay of Montreal) was that of Chris Vogel and Richard North, married by the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Winnipeg on February 11, 1974, officiated by Unitarian minister Rev. Norm Naylor.[22][23] Unitarian Universalists also performed the first same-sex marriages in Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan, although the provincial governments often refused to recognize the marriages at the time.
The Unitarian Universalist Association has officially supported Unitarian Universalist clergy performing services of union for same-sex couples since 1984.[1][24][25] Seven of the fourteen plaintiffs inGoodridge v. Department of Public Health, the case that legalizedsame-sex marriage inMassachusetts, were Unitarian Universalists.[26] The denomination was very active in the fight for marriage equality in the United States through its advocacy campaign Side With Love.[8][18][27][28] The UUA joined anamicus curiae brief in support of same-sex marriage forObergefell v. Hodges, theSupreme Court case that legalized same-sex marriage in the United States.[29]
The Unitarian Universalist Association passed resolutions in support of transgender rights in 2007, 2016, 2021, and 2024.[7] The 2024 resolution named that “full affirmation and celebration of transgender, nonbinary, intersex, and gender diverse people” is “a fundamental obligation revealed by [Unitarian Universalist] principles and values.”[11][30]
In 2022 the UUA submitted an amicus brief inEknes-Tucker v. Governor of the State of Alabama in support of the plaintiffs seeking to overturnAlabama's SB 184 bill, which criminalized gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth.[31]
In 2023 Unitarian Universalists began assisting transgender people in the United States who are relocating due to the passage ofanti-transgender laws through the Pink Haven Coalition, a joint project between trans organizers, Unitarian Universalist organizations, other progressive faith groups, and mutual aid networks.[32]
The UUA has dedicated staff to becoming more welcoming and inclusive ofLGBTQ people since 1973 through an office now called LGBTQ Ministries, making it the first major National Religious organization to establish an office in support of civil rights and social acceptance of LGBTQ people.[8][33] The office of LGBTQ Ministries administers the Welcoming Congregation Program through which UU churches take action to increase their inclusion of LGBTQ people.[2]
TheCanadian Unitarian Council similarly supports the Welcoming Congregation Program and recognizes Welcoming Congregations.[12]
The defunctInternational Council of Unitarians and Universalists helped advocate for LGBT rights in Nigeria and Kenya.[34]
From 1993 until 2016, there was a fellowship of LGBT Unitarian Universalists and supporters called Interweave Continental, with a mission to work to end oppression based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Interweave was a related organization of the UUA. Sometimes, an individual church's Welcoming Congregation Committee evolved into an Interweave Chapter.[35]
Founded in 2004, TRUUsT (Transgender Religious Professional Unitarian Universalists Together) is an organization of trans Unitarian Universalist ministers, religious educators, seminarians, and other leaders.[36]
