9,398 Churches Said Yes. After Decades of Harm, Denominations Are Choosing Inclusion.

The Harm That Came First

For most of modern history, churches were not safe places for LGBTQ people. They were the places that taught families to reject their children. The places that funded conversion therapy. The places where silence about queer lives was enforced from the pulpit.

Nearly 700,000 LGBT adults in the United States have been subjected to conversion therapy. Half of them were adolescents when it happened. Stanford Medicine research found that conversion practices are linked to depression, PTSD, and suicidal ideation. The Trevor Project found that LGBTQ+ young people exposed to conversion therapy in the past year reported suicidal ideation at 61% and suicide attempts at 35%.

The Williams Institute at UCLA found that LGB people who underwent conversion therapy had nearly double the odds of lifetime suicidal ideation, 75% higher odds of planning suicide, and 88% higher odds of attempting it.

The cost is not abstract. The Trevor Project and the Jed Foundation estimated that conversion therapy costs the United States $9.23 billion annually in direct costs and associated harms.

90% of homeless LGBTQ youth at the Ali Forney Center who experienced family rejection say the rejection was rooted in their parents’ religious beliefs.

That is what “the church was not welcoming” means in practice. It means kids on the street. It means adults who cannot enter a sanctuary without a trauma response. It means decades of people being told that the most fundamental thing about them is a sin.

The affirming church movement did not start from a neutral place. It started from wreckage.

Apologies That Named the Damage

In 2024 and 2025, major denominations stopped speaking in generalities and started naming what they did.

The United Church of Canada (August 2025) delivered a formal apology at its 45th General Council in Calgary:

“We, The United Church of Canada, express our deepest apologies to all those who have experienced homophobia, transphobia, and biphobia within The United Church of Canada.”

United Church of Canada, formal apology at the 45th General Council, August 2025

The apology named specific harms: loss of income, harassment, being denied access to church leadership, threats to personal safety. It acknowledged that silence was complicity: “Homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia have also been present in the times when we remained silent or ignorant instead of actively ensuring policies of inclusion.”

Bishop Ramón Bejarano of San Diego (June 2024) apologized during a Pride Mass at St. John the Evangelist Church:

“I apologize for the pain and distress that I and the Church have caused to many of you. I apologize for the stigmatization and trauma we have caused to others, because we have told them that they are not valued and that they are not worthy of the love of God.”

Bishop Ramón Bejarano, Diocese of San Diego, Pride Mass, June 2024

He said the change came from listening: “It was not until I heard the stories of those present that I realized the pain, the sorrow, the stigma and trauma that we have caused.” The Mass was co-sponsored by seven parishes and supported by Cardinal Robert McElroy.

Cardinal Wilton Gregory (January 2025) publicly apologized to LGBTQ Catholics, one of the highest-ranking U.S. Catholic leaders to do so.

These are not routine statements. A Catholic bishop saying “we told them they are not worthy of the love of God” from the altar during Pride month is a break with centuries of institutional practice. Whether it leads to policy change is a separate question. That it happened at all matters to the people in the pews who never expected to hear it.

9,398 Churches & Growing

GayChurch.org lists 9,398 LGBTQ-affirming congregations worldwide. The number is accelerating.

Denomination	Affirming program	Congregations	Members
United Church of Christ	Open and Affirming	1,743	350,000+
United Methodist Church	Reconciling	1,439	Growing post-2024
Evangelical Lutheran (ELCA)	Reconciling in Christ	1,138	—
Presbyterian (PCUSA)	More Light	230-330	—
American Baptist	Welcoming and Affirming	Growing	—
Metropolitan Community Church	Founded on inclusion (1968)	130+ worldwide	—

The UCC adds one to two new Open and Affirming congregations per week.

2024: The United Methodist Church Changed Everything

In 2024, the United Methodist Church’s General Conference removed all constraints on LGBTQ ministry and clergy. Every restriction. After 48 years of internal conflict, the denomination voted to allow LGBTQ ordination, same-sex marriages, and full participation in church life.

The vote triggered the largest denominational schism since the Civil War. Conservative congregations left. Progressive congregations stayed and grew. The 1,439 Reconciling UMC churches that remain represent a denomination that chose inclusion over institutional comfort.

Trans, Nonbinary & Intersex Inclusion

On November 12, 2025, leaders of 11 religious traditions issued a landmark interfaith statement declaring that transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people “are worthy of love, support, and protection.”

“You are holy. You are sacred. We love you. We support you, and we will protect you.”

Joint statement from 11 religious denominations, November 12, 2025

The signatories included the Unitarian Universalist Association, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, Friends General Conference, Metropolitan Community Churches, Union for Reform Judaism, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), United Church of Christ, Reconstructing Judaism, and the Episcopal Church.

The statement came at a moment when state legislatures across the country were passing bills targeting trans youth. It was a direct counter-message from religious institutions: the people your government is targeting are sacred to us.

The UCC maintains dedicated transgender and nonbinary ministries. The Presbyterian Church issued guidance on supporting transgender congregants. The Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania published LGBTQIA+ resources for 2026. The Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists launched Viewed and Voiced, a publication centering gender-diverse voices in member churches.

Affirming does not always mean trans-affirming. If you are transgender or nonbinary, ask specifically. Look for congregations that use inclusive language in their welcome statements, have trans members in visible roles, and name gender identity alongside sexual orientation in their affirming policies.

Houston, Austin, Orlando, Miami

These are not coastal enclaves. These are churches in states that are simultaneously passing anti-LGBTQ legislation. The congregations are voting with their theology while the legislatures vote with their politics.

In Houston, Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church runs one of the largest gay-supportive ministries in the country. Bering Church has been open to all since 1848. Kindred, in the Montrose neighborhood, partners with Montrose Grace Space to serve homeless LGBTQ youth.

In Austin, University Christian Church has been officially Open and Affirming since 2022. Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian has LGBTQ pastoral staff and pronoun pins. Vox Veniae has been affirming for over a decade. First Methodist Downtown flies the flag.

In Orlando, Joy Metropolitan Community Church has all LGBTQ pastors. St. Richard’s Episcopal has been welcoming LGBTQ members since the 1990s. In Miami, Coral Gables Congregational UCC is a top-rated affirming congregation.

How to Find One

ChurchClarity.org rates churches on whether they clearly state their LGBTQ policies. GayChurch.org lets you search by state. Each denomination uses a different term for affirming status:

Presbyterian: “More Light”
ELCA Lutheran: “Reconciling in Christ”
United Church of Christ: “Open and Affirming”
United Methodist: “Reconciling”
American Baptist: “Welcoming and Affirming”

The Metropolitan Community Church was founded in 1968 specifically on LGBTQ affirmation. It was the first denomination built around inclusion rather than arriving at it.

If you have experienced religious trauma, the Trevor Project offers resources on navigating faith and identity. You do not owe any institution your presence. An affirming church exists for when you are ready, not before.

What You Can Do Now

If you are LGBTQ and looking for a faith community, search GayChurch.org or ChurchClarity.org. Ask specifically about trans and nonbinary inclusion if that matters to you.
If you attend a church that has not taken a position, ask your pastor or board to make the church’s LGBTQ policy explicit and public. ChurchClarity’s research shows that clarity itself is an act of welcome.
If you have experienced religious trauma, the Trevor Project and Q Christian Fellowship offer peer support and resources. You are not alone in this.