TY - JOUR
T1 - Queer religiosity through place-making and pakikipagkapwa
T2 - an ethnographic study of the LGBTS Christian Church in the Philippines
AU - Labor, Jonalou S.
AU - Agonos, Mariam Jayne M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - In the Philippines, where traditional religious groups dominate discourses on gender and sexuality, the LGBTS Christian Church seeks to ‘equalize, feminize, indigenize, and scandalize the good news of Jesus Christ’. Using ethnography, we conducted participant observations and interviewed pastors and church members to document their embodied experiences as they understand and interpret their participation in the LGBTS Christian Church. The study asks: How does the LGBTS Christian Church practice queer religiosity through place-making and pakikipagkapwa (a shared sense of self)? We argue that gendered practices are intricately tied to social spaces, and these gender identities are integrated with religious identities. Findings show that the church co-constructs faith through inclusive practices and liturgy, challenging traditional Christian views on gender and sexuality. We describe how the church delineates and intersects with the Catholic orthodoxy, elucidate how they queer their religious spaces and interrogate how these spaces enable pakikipagkapwa among its members. The church’s place-making and communicative practices create a safe space for LGBTQ+ individuals to practice Catholic ideals, fostering social inclusion. This study contributes to gender and sexuality discourses by documenting how church stakeholders can queer traditional Christian practices, yet preserve spiritual significance.
AB - In the Philippines, where traditional religious groups dominate discourses on gender and sexuality, the LGBTS Christian Church seeks to ‘equalize, feminize, indigenize, and scandalize the good news of Jesus Christ’. Using ethnography, we conducted participant observations and interviewed pastors and church members to document their embodied experiences as they understand and interpret their participation in the LGBTS Christian Church. The study asks: How does the LGBTS Christian Church practice queer religiosity through place-making and pakikipagkapwa (a shared sense of self)? We argue that gendered practices are intricately tied to social spaces, and these gender identities are integrated with religious identities. Findings show that the church co-constructs faith through inclusive practices and liturgy, challenging traditional Christian views on gender and sexuality. We describe how the church delineates and intersects with the Catholic orthodoxy, elucidate how they queer their religious spaces and interrogate how these spaces enable pakikipagkapwa among its members. The church’s place-making and communicative practices create a safe space for LGBTQ+ individuals to practice Catholic ideals, fostering social inclusion. This study contributes to gender and sexuality discourses by documenting how church stakeholders can queer traditional Christian practices, yet preserve spiritual significance.
KW - gender identity
KW - kapwa
KW - place-making
KW - Queer religiosity
KW - symbolic interactionism
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85219681752&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/09589236.2025.2467880
DO - 10.1080/09589236.2025.2467880
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85219681752
SN - 0958-9236
JO - Journal of Gender Studies
JF - Journal of Gender Studies
ER -