LGB and Religious Identities Integration: A Cluster Analysis Using Well-Being, Openness of Sexual Orientation, and Conflicting Religious Variables

The benefits of a religious identity for lesbian, gays, and bisexuals (LGB) are not distributed homogenously, specially when religiosity is imbued with negative beliefs on non-heterosexual orientations. The result of this process is an internal conflict between LGB and religious identities, which may cause negative mental health outcomes. Therefore, the present article aims to investigate the integration of religious and LGB identities among Brazilian lesbians, gays, and bisexuals, as well as its relationship with well-being, openness of sexual orientation, and conflicting religious variables. In order to do that, a hierarchical cluster analysis with 409 Brazilian cisgender LGBs aged 18–69 (M = 30.62, SD = 9.33) was conducted, resulting in four groups: Identified and Engaged (n = 66); Weakened LGB Identity (n = 88); Weakened Religious Identity (n = 154); and Identified Non-Engaged (n = 101). Generally, it was observed that individuals who can establish a strong identification with both groups, with or without engagement, presented less negative outcomes, suggesting an integration between religious and LGB identity. However, those who did not benefit from the identification with these groups and who presented a conflict in this relationship, did not managed to integrate their identity, experiencing more stressors. Findings show the necessity of more complex theoretical and methodological approaches that go beyond dichotomic perspectives while studying the integration of multiple identities related to sexual minorities.