Article published In: Journal of Language and Sexuality
Vol. 14:1 (2025) ► pp.92–115
A double-edged sword
Inclusive religious discourse and LGBTQIA+ prescriptivism in a Brazilian contemporary Christian church
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.
For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.
Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with Leiden University.
Published online: 3 February 2025
https://doi.org/10.1075/jls.00042.alv
https://doi.org/10.1075/jls.00042.alv
Abstract
This article examines Brazil’s LGBTQIA+ Inclusive Churches movement, focusing on the online discourse of the
Igreja Cristã Contemporânea (“Contemporary Christian Church”), supposedly the country’s most welcoming religious space
for LGBTQIA+ individuals. Employing a Foucauldian Critical Discourse Analysis, it studies how the church’s discourse can help naturalize
normative ideas of LGBTQIA+ identities. Data is retrieved from the church’s website, a series of eight YouTube videos, and their comment
sections. Results indicate that despite welcoming LGBTQIA+ believers and acting as an inclusive religious space, the church follows
prescriptive behaviors rooted in cis-het and homonormativity. Regardless of its LGBTQIA+ positive self-representation and ingroup
affirmation approach, the church propagates a “queer” discourse embedded in traditional beliefs toward sexual relationships and practices,
marriage, and parochial obedience.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Previous studies
- 3.Theoretical framework
- 4.Methodology
- 5.Data analysis and discussion
- 5.1Who is Marcos Gladstone?
- 5.2How should an ICC Christian be?
- 5.3ICC’s “queer” discourse, a double-edged sword
- 6.Conclusion
- Notes
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