Religious Belief and the Queer Classroom - Measuring the Impact of Religious Affiliation on LGBTQ-Inclusive Education Practices

Oct 15, 2026

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This study examines how religious affiliation shapes lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, two spirit, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) inclusive education practices. Drawing on national survey data of pre-kindergarten to grade 12 educators, it applies multivariate analyses of variance to test whether affiliation influences multiple inclusive outcome measures. Findings indicate religious affiliation significantly affects educators’ likelihood of practicing LGBTQ-inclusive education, while pathways differ across religious groupings. Recommendations address interventions, inclusive teaching practices, visibility, and leadership.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Study scope and research questions

Literature review

Method and outcome measures

Religious Belief and the Queer Classroom: Measuring the Impact of Religious Affiliation on LGBTQ-Inclusive Education Practices Tracey Peter, University of Manitoba Abstract This study examines the influence of religious affiliation on lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, two spirit, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ)-inclusive practices. Using data from a national survey of educators from pre-kindergarten to grade 12, multivariate analyses of variance models were employed in order to test the effects of religious affiliation on several LGBTQ-inclusive outcome measures. Results show that religious affiliation does have a significant impact on the likelihood that educators will (or will not) practice LGBTQ-inclusive education, however, the pathways to such practices vary considerably across religious groupings. Recommendations are suggested in terms of intervention, inclusive teaching practices, visibility, and leadership. Keywords: LGBTQ-inclusive education, homophobia, transphobia, religious affiliation, teachers, Canada Religious faith is often characterized in Canadian media as being in conflict with LGBTQ-inclusive teaching practices and education, and scholars have reported on a number of clashes between religious rights claims and LGBTQ equality rights (MacDougall & Short, 2010) . When legislation was proposed in the three Canadian provinces of Ontario, in 2011, Manitoba, in 2012, and Alberta, in 2014, to support Gay Straight Alliances (GSAs) and other LGBTQ-inclusive interventions, there was, indeed, organized opposition from a wide range of faith communities (Liboro, Travers, & St. John, 2015; Short, 2012) . Such opposition has also been supported in research as previous studies have found an association between religious views against sexual and gender diversity with willingness to practice LGBTQ-inclusive education or intervene when witnessing homophobic or transphobic harassment (Taylor, Peter et al., 2015) . Yet there is a range of stances on sexual and gender diversity among religious denominations, and even within religious denominations that condemn same-sex marriage, many individuals do not share the official views of their faith community. For example, a 2014 Leger poll in Alberta, Canada’s most conservative province (Rayside, 2008, p. 71), found that only 18 percent of Catholics in Alberta opposed GSAs in schools (Howell, 2014), and many Catholic educators in a national study (Taylor, Peter et al., 2015) reported that they use various LGBTQ-inclusive teaching practices – even though Catholic Church doctrine describes homosexuality as “objectively disordered”(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2000, para. 2358), and Church leadership routinely denounces any legislative requirement to support LGBTQ students as a totalitarian evil (see Calgary Bishop Fred Henry’s blog on the subject, as cited in Bell, 2016) . The disconnect between condemnatory religious discourse about sexual and gender diversity and the LGBTQ-inclusive teaching practices of some but not all religiously affiliated educators raises the following question: are there co-factors that help explain why some religiously-affiliated educators do practice LGBTQ-inclusive education while others do not? The current study investigates the effect of religious affiliation by testing the mitigating effects of various co-factors (e.g., professional development, percep- tion of LGBTQ safety) on inclusive teaching and intervention practices among four groups of educators. The four groups of educators are organized by affiliation with a faith community, which are those with: (a) opposing,(b) supporting,(c) mixed views on same-sex marriage, or (d) those with no religious affiliation. More specifically, in assessing the importance of religious affiliation for teacher attitudes and practices related to LGBTQ-inclusive education, our study uses the official stance of diverse faith communities on same-sex marriage as a proxy for the community’s official attitude to

FAQs

What does the study investigate about LGBTQ-inclusive education practices?

It examines how religious affiliation influences educators’ LGBTQ-inclusive education practices and their likelihood of intervening in anti-LGBTQ harassment.

What data and analytical approach does the study use?

The study uses data from a national survey of educators from pre-kindergarten to grade 12 and applies multivariate analyses of variance models.

How do the findings relate to different religious groups?

Religious affiliation significantly affects whether educators practice LGBTQ-inclusive education, but the pathways to those practices vary considerably across religious groupings.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Muffet