Religion is not restricted to those of the LGBTQ+ community. Now there is the opportunity for queer and non-queer students to come together for religious purposes thanks to the new student organization, Open Arms of Christ.

Students gather at the first meeting of Open Arms of Christ. Photo by. Lily Cartier

The Open Arms of Christ student organization was recently formed back in January by sophomores Lonnah Royale and Lily Cartier. The organization is meant to be a safe space for queer students and allies who want to reconnect or have faith in God.

The pair created Open Arms of Christ because there were no other religious organizations that were oriented specifically for people of the LGBTQ+ community.

“I was really mad one day, really exceptionally mad after I came back from a campus ministry large group. I could not tell you what I was mad about, homophobia obviously, but in what context I do not remember,” Cartier said. “ I was angry texting Lonnah, ‘We could just start our own group.’”

Cartier explained how she met Royale and got involved with religion. “Something compelled me to attend Lonnah’s Bible study, and then Lonnah said she’d make me cupcakes, so then I had to go back the next week,” Cartier said. “then I just kept coming back, then I was [like], ‘OMG, God is real!’”

Royale reclaimed her faith last year and began to bring religion back into her life while involved with campus ministries. In the campus ministries however, sexuality was not talked about even though there were others that wanted to discuss the topic.

“As a queer person, I felt like I really had to hide a big part of myself from them,” Royale said. “I’ve been in college with my Christian circles and then my queer circles, and they’re these two groups of friends that have stayed separate.”

Cartier and Royale both expressed that this organization is beneficial because it has given them the chance to reconnect and understand religion, but also gives other queer students the chance to give religion a shot and to have a better understanding of how they fit into this world.

“If I would’ve had a group like this when I was younger, or even when I started high school or when I started [attending] the university, I think my whole life would be different,” Cartier said.

Royale expressed that they feel comfortable being a queer person and that they were religious in high school, but lost touch with their faith for a period of time, due to negative experiences with church and their identity.

Last year, Royale got involved with religion again and had a better understanding of their identity and faith. “I learned I didn’t have to keep them separate just because I felt so loved by God, and that there is no reason my sexuality isn’t loved too,” Royale said.

Sophomore Caleb Stokes attended one of the meetings and had some strong emotions about the club. “I guess I’ve always had a, not necessarily a passion, but my heart kind of broke for the LGBT community on campus,” Stokes said. “As a Christ follower, I just felt like the LGBT community as a whole in our culture just isn’t feeling the love that Christ would want them to feel…”

Stokes said he was compelled to attend Open Arms of Christ and meet other people through the organization. Stokes said he was compelled because he wanted to learn how he can show love to the LGBT community in a genuine way without upsetting people.

Frequent attendee junior Brock Sonju had discovered Open Arms of Christ when he saw posters for it in the hallways and eventually met Cartier and Royale when they were tabling to promote the group.

Sonju has not had a very personal relationship with religion but has been using the past couple of years of being away from family and being at college to explore his beliefs in religion and in God.

“I think that it’s important to believe in something,” Sonju said. “In general, in the media and in all stories it's like the divide is either Christian or not-Christian. In politics, it just seems like all Republicans are these hateful and hardcore Christians, but that’s not what it means to be Christian.”

Cartier and Royale’s goal with this organization is to give queer, and non-queer, students the opportunity and space to form a better connection with faith and to learn there is a place for the LGBTQ+ community in religion.

“I feel like I’ve found so much peace in religion, and in God, and in Christianity that I have not found anywhere else in my life [and] I would love for other people to experience this as well,” Cartier said. “If you are a queer person who has been hurt by religion… we are always here for you.”

Finding Religion in the LGBTQ+ community"