Abstract
This chapter describes experiences with religion and spirituality among the current cohort of sexual minority emerging adults. “Sexual minority” encompasses lesbian, gay, bisexual, and others who are out-groups on the basis of same-sex attraction, dating, sexual behavior, or orientation identity. We begin with this generation’s shared experience of having been adolescents during a particular phase of the Christian Right’s “culture wars,” which include growing up with religious intolerance of homosexuality. Then, we discuss the impact of religious organizations and movements that are affirming of sexual minorities. From there, our focus then narrows to the individual level, describing processes of positive sexual-minority identity development and integration of religious/spiritual with sexual-minority identity. Finally, we identify unique opportunities that the life stage of emerging adulthood offers to sexual minorities, which include solidarity with heterosexual peers’ own mixed experiences with religious ideologies around sexuality and emerging adults’ freedom to author their own religious/spiritual lives.