Permanencia de las personas creyentes de la diversidad sexual en instituciones eclesiales

This contribution examines why LGBTQ+ Christians remain within religious institutions that have often marginalized or rejected sexual and gender diversity. Drawing on reflections shared by researchers working in Mexico, Argentina, Spain, and Italy, it explores how faith, religious identity, community belonging, and affective ties shape decisions to remain within churches. The discussion highlights diverse ways of negotiating this belonging, including distancing from institutional structures, limiting the visibility of sexual or gender identities, resignifying religious teachings, and seeking to transform religious communities from within. Across the different contexts considered, early religious socialization, family ties, community relationships, personal experiences of faith, and a strong sense of belonging emerge as important factors. The contribution also emphasizes that churches are not monolithic spaces, but are marked by internal tensions, negotiations, and possibilities for change. Remaining within religious communities can therefore involve both accommodation and contestation. Ultimately, the text argues that understanding LGBTQ+ religious persistence requires recognizing faith as a meaningful dimension of identity and belonging, while also critically addressing the heteronormative and gendered structures that continue to produce exclusion within religious institutions.