Embedded Files
Credit: Photo published by The Independent in “Two-Spirit: Meet the Native Americans embracing their LGBT+ tribe members.” Freely available under Independent’s open-access news model
Sanctuary in Our Selves
Sanctuary in Our Selves
For a long time, queer and trans people have been told that we're sinners, broken, and unnatural. Yet, across different times and places, we've always discovered the sacred within ourselves and each other. From ballroom altars to two-spirit ceremonies, from abolitionist churches to ancestral dreaming, we've created spiritual communities in the face of exile, defiance, and adversity.
This module celebrates the spiritual tools that queer and trans people use to survive and thrive. Not all of us grew up in traditional families, and many of us were harmed by them. Still, what happens when we define holiness as reclaiming the spirit as liberation, not control?
Here, we create a sanctuary not despite who we are, but because of it.
Core Content
Core Content
Scholarly Article: Native American Two-Spirit and LGBTQ Health: A Systematic Review - Thomas et al.
A research synthesis exploring how Two-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQ folks experience spirituality, resilience, and health—highlighting spiritual roles, community care, and cultural survival..
Scholarly Article: Radical Care and Decolonial Futures - Ansloos et al.
Examines Indigenous queer/trans spirituality as a form of radical care—showing how cultural and spiritual health practices are woven through decolonial, future-oriented community efforts.
Research Report: The Queer and Transgender Resilience Workbook - Anneliese Singh, PhD, LPC
Includes spiritual healing exercises, reflective prompts, and rituals designed for queer and trans individuals to cultivate internal sanctuary and communal resilience.
Documentary (YouTube – Short): Re-Emergence (Two-Spirit Documentary) - Day of Pink
A ~7-minute pan-Indigenous piece focusing on Two-Spirit resurgence, ceremony, and reclaiming spirituality in modern Indigenous queer/trans communities.
Scholarly Article: Implicit and Explicit Spirituality in the Lives of Transgender and Older Adults - Fabre et al.
A peer-reviewed study exploring how trans adults find spiritual meaning through ritual, nature, community, and inward reflection, highlighting sacredness in everyday life.
Essay (THEM): How Practicing Spirituality Can Enrich Your Queer Life – Sofía Aguilar
A photo essay and reflection on trans joy—highlighting how self-expression, community gatherings, and creative resilience continue amid political threats.
Extra Credit
Extra Credit
Academic Thesis: Re-Queering Religion, Queering Spirituality - Siena Liesch
An honors thesis exploring trans and gender-diverse folks’ spiritual practices and lived religion frameworks—perfect for deeper study.
Reflect, Resist, Rejoice: Discussion & Practice
Reflect, Resist, Rejoice: Discussion & Practice
Reflection Questions (great for journaling or small group dialogue)
Reflection Questions (great for journaling or small group dialogue)
What has your relationship to spirituality or religion looked like over time?
Where have you found harm? Where have you found healing?
When have you felt most connected to something larger than yourself?
What did that connection feel like—in your body, your spirit, or your community?
How do you define the sacred on your own terms?
What people, places, or practices help you feel whole?
Are there rituals you’ve inherited, reclaimed, or created?
What would it mean to treat your joy, your grief, your queer/trans self as holy?
Critical Discussions Prompts (for classrooms, study groups, or peer-led facilitation)
Critical Discussions Prompts (for classrooms, study groups, or peer-led facilitation)
How have dominant religious institutions shaped mainstream narratives about queerness and transness?
How do those narratives show up in policy, education, or culture?
What are the differences between religion, spirituality, and ritual?
Why might reclaiming or reinventing spiritual practice matter for queer and trans folks?
How do queer and trans people build sanctuary in hostile or secular environments?
What are the risks, and what are the rewards?
What role do ancestors, lineage, or cultural traditions play in spiritual survival and thriving for LGBTQ+ communities?
Can spirituality be a site of resistance?
How do we make sure that our spiritual practices are liberatory and not extractive?
Creative + Collective Practice Prompts (for workshops, zines, or embodied learning)
Creative + Collective Practice Prompts (for workshops, zines, or embodied learning)
Create a personal altar (physical or digital) that reflects your queer/trans sacredness.
What objects, images, or materials belong there? What are you honoring?
Write a “Queer Psalm” or blessing.
It could be for your younger self, your community, your future. Speak it aloud or gift it to someone else.
Design a collective ritual for queer/trans healing.
What elements—sound, scent, story, movement—would make it powerful? Who would you invite?
Make a visual map of the people, places, or practices that have ever made you feel spiritually at home.
What themes or gaps do you notice?
Collaboratively define “sanctuary” without using the words “safe,” “holy,” or “church.”
What does it look like? Smell like? Who gets to rest there?
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