hello nicoletta i am 17, an orthodox christian, trans guy, and living in the rockies. All my gay friends hate the church and there are like no teenagers at mine anyway cuz were small, but the ones that are stick to their parents. I also am not out (but have known since age 11) and am really kind of afraid. But am going to come out anyway, because i want to suffer for the sake of others who will inevitably come after me. Would love to talk to you!!! Doubt you will see this. But if you do reply and ill give you my # or discord or email or whatever. May God protect us. I hope you get a cute awesome girlfriend and get married in church. I would go. God bless you.

I’ve always wondered the same thing about lavender marriages. Once when I was doing online orthodox high school, I was buying some manga (Japanese comics) from this senior. So he sent me a photo of his bookshelf so I could see all the different comics I could choose from. I saw he had a famous lesbian manga and I ended up asking him if he was ok with it (gay people lol). After a while we came out to each other as gay and lesbian. We lost touch but he once reached out to me again and said if I ever wanted to be in a lavender relationship he’d be willing. I still think about him.

I assume by lavender marriages, you mean same-sex marriages. There are several variants that I know of. Church-sanctioned marriages, blessings conducted by a priest, I believe, are quite rare. But since there are no official statistics, it is very difficult to say. There are also couples that are very loyal to each other and have decided that their marriage be Christ-centric, whether or not both parties are orthodox. There are also marriages where only one partner is Orthodox and faithful to the Church, and the other is not. They may or may not have a civil marriage, where the government allows such unions.

Sorry to be so vague, but that is all that I can offer. On my website is the wedding that the husband and I used, adapted from the “rite of brotherhood’. It is under the resources tab. We were blessed to be married by an Orthodox priest.

Astro,
Please email me privately about the online group. Orthodoxandgay@yahoo.com

hi it’s astro again and i’d actually love to know where i can join these groups because the only ones i know of are defunct

Thank you for your help, Christian.

I don’t know if this is too late of a reply. But I know some LGBTQ tolerant Orthodox in Melbourne

Hello Maria,
Thank you so much for your comments. It is very true that the Earthly Church has many faults and is in need of repentance, as we all do. However, we must never forget that Christ is perfect and His love for us immeasurable and through Him we are perfected. For those of us who love the Orthodox Church, we know that we must remain vigilant and hope in God for change. The Earthly Church has faced many horrendous times, and we know that this also will be temporary.
Thank you for your prayers, love, and support for the LGBTQ Orthodox community. May our Lord hear your fervent prayer. Andriy

It’s so good to see/know there are places, however small, for lgbtq+ people in the Orthodox Church. It’s a horrifying thing and weighs heavy on my heart that the church and religion I love so dearly can be discriminatory towards anyone.
While not outwardly hateful like the extremist groups evangelical Protestants, I am disheartened by the church’s actions or lack thereof on issues facing our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters.
I continue to pray to the Theotokos to intercede for us to Christ our lord and savior, to guide the church towards understanding and kindness and clear the minds of church leaders when it comes to accepting all unconditionally.
Sincerely,
A straight ally in the Greek Orthodox Church who cares deeply for my brothers/sisters/siblings in Christ.