Rethinking “The Orphan”: Towards a Unitarian Universalist Imperative for Supporting LGBTQIA+ Grievers Experiencing Living Family Loss

Abstract

The living loss of family after coming out can lead to disenfranchised grief for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Such an experience could be considered an orphaning, a state of vulnerability that numerous religious traditions respond to with mandates of care. The plurality of religious and moral sources that inspire Unitarian Universalist moral and ethical praxis illuminate a throughline care for the orphan that transcends mere material offerings by expanding into care for emotional well-being. This interreligious throughline can undergird a Unitarian Universalist imperative to care for the grief of those within the LGBTQIA+ community who have been "orphaned" by living loss after coming out, allowing for those within Unitarian Universalism at the denominational and congregational levels to fill in critical gaps in religious praxis and to live more fully and authentically into the denomination's welcoming and affirming values.