Exploring leisure constraints among lesbian women who attend a straight-friendly church

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences and perspectives of leisure constraints among lesbian women who attended a straight-friendly (LGBTQ-focused) church in Eastern Canada. Seven lesbians completed individual interviews, which were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed thematically. Findings suggested that participants identified the church as a meaningful source of leisure. However, participants also viewed many churches and religion in general to be a source of leisure constraint as they had prior experiences of churches being unwelcoming or leading them to internalize feelings of homophobia. Findings also suggested that participants experienced constraints related to romantic partners if their partners did not want to attend church regularly or had negative attitudes toward religion. Interestingly, however, attending a straight-friendly church with a romantic partner led to a sense of empowerment as participants were able to demonstrate affection in a safe social setting.