Breaking Silence: LGBTQ+ Catholics Share Stories of Faith and Belonging

On a quiet August afternoon in Bonn, Germany, Mirjam Gräve sits in the shade outside her parish school, her hands folded quietly atop a worn prayer book. “This church is our home, which we don’t want to give up,” she says, eyes tender but fierce. Mirjam, a religion teacher and an out lesbian, is one of many LGBTQ+ Catholics who are, despite tradition and turbulent debates, refusing to let go of their faith or their place in the Catholic community. On August 1, 2025, Mirjam shared her story alongside others who walk the same sometimes-hard, often hopeful, path of belonging within a church that doesn’t always know how to receive them.Catholic Lesbian Religious Educator Evaluates Progress in the Church

A home they’re not leaving behind

For Mirjam and her wife, both raised in traditional Catholic families, the journey is complicated. They love their faith, teach the next generation about hope and kindness, and still experience moments where they feel the church doors might swing shut. “I continue to advocate for the need for change. I’m not without hope: There are inclusive and welcoming approaches within the church that also appeal to us,” she explains. This spirit of resilience isn’t just personal; it echoes among #OutInChurch, a movement championed by Catholic LGBTQ+ workers determined to build visible, authentic lives within the church rather than walking away from it.

Visible. Vulnerable. Unyielding.

The stories that surface in 2025 are not just about struggle. They’re about presence, about showing up, on church steps, in classrooms, at parish meetings, simply as themselves. Mirjam gently pushes back on the idea of LGBTQ+ “pride” as outside the church’s embrace. “I’m definitely proud of ‘OutInChurch’ and what it has set in motion … we show ourselves and contribute,” she reflects, but adds, “What I’m not proud of, however, is my homosexuality itself, because I’ve had it since birth. It’s my gift from God.” For many, faith and identity are intertwined, sometimes in tension, always in hope.

A chorus of faith and challenge

Across parishes, in whispered prayers and public testimonials, LGBTQ+ Catholics are breaking the silence. The work is slow, the welcome uneven, but their voices are changing conversations among clergy and communities. As Mirjam puts it, “We are here.” To some, it’s a quiet resistance; to others, a joyful revolution. And even as other churches open doors more quickly, these Catholics remain, rooted in faith, believing that home is something you build, again and again, from the inside out.Read more about Mirjam’s story and OutInChurch here.