The search for human rights: words and actions of an inclusive church on the struggle for social recognition

Abstract

Due to the growing religious influence in political discourse against sexual minorities and gender identity, this article aims to present religious alternatives for valuing these identities, their processes of formation and means of action in the public environment. To this goal, the analysis of data obtained in participant observation in the Church of the Metropolitan Community is performed from the perspective of Habermas and Honneth, contributing to the debate on the relevance of Critical Theory as a tool of analysis. It is noted that the actions of the denomination in the public space in the fight for LGBT rights is based on a process of struggle for social recognition, generating not only a discursive dispute, but also political actions in the public space, aiming at the transformation of society. In doing so, the denomination becomes a religious arm in the broader LGBT movement, dialoguing with both other denominations and society more broadly.