Purity Culture Dropout™ Queer Support Groups

Pssst- You are queer enough for this group.

find comfort, ease, and joy in your sexuality.

I wasn’t raised in purity culture, but it’s my mission to help people those of you who were to find comfort, ease, and joy in your sexuality- that includes in your LGBTQ+ identity.

If you were raised in a non-affirming religious environment, your experience of your sexual orientation and gender identity has likely been complicated by that. You might feel grief about not having a clear understanding of your identity earlier, or regret about the choices you were not able to make. You might feel like a late bloomer compared to your peers, or feel some trepidation about even claiming a queer identity. You might struggle with how to build community, how much of yourself to share with family, or how to come out at all.

You might even be wondering how to live openly and authentically when the current political climate and policies directed at LGBTQ+ lives are fueled by the same religious faith you’re no longer part of.

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These groups are tailored specifically to your experience.

The Purity Culture Dropout™ Queer Support Groups have supported hundreds of people in building resilience, community, and a more clear, confident understanding of themselves.

When you join a Purity Culture Dropout™ Queer Support Group, you’ll meet virtually with other LGBTQ+ folks who were raised in purity culture. Throughout the course of eight weeks, we’ll have moderated discussions on a variety of topics related to identity, sexuality, gender, relationships, life after purity culture, and more!

As your facilitator, I’m a member of the community and have also worked with LGBTQ+ youth and adults in my professional life for over two decades. I will provide different learning topics each week, and facilitate meaningful discussions on each topic.

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A pink, brain-like structure with a green stem or stalk at the bottom.
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I designed the Purity Culture Dropout™ Queer Support Groups with these specific objectives:

  • To provide participants with sense of community and belonging and cultivate a positive attitude toward being LGBTQ+

  • To help participants gently work through religious sexual shame

  • To help participants gain a sense of clarity and comfort with their sexual identity

  • To provide relevant sexuality education to participants

We have members who:

  • Are parents

  • Are single

  • Are divorced

  • Are newly out

  • Aren't out at all

  • Are still Christian

  • Are decidedly NOT Christian

  • Are shy about joining

  • Are chatty and ready to go

  • Have just left the church

  • Left their church and deconstructed years ago

  • Are partnered in a relationship that looks straight to others

  • Are just dipping their toes into queer dating for the first time

  • Have never dated or had a sexual experience

  • Represent every letter of the LGBTQ+ acronym

  • Have no idea what letter of the acronym they might be!

  • Are asexual! (or might be? We’ll talk about it!)

  • Are neurodivergent (you’re very welcome here)!

  • Feel like imposters and aren’t sure if they should have joined!

  • Are aged twenty to sixty-five (if you’re older than that, you’re also welcome- get in here!)

As your facilitator, I promise to provide you with a welcoming environment, education, support, warmth, and pep talks about what a badass you are.

We’ll support each other through difficult family relationships, breakups, divorces, job stuff, coming out, general life anxiety, politics, grief, and loss. We’ll also have fun! We’ll laugh, and we’ll celebrate queer joy together. We’ll offer each other encouragement for our personal wins, every day victories, and the special experience of being a queer person in this world.

I’ve been running the Purity Culture Dropout™ Queer Support Groups since 2020. In that time I’ve seen friendships and chosen family form. Members get together and hang out in real life, even ones who live far from each other. Many of us (me included) get on reunion video calls to catch up and stay in each other’s lives. The relationships formed in these groups are truly special. 

If you’re seeking community who understands you, this is where you’ll find it.

As a bonus, being an alumni of these groups means that I’ll offer you occasional discounts to my other classes, programs, and educational material. When we work together in this capacity, I am always happy to offer you further support.

These groups will run again in January 2027.

Future members, I can’t wait to meet you! ❤️

“The biggest transformation I witnessed in myself and the rest of the group came when we started noticing how much we apologized after sharing our stories. We were afraid to say the wrong thing, talk too much, and take up too much space. After all, we were raised to be the good, quiet ones who serve others and not ourselves. Over time we caught ourselves saying sorry and even joked about it. Creating space for people to open up about religious trauma and sexuality in a meaningful way is no easy task but Erica did it every week. Together we addressed the shame that in the past had kept us hiding parts of ourselves that desperately wanted to come out. What a joy it was to find connection in a group like this--to show up as my whole fucking self and be accepted. I've been in therapy for years trying to reconnect with my sexuality and talking about that with others solidified the progress I've made.”

—T

“There’s something markedly exceptional about Erica. She believes us. Even though she didn’t grow up like we did, she believes us. She believes our stories, our traumas, our struggles. And she likes us. She genuinely likes us. For those of us who grew up in high control religion and purity culture, I think we are familiar with our stories being doubted, questioned, or corrected. The deep insecurities we have carried since childhood, that we simply are not accepted or liked for who we are because of the questions we ask, the hesitancies we’ve felt, the doubts we’ve expressed, the struggles we cannot seem to overcome, or our sexual curiosities? Erica meets them all, meet us all, right where we are. She does so with unfettered welcome and kindness and gentleness. We’re not a project or an agenda or a cause to save. We’re people with a lot of fuckin’ baggage, and she offers a safe, steady place to bring it to the table. Our vulnerabilities and fears and desires are held carefully. I simply cannot say enough about how good she is.”

—L