Six participants said their spiritual identity directly contributed to their overall sense of self-acceptance (“I used to struggle a lot more with certain issues and do less, less so now. Because I’m more secure and constant in who I am, like a daughter of God” 121) (6/11, 55%). Recognizing the struggle of gender identity was not the only factor defining who they are and spiritual identity served as a security and a comfort while they continued navigating their gender identity. (“Like the Lord’s not upset at me. He’s not going to smite me or send me to hell for just loving a girl rather than a boy in a romantic way”, 101; “It influences my gender identity insofar as I am comfortable being the way that I am because I do feel that I was created this way. I do feel very comfortable in my own skin and being the way that I am and I do feel like a lot of that is because of my faith”, 112; (“I used to struggle a lot more with certain issues and do less, less so now. Because I’m more secure and constant in who I am, like a daughter of God. So, I think He’s [God] really just helped me to become more conscious of who I am. And so, for me, it’s been a positive, like, connection for the two” 121). Of the five participants who did not fall into this category, four simply did not mention how SI affected their self acceptance, and for one their SI made it “ kind of like really difficult coming out to [themselves]”(105)
