What It’s Like to be a Queer Pagan Teen

It turns out that saying, “Mom, Dad, I’m gay,” is a lot easier than saying, “Mom, Dad, I worship the Greek Gods.” One of them might get your sanity questioned.

I never officially came out to my family as lesbian. At age ten, I started talking about liking girls and my amazing parents just rolled with it. It takes some time to get used to thinking of your Barbies-and-Disney-princesses daughter as gay, but I have the type of family that many queer kids dream about. 

Coming out as Pagan was a lot harder. In 7th grade, I started talking about Wicca and my Anglican-and-atheist parents were as... umm... uncomfortable as you can imagine. It took years of work on all of our parts to come to terms with my religious identity. My dad is an atheist and my mom is a progressive Episcopalian, so winter holidays are always quite the adventure.

The truth is that I can’t imagine being anything other than Pagan. I’ve been in love with the Theoi (Greek Gods) since early elementary school, and I believe that They’ve been with me for most of my lifetime. When I learned that Hellenic Polytheism is a real religion, it felt like coming home. You see, I still remember sitting in church as a little kid and wishing that time travel was real so I could worship the Greek gods. 

Then I realized that I didn’t need to time travel. Best day of my life. 

So I’m young, lesbian, and deeply religious, which some people consider an oxymoron. It's like living a  double life. On Monday-Friday, I'm walking to the school with a backpack on my shoulders. On the weekend I'm dancing through the woods with flowers in my hair or whispering chants in a room lit with candles. 

Maybe some Pagans are just “born this way.” Coming out of the broom closet felt like coming out as lesbian but with Gods and spirits. John Becket has an awesome article about Paganism as an orientation. I think he said it better than I can. 

To all the queer witchy kids who can’t imagine being any other way- You are valid. And who knows? Maybe we were Pagans in a past lifetime. 

With love,

Rose Eleusis 🌹