Gender & LGBTQ

Standard lists of history’s most influential religious leaders – among them Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) – tend to be predominantly, if not exclusively, male. Many religious groups, including Roman Catholics and Orthodox Jews, allow only men to be clergy, while others, including some denominations in the evangelical Protestant tradition, have lifted that restriction only in recent decades. Yet it often appears that the ranks of the faithful are dominated by women.

Gender equality is among the most widely accepted democratic principles around the world.

We looked at nine major religious organizations in the U.S. that both ordain women and allow them to hold top leadership slots.

In the last two decades, several religious groups have moved to allow same-sex couples to marry within their traditions.

Acceptance of homosexuality is rising across the broad spectrum of American Christianity, including among members of churches that strongly oppose homosexual relationships as sinful.

Religious institutions are starting to formally address the participation of transgender people in their congregations, much as they have with the issue of accepting homosexuals.

In wealthier nations, women are more likely than men to consider climate change a serious problem, be concerned it will harm them personally and say that major lifestyle changes are needed to solve the problem.

China’s rapid economic development, its urbanization and its culture will continue to play a role in family size and the population’s gender makeup.

The roughly 47% of the population today who were born under the one-child policy lived through a very different China than those born before.