Innate Religious Identity

Abstract

This volume is devoted to predicting the direction sexuality law will take after the Obergefell ruling. My essay continues my interrogation of legal attentiveness to children’s identity development in custody disputes. LGBT advocates and parents benefited from science that promoted understanding of sexual orientation and gender identity as innate traits. Emerging neuroscience suggests that religiosity may be an innate characteristic. My essay considers whether the science is sufficiently developed to support re-framing of religious identity and there is a failure to offer legal protections to religious parents.

Keywords: religion, LGBT, child custody, identity, neuroscience