Six brave members from the LGBTQ community opened up to a small but curious audience about their involvement with faith at the panel event, “Faces of Faith,” on Wednesday night.

The panelists represented both the variety of orientations within the gay community, as well as a huge span of religious preferences, from Methodist to Muslim, deist to Buddhist. This created a conversation where each panelist had a very unique and powerful story to tell about the role faith in their lives, as well as any challenges they have overcome with it.

The discussion was led by Val Erwin, program advisor for SMU’s Women and LGBT Center, who facilitated questions that encouraged the panelists to open up about their experiences. But it didn’t take long for the audience, albeit less than a dozen attendees, to speak up about their own curiosities about the intersection of faith and homosexuality. One member inquired about her personal studies on the importance of religion and asked the panel to share their own experiences in regards to the topic. Another talked about her gay son and their debacle about him coming out to a religious family. The advice the panel responded appeared to be above and beyond her expectations.

At the end of the night, it didn’t feel like a panel discussion of members of the LGBTQ community against non-members, but rather an intimate discussions among sensitive, attentive friends.

“It’s not hard to talk about the sexuality or the faith, but it’s hard to talk about my family,” admitted SMU junior Meghan Shaw, who sat on the panel. “But it’s affirming to know no one is going to attack you.”

The Women’s and LGBTQ Center has held a number of panel discussions so far this year and there are even still some more to come before the semester is over. Follow them on Facebook here for alerts of upcoming events.