%0 Journal Article %J Sexuality research & social policy : journal of NSRC : SR & SP %D 2009 %T Local Impacts of Religious Discourses on Rights to Express Same-Sex Sexual Desires in Peri-Urban Rio de Janeiro. %A García, Jonathan %A Laboy, Miguel Muñoz %A de Almeida, Vagner %A Parker, Richard %N 3 %P 44-60 %R 10.1525/srsp.2009.6.3.44 %V 6 %X This article reports on a study that examined how religious discourses of inclusion and exclusion-in Roman Catholic, evangelical Protestant, and Afro-Brazilian religious traditions-affected people's rights to express same-sex sexual desires, behaviors, and identities in the socioeconomically marginalized urban periphery of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Using extended ethnographic observation of institutions and religious events over a period of 2 years, the authors identified how sexual rights were constructed within religious discourses and conducted ethnographic interviews with 45 religious leaders. In the low-income and violent urban periphery of Rio de Janeiro, religious leaders and institutions play key roles in molding community inclusion and exclusion. A comparison of the 3 major religious denominations shows a diversity of discourses about same-sex sexual desires and their impacts on community formation. %8 2009 Sep 1