"I’m a cancelled Christian – I was pro-life and anti-abortion but I’ve changed my stance"

A “cancelled Christian” who grew up believing in pro-life and anti-abortion has changed her stance after “deconstructing” her faith.

Cherie Transeau, 26, was brought up as a fundamentalist Christian – which she describes as believing in “no errors in the bible” and taking it as a “literal interpretation”.

She says she was taught about “extreme beliefs on women” – and says she didn't think a woman could be a president or take a leadership role within the church.

Cherie says she was told abortion was “worse than the Holocaust” and protested from the age of eight with her church – something she now feels “ashamed” of.

When Cherie started at a Christian college, she began to question her beliefs and claims the people surrounding her had “no mercy” or “empathy”.

She began to research her stance on pro-life and realised the bible verses "didn’t match up to a view of anti-abortion".

Cherie stopped going to church during lockdown and said it “deprogrammed” her and she now no longer believes in fundamentalism and supports pro-choice.

She still has her faith and refers to herself as a “progressive Christian” or a “cancelled Christian”.

Cherie, a property manager owner, from Alexandria, Virginia, US, said: “If you questioned anything you were going to hell.

“Every Friday the churches and I would go around protesting against abortion.

“I’m so ashamed of it now.

“I was told abortion was worse than the Holocaust.

“I was told a women should close their legs.

“I was told they were mostly late term abortions.

“Most people don’t question it.

“Women should be able to have sex if they want to.

"I was taught it's bad, bad, bad but when you're ok it's ok.

"I didn't get a proper sex education.

"I was told women are there to keep their husbands from stop cheating.

"it was very hard to go from it's bad to ok this is good."

Cherie grew up believing the LGBTQ+ community was a “lie” and women “didn’t have a huge role in society”.

She said fundamentalists "really want to have an influence in politics to push their beliefs further".