Are jewish people allowed to be gay
The sources of Judaism’s traditional position on homosexuality and queer issues are skillfully known. Two verses in Leviticus (Leviticus 18:23 and Leviticus 20:13) express unequivocal condemnation of male homosexual sex (although it is not clear whether what is referred to is intercourse or all sexual acts between men). According to Leviticus 20:13: “If a guy lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have dedicated an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”
READ: Putting The Prohibition Against Homosexuality in Context
As evident by its language, the biblical prohibition does not extend to female homosexual acts, though later commentators disapproved of lesbianism. One rabbinic root associates female homosexuality with the activities of the Egyptians and Canaanites, from which the Jews are supposed to abstain. Other authorities describe lesbianism as lewd or promiscuous, but do not consider it a capital offense. The Leviticus verses also imply that it is the act of homosexual sex, not the queer person, that is abhorred.
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Homosexuality in Jewish Law
Among the sexual perversions proscribed as criminal offenses in the moral code of the Torah are homosexual relations between males (Lev. 18:22). Both offending parties are threatened with capital punishment (Lev. 20:13), though minors under 13 years of age are exempt from this as from any other penalty (Sanh. 54a). Talmudic rule extends the prohibition, but not the penalty, which is limited to flagellation, also to lesbianism, i.e., homosexual intimacies between women, based on the general warning not to indulge in the abhorrent practices of the Egyptians and the Canaanites (Sifra 9:8). While the laws on both offenses are codified by Maimonides (Yad, Issurei Bi’ah, 1:14; and 21:8), the prohibition of homosexuality proper is omitted from R. Joseph Caro’sShulhan Arukh. This omission reflects the perceived absence of homosexuality among Jews rather than any difference of views on the criminality of these acts.
The Bible refers to actual incidents involving homosexuality only in describing the abominations of the sinful city of Sodom, where the entire population demanded of Lot the surrender of his visitors (Gen. 19:5), i.e., have carnal truth of th
“Are there gay Jews?”
I’ve often been asked: do you have problems as a Jew in Germany? And I have to say: I’ve actually had more negative experiences related to my homosexuality. I always wear the Magen David, the Star of David, around my neck. In the summer at the pool, it’s clearly visible. And I’ve never had problems with it. In Germany today, I can exist my homosexuality as well as my faith, my Jewishness. So as a Jew I’ve made my peace with Germany.
I arrive from a secular family: we’re believers, and we’re part of a congregation, but we’re not strictly pious. Especially when you’re young, when you spend hour partying and enjoying life, and then you go to synagogue, you can have difficulties. When I came out of the closet and started to exist my homosexuality openly, I noticed that it disturbed people that I wasn’t as much a part of the congregation anymore. I no longer felt at home in my parents’ collective, so I left. I contain always felt like a bit of an alien there – like I didn’t really belong.
Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ+ Issues: Reform Judaism
BACKGROUND
According to the Union for Reform Judaism, “The great contribution of Reform Judaism is that it has enabled the Jewish people to introduce innovation while preserving tradition, to embrace diversity while asserting commonality, to affirm views without rejecting those who doubt, and to carry faith to sacred texts without sacrificing critical scholarship.”
While synagogues operate as autonomous communities, the Reform Movement follows policies set by the Union of Reform Judaism and the Core Conference of American Rabbis and draws on the affiliated resources of such organizations as the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism or Institute for Judaism, Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity. (See Resources below.)
LGBTQ+ EQUALITY
ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION & GENDER IDENTITY
As initial as 1977, the Core Conference of American Rabbis passed a resolution that called for “legislation which decriminalizes homosexual acts between consenting adults, and prohibits discrimination against them as persons.” They further resolved to “undertake programs in cooperation with the total Jewish community