Can you be gay and jewish

Orthodox Jewish views Orthodox Jewish protesters holding Anti-LGBT Protest signs during the Gay Pride parade in Haifa, Israel () While a variety of views regarding homosexuality exist within the Orthodox Jewish community, Orthodox Judaism generally prohibits homosexual conduct.

Orit AvishaiFordham University. Indozens of rabbis in the U. It distinguished between homosexual orientation and practice, and clarified that Jewish law does not specifically prohibit the former. Homosexuality, in Jewish sources, is a difficult matter with many different ways of being viewed in Judaism and Jewish law.

Some had been kicked out of educational institutions, felt unwelcome in synagogue or wrestled with depression and even suicidal thoughts. As the YU case makes clear, not all Orthodox Jews accept many of these positions. Question: According to Jewish law, how should a person react to homosexual feelings?

To hate yourself. My book documents a vibrant, proud LGBTQ Orthodox community in Israel that began in anonymous chatrooms and backrooms in the early s, but is now out in the open. Organizations like Shovalin Israel, or Eshelin the U. Orthodox Jewish religious leaders have also changed their tune.

Judaism and Homosexuality Do : Yet the view, once ubiquitous, that Orthodox tradition is incompatible with their identities is gradually shifting

Inthe progressive modern Orthodox Beit Hillel organization issued a policy paper urging Orthodox Jewish communities to accept their gay and lesbian members without prejudice. Most Orthodox Jews maintain that the Bible forbids homosexual relationships and identities, and emphasize that only marriages that consist of a husband and wife are consistent with Jewish tradition.

I am an ethnographer whose research focuses on gender, sexuality and religion, especially in Judaism. Edition: Europe. The reality is that 21st century Orthodox Jews are increasingly aware and accepting of their LGBTQ children, siblings, friends and co-congregants.

The Pride Alliance sued the university for discrimination inand YU countered that being required to give the club official status would violate religious freedom. As the legal case drags on, YU made a move that outsiders may find puzzling. More recently, a handful of rabbinic authorities such as the Israeli rabbi Benny Lau have taken acceptance a step further, arguing that Jewish law may in fact be compatible with some forms of same-sex and other alternative unions and families.

The dozens of gay, lesbian and bisexual Orthodox Jews I interviewed candidly spoke of the indignities they encountered trying to fit into these expectations: experiences of shame, secrecy, denial, repression, family drama and spiritual harm. Others, including at YU, walk a tightrope between what they claim to be correct Jewish tradition and the needs of LGBTQ people to have a safe space to discuss their struggles.

Rhodes and Leona B. Yeshiva University, the storied modern Orthodox Jewish university in New York City, is in the midst of a legal battle over its refusal to recognize the YU Pride Alliance, an undergraduate club.

Do homosexuals fit into the Jewish community?. A small but growing contingency of American Orthodox rabbis have even officiated same-sex weddings. Jewish law assigns many religious responsibilities on the basis of rigid gender categories, male and female.

HRC Stances of Faiths :

But the once-ubiquitous stance that Orthodox Judaism is incompatible with LGBTQ identities has been replaced in the past two decades with a more pluralistic stance. So if you want that will be your choice. It also characterized mixed-orientation marriages, where one partner is straight and another gay, as a moral injustice, and subtly discouraged conversion therapy.