Like many religions, Judaism has a complicated relationship with homosexuality.
The answer to the question of Judaism's view on same sex relationships will be different depending on the type of Judaism you are talking about.
Partly, that because Reform, Reconstructionist and Jewish Renewal groups have traditionally been more accepting of the GLBT community than have Conservative and Orthodox Judaism.
Many of Judaism's traditional ideas about homosexuality come from a few passages in the Torah. (The Torah is often called the Old Testament by non-Jews, and it refers to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible). One passage that is referred to a lot comes from the book of Leviticus. It states, "A man should not lie with another man as he would like with a woman."
This passage is often used to justify the claim that Judaism is opposed to homosexuality.
However, many people have pointed out that there are many more prohibitions for heterosexuals spelled out in the Torah, than there are for homosexuals.
Additionally, there is nothing written in the Torah about sex between women at all. Yet, people opposed to lesbian relationships have often applied what is written about men, to women.
In modern times, both Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism have allowed the ordination of openly gay and lesbian rabbis. They have also recognized same sex marriage since the 1990s.
In April 2008, the leading Conservative Seminary, the Jewish Theological Seminary, changed their policies to allow openly gay individuals to become ordained as Rabbis.
Check out the World Congress of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Jews for more information and resources.
