Homosexuality and Halacha

The subject I am about to begin is another extremely challenging one. Before I begin the halachic discussion, I must mention a few of my limitations and intentions. This is going to be quite different than my previous topics. I will explain why.

First, I am not an expert in the subject of homosexuality. Since I am going to begin with a focus on male homosexuality, my field of medicine does not expose me very often to the direct care of male homosexuals. I am deliberately not going begin this series with an analysis of the entire spectrum of human sexuality. This would be broad indeed, and would include the entire spectrum from exclusive heterosexuals to all of the LGBTQ identifications and beyond. The reason is not because the rest of the spectrum is not important, rather it is because my expertise, in this blog, is Halachic. One of the primary halachic conflicts that relate to sexual orientation arises with male same-sex activity. While there are myriads of other issues that raise potential halachic issues, this is the conflict that is most direct. So, I choose to discuss this first. In later blog series, I plan to cover the halachic issues that relate to lesbian relationships, transgender issues and more. 

I am also not a counselor or therapist that has experience in the counseling of gay men in the Halacha observant community. I am also not a community Rav. I therefore have no experience in helping families of gay men navigate the challenge of remaining integrated with a community that is often hostile to people with a homosexual orientation. 

However, I am a concerned Orthodox Jew, with many male friends who have "come out" and identified themselves as gay, and I am proud to consider them wonderful friends and members of my community. I am also the author of this blog, which is a halachic blog, and my purpose is to understand health care related issues in a halachically valid way. It is therefore very much within my level of expertise to discuss the halachot that are related to homosexuality. 

The issue of male homosexuality in halacha has some strong similarities to some of the other issues I have discussed so far, and some especially significant differences. Those of you that have been following my blog would be familiar with my discussions of organ donation and time of death, abortion, treating gentiles on shabbat, male masturbation, and more. You hopefully are also familiar with the "five principles" of rationalist medical halacha that I wrote in my first post. I suggest that you review those principles here. 

In almost all of the topics I have discussed so far, there has been a recurring theme. That is that throughout the centuries, the halachot have been heavily influenced by the perception of medical reality of the poskim of the time. The concurrent scientific and philosophical understandings of each issue had a heavy influence on the halachic decision-making process. This in turn influenced the development of halacha in subsequent centuries. This theme recurs in the most blatant way with the understanding of human sexual orientation. In this sense, the issue of halacha and homosexuality is like the other issues we have discussed. Our understanding and appreciation of human sexual orientation has changed dramatically within the lifetime of most of the readers of this blog. What was once thought to be a deviant psychological disease, is now understood to be simply a part of a large spectrum of naturally occurring human sexual orientations. 

That is the similarity between this topic and the previously discussed topics. But there is a significant difference as well. The difference lies in the all-encompassing nature of sexual orientation and a person's identity. Whether we like it or not, for better or worse, when a person identifies himself as homosexual the consequences are much more than that he must deal with a few halachic questions. The male identified homosexual must contend with social, communal, familial, religious, and many more issues that unfortunately come along with the territory. Not that it should be that way, but it is that way. 

This is more than a question of whether a certain act is or is not permitted according to Halacha. It will inevitably influence almost every aspect of a person's life within his community. This is true of all communities, but especially true within the Orthodox Jewish community. 

I cannot solve all the social and other issues.  However, I can examine the halachic issues there may bee, and how halacha may or may not determine what is or is not acceptable.  

My general plan is to discuss the following issues from a halachic perspective. Please do not hold me accountable to this particular order, and I may add or subtract a few of these topics as my blog develops. 

1. The halachic/legal status of the male homosexual (how his sexual orientation should/shouldn't affect the way he is treated in the community)
2. the halachic prohibitions that may or may not apply to same-sex male sexual activity
3. how the obligation to procreate does/doesn't apply to a male homosexual
4. the halachic status of male same-sex relationships

I have spent the last few months since my last post reading books, articles and other materials related to this topic, and of course studying the various relevant halachic source texts.  This by no means indicates that I know everything.  I therefore urge all of you to feel free to send me any source material that you think might be helpful for me to increase my knowledge and therefore enhance the quality of this blog.  I also urge you of course to comment publicly (preferred) or send me an email offilne if you have any comments, suggestions, disagreements etc.  I publish the overwhelming majority of comments to this blog, even when the opinions expressed are very different from my own.  I will not publish comments though that are rude or abusive in any way.