on 

HOMOSEXUALITY

THE BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT DEBATE Until fairly recently homosexuality was a subject rarely mentioned in polite conversation. Today it is a topic of public debate. Several factors have contributed to the change. One is a shift in prevailing attitudes towards greater sexual freedom and general tolerance of diversity, which led among other things to the passing of the Sex Offences Act of 1967, decriminalising private homosexual acts between consenting adults, and encouraging homosexuals to adopt a more visible profile. Another is the protest movement by vociferous elements of the homosexual community against what they see as continuing discrimination against them, and assertion of their rights. A third is the backlash reaction which that, in turn, has provoked, including demands for new legislation against the "promotion" of homosexuality. Above all, the AIDS epidemic - since many of those who have transmitted the disease and those who have fallen victim to it in Europe and America have been homosexuals - has focused public attention on the issue and revealed deep divisions, notably in the Church of England, but also within the Jewish Community. In these circumstances a statement of a Liberal Jewish view of the matter is clearly called for.   THE TRADITIONAL STANCE The Bible condemns male homosexuality as an "abomination" (Leviticus 18:22) and ordains the death penalty for those who commit such acts (Leviticus 20:13). Female homosexuality, or lesbianism, is not explicitly forbidden or indeed mentioned in the Bible, though such a prohibition was later inferred from the warning against doing "as they do in the land of Egypt" (Leviticus 18:3 and Sifra ad loc). The same hostile stance was maintained in subsequent Jewish tradition, which discussed the precise definition of the offence and its penalties but regarded the matter as largely theoretical on the basis (which was no doubt often a case of wishful thinking) that "Jews are not suspected of homosexuality" (Kiddushin 82a). The Jewish aversion to homosexuality passed into Christian morality, which in turn influenced the public attitudes and legal codes of Christian countries, including Britain.   THE LIBERAL APPROACH From a fundamentalist point of view that is the end of the matter. From a liberal point of view it is only the beginning. To us the Bible is a compound of perfect divine revelation and imperfect human understanding which challenges as well as reflects the ideas of the ancient Near East. Therefore we need to make an effort to understand, historically and psychologically, why the biblical writers believed and legislated as they did, and then to evaluate their teachings in the light of the factual knowledge as well as the ethical insights of our own time.   ASSUMPTIONS AND MOTIVES The Bible plainly assumes that homosexuality is a matter of choice: a deliberate act committed by heterosexuals in wilful violation of the Moral Law, and that it is of one kind. It does not differentiate between the various ways in which the propensity may be expressed. As for the Bible's motives, the very vehemence of the language it uses as well as the severity of the penalty it demands strongly suggest the presence of a well-attested phenomenon: that irrational animosity of the heterosexual majority towards the homosexual minority which is nowadays called "homophobia" and which is itself a particular case of "the dislike of the like for the unlike". Of course there were also other contributory factors. Homosexual acts were commonly thought of as violently imposed on unwilling victims, and abhorred because they involved the "wasting of seed", which militated against group fertility and hence survival. There was also a tendency to regard such practices as characteristic of pagan societies and all the more unbecoming the "holiness" of the Covenant People. In later times, the evolution of what we know as traditional Jewish family life, and the enormous importance attached to it, provided another vantage-point from which homosexuality seemed an unacceptable deviation.   FACTS AND UNCERTAINTIES Modern research has brought to light many facts about homosexuality but also revealed many uncertainties. It is not known what leads to the predisposition: genetic and hormonal factors as well as childhood experiences and other environmental influences may play a part. Whatever may be its causes - although some homosexuals can be induced to become heterosexual, just as some heterosexuals can be induced to become homosexual - it is in most cases involuntary and unalterable. It is not known what proportion of the population is homosexually inclined, but it is estimated as being at least ten per cent, and there is no reason to suppose that it varies vastly from society to society; nor are Jews exempt from it. Again, it is not known what proportion of homosexuals suppress their tendency altogether, or express it in platonic friendship, or practise one form of physical intimacy or another. It is known that homosexual relationships, like heterosexual relationships, can be fleeting or lasting, exploitative or unselfishly caring. There are different views as to whether emotional instability and promiscuous behaviour are particularly common among homosexuals, and if so, why (social pressures might be a factor).   CONCLUSIONS Since homosexuality is in most cases an involuntary disposition, as well as a complex phenomenon which can and does take many forms, it is morally wrong to harbour prejudice or to practise discrimination against homosexuals as a group whether on the basis of an instinctive aversion or of biblical teaching. The expression of such prejudice or discrimination violates some of Judaism's most fundamental ethical teachings, including the injunction not to judge our fellow human beings until we have been in their situation (Avot 2:4), and then by the scale of merit (Avot 1:6), and the prohibition against "wronging with words" (ona'ah bi-d'varim; Bava Metzi'a 4:10), and is strongly to be condemned. It is a historical fact that homosexuals have suffered much prejudice, discrimination and persecution, along with other non-conforming minorities. It is no coincidence, and it needs to be remembered, that homosexuals suffered and died in Hitler's concentration camps alongside Jews and others. This fact should make us especially sympathetic towards them, on the principle that "you know the heart of a stranger" (Exodus 23:9). The fact that male homosexuals (though not lesbians) are in our society chief among the victims of the AIDS epidemic obliges us to be very vigilant against any tendency, by appealing to the scapegoat syndrome all too familiar to us from our Jewish history, to inflame popular prejudice against them on account of it. Of course the numerically predominant involvement of male homosexuals in the transmission of AIDS places on them a particularly heavy obligation, which we urgently stress, to take the utmost care in that regard and, in particular, to refrain from promiscuity, which is in any case, for homosexuals and heterosexuals alike, to be discouraged on ethical as well as health grounds. The objection to homosexuality that it militates against procreation is irrelevant in so far as the disposition is involuntary, and may in any case be set aside in a world that is overpopulated and in which heterosexuals will probably always constitute the overwhelming majority. (As the bachelor-rabbi, Ben Azzai, said: "The world can be perpetuated by others"; Yevamot 63b). While we demand understanding and respect for those who are by nature or nurture so predisposed that they can find happiness and fulfilment only in a homosexual relationship, we nevertheless continue, as we have always done, to attach the greatest value and importance to traditional family life, and especially traditional Jewish family life, which we regard as the ideal life-style for the heterosexual majority, providing the most desirable milieu for the raising of children and for the practice and transmission of our faith. So highly do we value traditional family life that we would not wish anyone who is capable of finding happiness and fulfilment in heterosexual marriage to be steered away from it by any contrary influence. However, considering that societal pressure is overwhelmingly in favour of heterosexuality, we are not convinced that it is necessary to legislate against the so-called "promotion" of homosexuality, and we doubt whether it is possible to do so without at the same time inhibiting necessary freedoms of expressions and information, as well as intensifying homophobia. We believe that the appropriate context for the expression of human sexuality is a lasting relationship of mutual love and faithfulness between two persons. We therefore deplore both promiscuity and adultery. We also respect the view traditionally taken by Judaism (as well as Christianity and Islam) that unmarried persons should practise chastity. However, we know that for most human beings such abstinence is very difficult, and we must take note of the view of some psychologists that the repression involved may actually be harmful. It seems to us, therefore, that what we have referred to as the traditional view should be regarded only as a counsel of perfection (middat hasidut) rather than a standard to be positively demanded of all. It seems to us that what we do not positively demand of other unmarried adults, we cannot in justice demand of homosexuals. Therefore, however much we might wish that homosexuals would sublimate their sexuality, we do not feel entitled to insist that they do so, but only to request of them, as we also request of heterosexuals, that any physical expression of their sexuality should take place in a context of lasting love and fidelity.   POSTSCRIPT We know that the views we have expressed will not be shared in all respects by every member of our section of the Community, but we believe that they express a broad consensus, and we hope that they will be welcomed as a sincere attempt to grapple with a difficult problem and to provide a helpful set of guidelines. In any case, so as to set the subject in its proper perspective, we want to end by emphasising that, while Judaism does indeed call for exemplary conduct from its adherents, that is not only, or even primarily, a matter of sexual morality. It is first and foremost a matter of respecting the Divine Image in every human being, of practising truth and love in all personal relationships, and of promoting social justice.