Hoe pass bill protectg gay marriage and relig eedom. There's hope.

Contents:

• US JEWS AMONG THE MOST SUPPORTIVE OF GAY MARRIAGE
• HOW JEWS GAVE AMERI GAY MARRIAGE
• THE HOE PASS A BILL ON GAY MARRIAGE AND RELIG EEDOM. THERE’S HOPE FOR AMERI.

US JEWS AMONG THE MOST SUPPORTIVE OF GAY MARRIAGE

Renstctnist JudaismThe Renstctnist movement exprsed s support for the full cln of gay men and lbians all aspects of Jewish life s 1992 Report of the Renstctnist Commissn on Homosexualy. The report affirmed the hols of homosexual relatnships and the need to affirm them a Jewish ntext: “As we celebrate the love between heterosexual upl, so too we celebrate the love between gay or lbian Jews. Renstctnist Rabbi Rebec Alpert, thor of Like Bread on the Ser Plate: Jewish Lbians and the Transformatn of Tradn and -thor of Explorg Judaism: A Renstctnist Approach, has argued that the Jewish prciple of enomic jtice mands support for civil gay and lbian marriage, bee the absence of legal benefs for same-genr upl n e them signifint fancial harm.

” The Unn of Amerin Hebrew Congregatns, the ngregatnal arm of the Reform movement, followed su 1997, rolvg to, “support secular efforts to promote legislatn which would provi civil marriage equal opportuny for gay men and lbians. It also lled for the velopment of sample ceremoni to be ed as a rource for those rabbis who plan to perform same-sex Jewish Conservative MovementUntil very recently same-sex marriage and other gay and lbian issu met wh ltle nsens the Conservative movement. Two vers Levic (Levic 18:23 and Levic 20:13) exprs unequivol nmnatn of male homosexual sex (although is not clear whether what is referred to is terurse or all sexual acts between men).

”READ: Puttg The Prohibn Agast Homosexualy ContextAs evint by s language, the biblil prohibn do not extend to female homosexual acts, though later mentators disapproved of lbianism. Nohels, the tradnal Jewish posn on homosexualy is still difficult for many liberal-md Jews, and the liberal nomatns have bated the extent to which gays and lbians n be fully tegrated to relig Conservative Halakhah and HomosexualyThe first and least ntroversial step taken by the Conservative, Renstctnist, and Reform movements was to endorse civil equaly for gays and lbians.

HOW JEWS GAVE AMERI GAY MARRIAGE

Th some Jewish thori have argued that sce homosexualy is not chosen, s exprsn nnot be, the Reform movement do not nmn homosexual sex, and openly gay people are eligible for admtance to Reform rabbil schools. In addn, the Reform movement approv of rabbic officiatn at same-sex marriag and mment Denomatnal Approach on Ordag Openly Gay and Lbian RabbisDaniel Siegel, the Rabbic Director of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, has endorsed same-sex marriage specifilly bee he believ that hols should not be limed only to certa people and certa relatnships.

Usg this as her startg pot, Rebec Alpert, a Renstctnist rabbi, has argued that the ernment’s refal to regnize same-sex marriage vlat relig rabbis wh the Conservative movement also ce the ncept of on ( which an dividual has no real choice) permtg homosexual sex. In December 2006 the Conservative Movement’s Law Commtee voted to accept two ntradictory thuvot (posns) on homosexualy halakhah — one reaffirmg the stat quo, and one affirmg change. The rult of the vote is that rabbis, synagogu, and other Conservative stutns may choose to ntue to not perm mment ceremoni and not hire openly gay or lbian rabbis and ntors, or may choose to do so.

THE HOE PASS A BILL ON GAY MARRIAGE AND RELIG EEDOM. THERE’S HOPE FOR AMERI.

The cisn also paved the way for the movement to orda openly gay recent years, there has been an creased awarens of the prence of gays and lbians more tradnal Jewish muni as well. “Paradoxilly, the more a gay person liv a life parallel to his/her straight peers, mted partnership and raisg children, the more acceptance appears to wane, ” the study reported. NEW YORK – Amerin Jews show among the hight levels of support for gay marriage, om all Amerin subgroups measured recent polls, acrdg to figur published this week by the Pew Rearch Center for the People and the Prs.

We might feel that mak sense for gay people to have legal rights as life-partners, like the right to make bequeath property to one another or to be at a athbed jt like a heterosexual uple would. As early as 1990, the Rabbil Assembly’s Commtee on Jewish Law and Standards, which sets halakhic (legal) policy for the Conservative Movement, stated their sire to “work for full and equal civil rights for gays and lbians our natnal life. Lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) people should be able to earn a livg, provi for their fai and ntribute to society whout fear that who they are or who they love uld st them a job.

As social attus toward lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer (LGBTQ) people have unrgone a sea change globally, stanc taken by Jewish lears and movements have changed along wh, same-sex marriag are regnized by the Reform, Conservative, Renewal and Renstctnist movements, and each movement’s rabbil semary ordas LGBTQ stunts. All the chang were preced by the Renstctnist movement, which began beme the first movement to accept gays and lbians as rabbil stunts 1984 and whose rabbis have long been ee to officiate at same-sex while the liberal Jewish muny has shifted markedly on this issue, homosexualy remas a vexg issue Orthodoxy, which ntu to hold fast to the Torah’s seemgly flexible rejectn of homosexual acts.