Editing Christianity and homosexuality (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Christianity and homosexuality|The Bible and homosexuality}}

The [[The Bible and homosexuality|Hebrew Bible]] and its traditional interpretations in [[Judaism]] and [[Christianity]] have historically affirmed and endorsed a [[Patriarchy|patriarchal]] and [[Heteronormativity|heteronormative]] approach towards [[human sexuality]],<ref name="Mbuwayesango 2016">{{cite book |author-last=Mbuwayesango |author-first=Dora R. |year=2016 |origyear=2015 |chapter=Part III: The Bible and Bodies – Sex and Sexuality in Biblical Narrative |editor-last=Fewell |editor-first=Danna N. |editor-link=Danna Nolan Fewell |title=The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Narrative |location=[[Oxford]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=456–465 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199967728.013.39 |isbn=9780199967728 |lccn=2015033360 |s2cid=146505567}}</ref><ref name="Leeming 2003">{{cite journal |author-last=Leeming |author-first=David A. |author-link=David Adams Leeming |date=June 2003 |title=Religion and Sexuality: The Perversion of a Natural Marriage |editor-last=Carey |editor-first=Lindsay B. |journal=[[Journal of Religion and Health]] |publisher=[[Springer Verlag]] |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=101–109 |doi=10.1023/A:1023621612061 |issn=1573-6571 |jstor=27511667 |s2cid=38974409}}</ref> favouring exclusively [[Heterosexual intercourse|penetrative vaginal intercourse between men and women]] within the boundaries of [[marriage]] over all other forms of [[human sexual activity]],<ref name="Mbuwayesango 2016"/><ref name="Leeming 2003"/> including [[autoeroticism]], [[masturbation]], [[oral sex]], [[Non-penetrative sex|non-penetrative]] and [[Homosexual sexual practices|non-heterosexual]] sexual intercourse (all of which have been labeled as "[[sodomy]]" at various times).<ref>{{cite book |last=Sauer |first=Michelle M. |year=2015 |chapter=The Unexpected Actuality: "Deviance" and Transgression |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U8mBCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA74 |title=Gender in Medieval Culture |location=[[London]] |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |pages=74–78 |doi=10.5040/9781474210683.ch-003 |isbn=978-1-4411-2160-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |last=McCann |first=Christine A. |date=2010 |title=Transgressing the Boundaries of Holiness: Sexual Deviance in the Early Medieval Penitential Handbooks of Ireland, England and France 500–1000 |type=PhD |publisher=Seton Hall University |page=35 |quote=[B]y the later middle ages both the terms sodomy and 'the sin against nature' had expanded to include anything which was not heterosexual intercourse in the missionary position.}}</ref>

They have believed and taught that such behaviors are forbidden because they are considered [[Sin in Christianity|sinful]],<ref name="Mbuwayesango 2016"/><ref name="Leeming 2003"/> and further compared to or derived from the behavior of the alleged residents of [[Sodom and Gomorrah]].<ref name="Mbuwayesango 2016"/><ref name="Gnuse 2015"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=29699 |title=Bishop Soto tells NACDLGM: 'Homosexuality is Sinful' |last=Gilbert |first=Kathleen |date=29 September 2008 |website=Catholic Online |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080930122028/http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=29699 |archive-date=30 September 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/religion/news/2010/12/08/8822/what-are-religious-texts-really-saying-about-gay-and-transgender-rights/ |title=What are Religious Texts Really Saying about Gay and Transgender Rights? |last1=Robinson |first1=Gene |last2=Krehely |first2=Jeff |last3=Steenland |first3=Sally |date=8 December 2010 |website=Center for American Progress |access-date=30 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/xarchive/voices/the-story-of-sodom-and-gomorrah-was-not-about-homosexuality-20180719 |title=The Story of Sodom and Gomorrah was NOT About Homosexuality |last=Modisane |first=Cameron |date=15 November 2014 |website=News24 |access-date=30 March 2021}}</ref> However, the status of LGBTQ people in [[early Christianity]] is debated.<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Doerfler |author-first=Maria E. |year=2016 |origyear=2014 |chapter=Coming Apart at the Seams: Cross-dressing, Masculinity, and the Social Body in Late Antiquity |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7fsoDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA37 |editor1-last=Upson-Saia |editor1-first=Kristi |editor2-last=Daniel-Hughes |editor2-first=Carly |editor3-last=Batten |editor3-first=Alicia J. |title=Dressing Judeans and Christians in Antiquity |location=[[London]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |edition=1st |pages=37–51 |doi=10.4324/9781315578125-9 |isbn=9780367879334 |lccn=2014000554 |oclc=921583924 |s2cid=165559811}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author-last=Hunter |author-first=David G. |year=2015 |chapter=Celibacy Was "Queer": Rethinking Early Christianity |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VgDSBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 |editor1-last=Talvacchia |editor1-first=Kathleen T. |editor2-last=Pettinger |editor2-first=Michael F. |editor3-last=Larrimore |editor3-first=Mark |title=Queer Christianities: Lived Religion in Transgressive Forms |location=[[New York City|New York]] and [[London]] |publisher=[[NYU Press]] |pages=13–24 |isbn=9781479851812 |jstor=j.ctt13x0q0q.6 |lccn=2014025201 |s2cid=152944605}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Frost|first=Natasha|date=2018-03-02|title=A Modern Controversy Over Ancient Homosexuality|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/john-boswell-homosexuality-catholicism-history|access-date=2021-04-24|website=Atlas Obscura|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=McClain|first=Lisa|title=A thousand years ago, the Catholic Church paid little attention to homosexuality|url=http://theconversation.com/a-thousand-years-ago-the-catholic-church-paid-little-attention-to-homosexuality-112830|access-date=2021-04-24|website=The Conversation|date=10 April 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

The [[history of Christianity and homosexuality]] has been much debated with these disagreements often concerning the translations of certain phrases, or the meaning and context of some [[Bible|biblical passages]].<ref name="Gnuse 2015"/>

The extent to which the Bible mentions the subject, whether or not it is condemned, and whether the various passages apply today, have become contentious topics in the 20th and 21st centuries. Significant debate has arisen over the proper interpretation of the [[Book of Leviticus|Levitical code]]; the narrative of Sodom and Gomorrah; and various [[Pauline epistles|Pauline passages]] which appear to condemn same-sex sexual activities.<ref name="Gnuse 2015"/>