Editing Homosexuality and religion (section)

=== Ancient Mesopotamian religion ===
{{Main|Ancient Mesopotamian religion}}

Individuals who went against the traditional [[gender binary]] were heavily involved in the cult of [[Inanna]], an ancient Mesopotamian goddess.<ref name=":32">{{cite book |last1=Leick |first1=Gwendolyn |title=Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature |date=2013 |isbn=978-0-203-41428-6 |oclc=1120210531}}{{page needed|date=December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=LGBTQ+ in the Ancient World |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1790/lgbtq-in-the-ancient-world/ |access-date=2021-08-28 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref> During Sumerian times, a set of priests known as ''[[Gala (priests)|gala]]'' worked in Inanna's temples, where they performed elegies and lamentations.<ref name=":32" /> Men who became ''gala'' sometimes adopted female names and their songs were composed in the Sumerian ''[[Sumerian language#Dialects|eme-sal]]'' dialect, which, in literary texts, is normally reserved for the speech of female characters. Some Sumerian proverbs seem to suggest that ''gala'' had a reputation for engaging in [[anal sex]] with men.<ref name=":42">{{cite book |last1=Murray |first1=Stephen O |title=Islamic homosexualities: culture, history, and literature |date=1997 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-7467-0 |oclc=35526232}}{{page needed|date=December 2021}}</ref> During the Akkadian Period, ''kurgarrū'' and ''assinnu'' were servants of Ishtar who [[Cross-dressing|dressed in female clothing]] and performed war dances in Ishtar's temples.<ref name=":42" /> Several Akkadian [[proverb]]s seem to suggest that they may have also had homosexual proclivities.<ref name=":42" /> Gwendolyn Leick, an anthropologist known for her writings on Mesopotamia, has compared these individuals to the contemporary Indian ''[[Hijra (South Asia)|hijra]].''<ref name=":32" /> In one Akkadian hymn, Ishtar is described as transforming men into women.<ref name=":42" /> Some modern pagans include Inanna in their worship.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rountree |first1=Kathryn |title=Cosmopolitanism, nationalism, and modern paganism |date=2017 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US |isbn=978-1-137-56200-5 |oclc=966491570}}{{page needed|date=December 2021}}</ref>