Editing Homosexuality and religion (section)

=== New religious movements ===

==== Antoinism ====
[[Antoinism]], a [[new religious movement]] founded in Belgium in 1910, does not provide any prescription on issues such as sexuality,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Fonsny |first=Marie-Pierre |date=26 October 1993 |title=Antoinisme: Un produit wallon basé sur une foi exclusive |journal=[[Le Soir]] |language=fr |publisher=Rossel |page=21 |place=Brussels}}</ref> as it considers that this is not related to spirituality; homosexuality is not deemed a sin and there is nothing wrong to be gay and antoinist.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Julie Luong |date=8 September 2021 |title=Antoinisme : un culte simple et belge |url=https://www.alterechos.be/__trashed-5/ |journal=Alter Echos |language=fr |access-date=18 September 2021 |number=496}}.</ref>

==== Eckankar ====
[[Eckankar]], an American [[new religious movement]] founded by [[Paul Twitchell]] in 1965, says on its website that "where legally recognized, [[same-sex marriage]]s are performed, in the form of the ECK Wedding Ceremony, by ordained ministers of Eckankar".<ref>{{cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions - Does Eckankar recognize same-sex relationships? |url=https://www.eckankar.org/FAQ/index.html#samesex |access-date=24 October 2021 |publisher=[[Eckankar]] |archive-date=13 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201013142834/https://www.eckankar.org/FAQ/index.html#samesex |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==== Neo-Druidism ====
The [[Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids]] is a worldwide group dedicated to practicing, teaching, and developing modern [[Druidry (modern)|Druidry]] and has more than 25,000 members in 50 countries. The Order is LGBT-affirming within a larger framework of support for civil rights, love of justice, and the love of all existences.<ref>{{cite web |date=12 May 2019 |title=About The Order {{!}} Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids |url=https://druidry.org/about-us |access-date=2021-10-23 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==== Raëlism ====
[[File:Korea_Queer_Culture_Festival_2014_58.JPG|right|thumb|230x230px|Raëlian participants attending the [[Korea Queer Culture Festival]] (2014)]]
[[Raëlism]], an international [[new religious movement]] and [[UFO religion]] which was founded in France in 1974,<ref name="Palmer 2012">{{cite book |author1-last=Palmer |author1-first=Susan J. |title=The Cambridge Companion to New Religious Movements |author2-last=Sentes |author2-first=Bryan |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-521-19650-5 |editor1-last=Hammer |editor1-first=Olav |editor1-link=Olav Hammer |location=[[Cambridge]] |pages=167–183 |chapter=The International Raëlian Movement |doi=10.1017/CCOL9780521196505.012 |lccn=2012015440 |author1-link=Susan J. Palmer |editor2-last=Rothstein |editor2-first=Mikael |editor2-link=Mikael Rothstein |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RM0AAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA167 |s2cid=151563721}}</ref><ref name="Dericquebourg 2021">{{cite book |author-last=Dericquebourg |author-first=Régis |title=Handbook of UFO Religions |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |year=2021 |isbn=978-90-04-43437-0 |editor-last=Zeller |editor-first=Ben |series=Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion |volume=20 |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |pages=472–490 |chapter=Rael and the Raelians |doi=10.1163/9789004435537_024 |issn=1874-6691 |author-link=Régis Dericquebourg |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tkswEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA472 |s2cid=239738621}}</ref> promotes a [[Sex-positive movement|positive outlook towards human sexuality]], including homosexuality.<ref name="Palmer 2012" /><ref name="Dericquebourg 2021" /><ref name="Gregg 2014">{{cite journal |last=Gregg |first=Stephen E. |date=September 2014 |title=Queer Jesus, straight angels: Complicating 'sexuality' and 'religion' in the International Raëlian Movement |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1363460714526129 |journal=[[Sexualities (journal)|Sexualities]] |publisher=[[SAGE Journals]] |volume=17 |issue=5–6 |pages=565–582 |doi=10.1177/1363460714526129 |issn=1461-7382 |oclc=474576878 |s2cid=147291471 |hdl-access=free |hdl=2436/609871}}</ref><ref name="Palmer 2014">{{cite book |last=Palmer |first=Susan J. |title=Sexuality and New Religious Movements |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-349-68146-4 |editor1-last=Bogdan |editor1-first=Henrik |series=Palgrave Studies in New Religions and Alternative Spiritualities |location=[[New York City|New York]] |pages=183–211 |chapter=Raël's Angels: The First Five Years of a Secret Order |doi=10.1057/9781137386434_9 |author-link=Susan J. Palmer |editor2-last=Lewis |editor2-first=James R. |editor2-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ZQMCgAAQBAJ}}</ref> Its founder [[Raël]] recognised same-sex marriage, and a Raëlian press release stated that sexual orientation is genetic and it also likened [[Homophobia|discrimination against gay people]] to [[racism]].<ref>{{cite web |date=March 25, 2005 |title=A modern nation is a nation where gays and lesbians are free |url=http://www.raelpress.org/news.php?item.16.1 |access-date=March 30, 2021 |website=Raelian Press Site}}</ref> Some Raëlian leaders have performed licensed same-sex marriages.<ref>{{cite web |date=July 18, 2013 |title=A Raelian official licensed to perform legal marriages for same-sex couples in Hawaii |url=http://raelianews.org/news.php?item.524.10 |access-date=March 30, 2021 |website=Raelianews}}</ref>

==== Santa Muerte ====
The cult of [[Santa Muerte]] is a [[new religious movement]]<ref name="Chesnut 2017">{{cite speech |last=Chesnut |first=R. Andrew |title=Santa Muerte: The Fastest Growing New Religious Movement in the Americas |url=https://www.up.edu/garaventa/archives/lectures-and-readings/2017-2018-lectures-and-readings/andrew-chesnut-lecture.html |url-status=live |event=Lecture |date=26 October 2017 |location=[[Portland, Oregon]] |publisher=[[University of Portland]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207214656/https://www.up.edu/garaventa/archives/lectures-and-readings/2017-2018-lectures-and-readings/andrew-chesnut-lecture.html |archive-date=7 February 2021 |access-date=14 August 2021}}</ref> centered on the worship of Santa Muerte, a [[cult image]], [[female deity]], and [[folk saint]] which is popularly revered in [[Mexico|Mexican]] [[Modern Paganism|Neopaganism]] and [[folk Catholicism]].<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Chesnut |author-first=R. Andrew |title=Handbook of Global Contemporary Christianity: Movements, Institutions, and Allegiance |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-90-04-26539-4 |editor-last=Hunt |editor-first=Stephen J. |editor-link=Stephen J. Hunt |series=Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion |volume=12 |location=[[Leiden]] |pages=336–353 |chapter=Healed by Death: Santa Muerte, the Curandera |doi=10.1163/9789004310780_017}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author-last=Flores Martos |author-first=Juan Antonio |title=Etnografías de la muerte y las culturas en América Latina |publisher=[[University of Castilla–La Mancha|Ediciones de la Universidad de Castilla–La Mancha]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-84-8427-578-7 |editor1-last=Flores Martos |editor1-first=Juan Antonio |location=[[Cuenca, Spain|Cuenca]] |pages=296–297 |language=es |chapter=La Santísima Muerte en Veracruz, México: Vidas Descarnadas y Práticas Encarnadas |editor2-last=González |editor2-first=Luisa Abad |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F992RDiGJKEC&pg=PA296}}</ref> A [[personification of death]], she is associated with healing, protection, and safe delivery to the [[afterlife]] by her devotees.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chesnut |first=R. Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ul0vDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 |title=Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-19-063332-5 |edition=Second |location=[[New York City|New York]] |pages=6–7 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199764662.001.0001 |lccn=2011009177 |orig-date=2012}}</ref> Santa Muerte is also revered and seen as a saint and protector of the [[LGBT in Mexico|lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) communities in Mexico]],<ref name="CIESAS 2019">{{cite journal |last=Bárcenas Barajas |first=Karina |date=September–December 2019 |title=Apropiaciones LGBT de la religiosidad popular |url=https://desacatos.ciesas.edu.mx/index.php/Desacatos/article/view/2135/1491 |format=PDF |journal=Desacatos: Revista de Ciencias Sociales |language=es |location=[[Mexico City]] |publisher=Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social (CIESAS) |volume=61 |pages=98–113 |issn=2448-5144 |access-date=16 June 2021}}</ref><ref name="hemisphericinstitute.org">{{cite magazine |last=Lorentzen |first=Lois Ann |date=2016 |editor1-last=Pellegrini |editor1-first=Anna |editor2-last=Vaggione |editor2-first=Juan Marco |title=Santa Muerte: Saint of the Dispossessed, Enemy of Church and State |url=https://hemisphericinstitute.org/en/emisferica-13-1-states-of-devotion/13-1-essays/santa-muerte-saint-of-the-dispossessed-enemy-of-church-and-state.html |url-status=live |magazine=Emisférica |location=[[New York City]] |publisher=[[Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics]] |volume=13 |issue=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730153106/https://hemisphericinstitute.org/en/emisferica-13-1-states-of-devotion/13-1-essays/santa-muerte-saint-of-the-dispossessed-enemy-of-church-and-state.html |archive-date=30 July 2019 |access-date=14 August 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Woodman |first=Stephen |date=31 March 2017 |title=How a skeleton folk saint of death took off with Mexican transgender women |work=[[USA Today]] |url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/03/31/santa-muerte-death-transgender-women-mexico/99867052/ |url-status=live |access-date=17 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010080701/https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/03/31/santa-muerte-death-transgender-women-mexico/99867052/ |archive-date=10 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Villarreal |first=Daniel |date=6 April 2019 |title=Bishops tell Catholics to stop worshipping this unofficial LGBTQ-friendly saint of death: Even though "La Santa Muerte" is not a Church-sanctioned saint, millions of people still revere her |url=https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2019/04/bishops-asking-catholics-stop-worshipping-unofficial-lgbtq-friendly-saint-death/ |url-status=live |magazine=[[LGBTQ Nation]] |location=[[San Francisco]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407080835/https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2019/04/bishops-asking-catholics-stop-worshipping-unofficial-lgbtq-friendly-saint-death/ |archive-date=7 April 2019 |access-date=16 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2012 |title=Archives |url=http://www.outinthebay.com/archives.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424085030/http://www.outinthebay.com/archives.htm |archive-date=2012-04-24 |website=outinthebay.com |publisher=Out In The Bay}}</ref> since LGBTQ+ people are considered and treated as outcasts by the [[Catholic Church and homosexuality|Catholic Church]], [[Christianity and homosexuality#Evangelical churches|evangelical churches]], and Mexican society at large.<ref name="CIESAS 2019" /><ref name="hemisphericinstitute.org" /> Many LGBTQ+ people ask her for protection from violence, hatred, disease, and to help them in their search for love. Her intercession is commonly invoked in [[Same-sex marriage in Mexico City|same-sex marriage ceremonies]] performed in Mexico.<ref>{{cite news |date=2010-03-03 |title=Iglesia de Santa Muerte casa a gays – El Universal – Sociedad |newspaper=El Universal |url=http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/663167.html |access-date=2013-02-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=La Iglesia de Santa Muerte mexicana celebró su primera boda gay y prevé 9 más|url=http://www.abc.es/agencias/noticia.asp?noticia=296160 |access-date=2013-02-09 |newspaper=[[ABC (newspaper)|ABC]]|location=Madrid}}</ref> The [[Traditionalist Mexican-American Catholic Church|Iglesia Católica Tradicional México-Estados Unidos]], also known as the Church of Santa Muerte, [[Recognition of same-sex unions in Mexico|recognizes]] gay marriage and performs religious wedding ceremonies for homosexual couples.<ref>{{cite web |date=2012-01-24 |title=La Nueva Iglesia De La Santa Muerte Permite Bodas Gay |url=http://los21.com/vision21/?p=3400 |access-date=2013-02-09 |publisher=Los21.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2010-06-02 |title=La Santa Muerte celebra "bodas homosexuales" en México – México y Tradición |url=http://mexicoytradicion.over-blog.org/article-la-santa-muerte-celebra-bodas-homosexuales-en-mexico-51509467.html |access-date=2013-02-09 |publisher=Mexicoytradicion.over-blog.org |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2010-01-11 |title=Culto a la santa muerte casará a gays |url=http://www.tendenciagay.com/noticias/ampliar/789/culto-a-la-santa-muerte-casara-a-gays |access-date=2013-02-09 |publisher=Tendenciagay.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=2010-01-07 |title=Mexico's Holy Death Church Will Conduct Gay Weddings |work=Latin American Herald Tribune}}</ref> According to R. Andrew Chesnut, [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in [[History of Latin America|Latin American history]] and [[professor]] of [[Religious studies]], the cult of Santa Muerte is the single fastest-growing new religious movement in the Americas.<ref name="Chesnut 2017" />

====Scientology====
{{Main|Scientology and homosexuality}}

The [[Church of Scientology]] opposes same-sex marriage<ref name=About>{{cite news |title=About Scientology |url=http://www.sptimes.com/2004/07/18/Tampabay/About_Scientology.shtml |work=[[St. Petersburg Times]] |date=July 18, 2004 |access-date=September 2, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040810101057/http://www.sptimes.com/2004/07/18/Tampabay/About_Scientology.shtml |archive-date=August 10, 2004}}</ref> and its founder [[L. Ron Hubbard]] called homosexuality a dangerous perversion.{{refn|<ref name=Boundaries>{{cite book |last=Thomas |first=Aled |year=2021 |title=Free Zone Scientology: Contesting the Boundaries of a New Religion |location=London |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/eRAYEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1|isbn=978-1-350-18254-7 }}</ref>{{rp|p=76}}<ref name=ScienceOfSurvival>{{cite book | last=Hubbard|first=Ron|author-link=L. Ron Hubbard | title=Science of Survival | publisher=Church of Scientology of California | year=1975 | isbn=0-88404-001-1 | url=https://archive.org/details/scienceofsurviva00lron_0/ }}</ref>{{rp|pp=88–90}}<ref name=FoundOut>{{Cite magazine |last=Power |first= Shannon |date=2023-09-26 |title=Ex-Scientologist reveals what happened when Church found out she was gay |url=https://www.newsweek.com/scientology-church-gay-miscavige-leah-remini-1829857|magazine=[[Newsweek]]}}</ref>}} The [[Church of Scientology]]'s perspectives on homosexuality are based on the writings of its founder, and his statements about homosexuality have led critics to assert that [[Scientology]] promotes [[homophobia]], and being gay or accused of being gay is viewed as negative in the Scientology community.<ref name=Humiliated>{{Cite magazine |date=2018-09-25 |title=When I Came Out as Gay, the Church of Scientology Humiliated Me|magazine=[[Elle (magazine)|Elle]] |url=https://www.elle.com/culture/a23025748/scientology-michelle-leclair-interview/ }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ross |first=Martha |date=2022-09-22 |title=Those John Travolta rumors? How Scientology shut them down |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/09/22/those-john-travolta-rumors-how-scientology-shut-them-down/ |access-date=2025-02-11 |newspaper=[[Mercury News]]|location=San Jose, California}}</ref> According to a 2018 source, currently used, updated editions of Hubbard's [[Canon (basic principle)|canonical]] book,<ref name=SacredTradition>{{Cite book |editor1-last=Lewis |editor1-first=James R. |editor1-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |editor2-first=Olav |editor2-last=Hammer |editor2-link=Olav Hammer |title=The Invention of Sacred Tradition |chapter=Scientology, scripture, and sacred tradition |first=Mikael |last=Rothstein |author-link=Mikael Rothstein |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2007 |isbn=9780521864794 |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511488450.002}}</ref>{{rp|p=21}} ''[[Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health|Dianetics]]'', continue to use [[heteronormative]] and [[Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric|anti-gay]] language and list gay people as perverts who are physically ill and extremely dangerous to society.<ref name=Boundaries/>{{rp|p=78}}<ref name=Dianetics>{{cite book | last=Hubbard|first=Ron|author-link=L. Ron Hubbard | title=Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health | publisher=[[Church of Scientology]]|location=Commerce, California | orig-date=1978 |date=2007 | isbn=9781403144461 |pages=125, 155, 177|url=https://archive.org/details/dianeticsmoderns0000hubb_t8p0/page/124/mode/2up?q=homosexuality|url-access=limited}}</ref> Some critics have stated that the church tried to [[Conversion therapy|change their gay attractions]] through forms of therapy.<ref name=FoundOut>{{Cite magazine |last=Power |first= Shannon |date=2023-09-26 |title=Ex-Scientologist reveals what happened when Church found out she was gay |url=https://www.newsweek.com/scientology-church-gay-miscavige-leah-remini-1829857|magazine=[[Newsweek]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |magazine=[[LGBTQ Nation]] |date=2016-03-25 |title=A grim glimpse into The Church of Scientology's jail for gay people |url=https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2016/03/a-grim-glimpse-into-the-church-of-scientologys-jail-for-gay-people/}}</ref>