Editing Modern paganism (section)

===LGBT===
{{Main|Modern pagan views on LGBT people}}
[[File:Radical Faeries 2010 London Pride.jpg|thumb|Radical Faeries with banner at 2010 London Gay Pride]]

The western [[LGBT]] community, often [[Homophobia|marginalized]] and/or [[Discrimination against LGBT people|outright rejected]] by [[Abrahamic religions|Abrahamic]]-predominant mainstream religious establishments, has often sought spiritual acceptance and association in neopagan religious/spiritual practice. Pagan-specializing religious scholar Christine Hoff Kraemer wrote, "Pagans tend to be relatively accepting of [[same-sex relationship]]s, [[BDSM]], [[polyamory]], [[transgender|transgender people]], and [[Gender and sexuality|other expressions of gender and sexuality]] that are marginalized by mainstream society." Conflict naturally arises, however, as some neopagan belief systems and sect ideologies stem from fundamental beliefs in the [[Gender binary|male–female gender binary]], [[Heterosexuality|heterosexual pairing]], resulting [[Sexual reproduction|heterosexual reproduction]], and/or [[gender essentialism]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/homosexuality-in-paganism-and-wicca-2561720|title=How Do Pagans Feel About Homosexuality?|work=ThoughtCo|access-date=2018-05-01|archive-date=1 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180501230434/https://www.thoughtco.com/homosexuality-in-paganism-and-wicca-2561720|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kraemer|first=Christine Hoff|date=9 March 2012|title=Contemporary Paganism, Utopian Reading Communities, and Sacred Nonmonogamy: The Religious Impact of Heinlein's and Starhawk's Fiction|journal=The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies|volume=13|issue=1|doi=10.1558/pome.v13i1.52|issn=1743-1735}}</ref>

In response, groups and sects inclusive of or specific to LGBT people have developed. Theologian Jone Salomonsen noted in the 1980s and 1990s that the [[Reclaiming (Neopaganism)|reclaiming]] movement of San Francisco featured an unusually high number of LGBT people, particularly [[Bisexuality|bisexuals]].{{Sfn|Salomonsen|2002|p=44}} [[Margot Adler]] noted groups whose practices focused on [[male homosexuality]], such as [[Eddie Buczynski]]'s Minoan Brotherhood, a Wiccan sect that combines the iconography from ancient [[Minoan religion]] with a Wiccan theology and an emphasis on men who love men, and the [[eclectic pagan]] group known as the [[Radical Faeries]]. When Adler asked one gay male pagan what the pagan community offered members of the LGBT community, he replied, "A place to belong. Community. Acceptance. And a way to connect with all kinds of people – gay, bi, straight, celibate, transgender – in a way that is hard to do in the greater society."{{Sfn|Adler|2006|pp=355–371}}

[[Transgender]] existence and acceptability is especially controversial in many neopagan sects. One of the most notable of these is [[Dianic Wicca]]. This [[Gender segregation|female-only]], [[Radical feminism|radical feminist]] variant of Wicca allows [[cisgender]] lesbians but not [[Trans woman|transgender women]]. This is due to Dianic belief in [[gender essentialism]]; according to founder [[Zsuzsanna Budapest]], "you have to have sometimes [sic] in your life a womb, and ovaries and [menstruate] and not die". This belief and the way it is expressed is often denounced as [[transphobia]] and [[TERF|trans-exclusionary radical feminism]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.patheos.com/blogs/pantheon/2011/03/transgender-issues-in-pagan-religions/|title=Transgender Issues in Pagan Religions|last=PANTHEON|date=1 March 2011|work=PANTHEON|access-date=2018-05-01|language=en-US|archive-date=25 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525163404/https://www.patheos.com/blogs/pantheon/2011/03/transgender-issues-in-pagan-religions/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-dianic-wicca-2562908|title=What is the Dianic Wiccan Tradition?|work=ThoughtCo|access-date=2018-05-01|archive-date=15 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415020853/https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-dianic-wicca-2562908|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2011/mar/08/pagans-trans-women-religions|title=Why won't pagans accept trans women? {{!}} Roz Kaveney|last=Kaveney|first=Roz|date=8 March 2011|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-06-15|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=12 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212114306/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2011/mar/08/pagans-trans-women-religions|url-status=live}}</ref>

Trans exclusion can also be found in [[Alexandrian Wicca]], whose founder views trans individuals as [[Melancholia|melancholy]] people who should seek other beliefs due to the Alexandrian focus on heterosexual reproduction and duality.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://ladygeekgirl.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/oh-my-pop-culture-goddess-transgender-issues-in-wicca-and-paganism/|title=Oh, My Pop Culture Goddess: Transgender Issues in Wicca and Paganism|date=16 February 2014|work=Lady Geek Girl and Friends|access-date=2018-05-01|language=en-US|archive-date=20 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220162426/https://ladygeekgirl.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/oh-my-pop-culture-goddess-transgender-issues-in-wicca-and-paganism/|url-status=live}}</ref>