Respect for gays in the Orthodox world

I’m not so sure, though, that the question of homosexuality in the Orthodox community “has been exhausted,” despite what I read in “Respect, not discord” (Letters, May 1). I suspect our gay brothers and sisters who do not yet feel accepted as human beings and Jews within their communities would not feel the issue has been exhausted. Exhausting perhaps. But not yet exhausted.

And it will not be exhausted until every gay man and woman is embraced by their community. Yes, you read that right. Every single one of them. Embraced. Even by the Orthodox Jewish community.

That doesn’t mean we can’t debate about the permissibility of certain acts. It does mean that we can no longer make sweeping generalizations about the “lifestyle” of gay people. It does mean we cannot pretend that the Torah prohibits a “gay lifestyle” when in fact no such expression can be found in the Torah. And it most definitely means that we can no longer tolerate expressions of bigotry even, and especially, when they cloak themselves in the language of saintliness.

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