I have a new interest now in discussing what Baha’is and Baha’i writings say, and more importantly, do not say, about homosexuality, but I’m not sure why. It might be to learn more about the possibilities in Internet discussions, for what I might want to do.
First I’ll try again to get all my cards out on the table. I missed a few last time.
I see a prohibition in Baha’i scriptures against any man, regardless of his orientation, inserting his penis into another man’s anus, or if not that, against making that part of any social institution, formal or informal. I would not agree for all Baha’i marriage laws to be imposed on any couple other than a man and a woman. I object to calling that a prohibition against homosexuality, because I think that “homosexuality” means a lot more than that to most people. I think that helps popularize false ideas about what is prohibited in some religious scriptures, which I think has harmful consequences.
Apart from those exceptions, I don’t think that the healthfulness or morality of any romantic or sexual feelings, impulses or even behavior, has anything to do with anyone’s sex type or gender. Apart from those exceptions, I don’t see any prohibition in Baha’i scriptures against anything that anyone calls “marriage” between two men or two women.
Even though I see a prohibition in Baha’i scriptures against that one interaction between two men, I don’t think that’s something that Baha’i institutions should be trying to enforce. I’m not sure any of them do any more. I haven’t seen any reports of Baha’i institutions trying to enforce that prohibition in the last fifteen years or more.
I’ve never seen any Baha’i on the Internet who agrees with me about all that. Most of the Baha’is that I’ve seen discussing it either say that the prohibition is against all sexual relationships between two men or two women, or say that there’s no prohibition at all, and that it’s wrong and anti-gay for Baha’i institutions to refuse to put a “Baha’i” stamp on same-sex marriages. I’ve also seen a few Baha’is who openly and shamelessly promote the idea that same-sex romantic and sexual feelings and impulses are despicable in themselves, and despised by God.