Homosexuality and Conservative Judaism

Homosexuality And Conservative Judaism

Homosexuality has been a pivotal issue for Conservative Judaism since the 1980s. A major Jewish denomination in the U.S., Conservative Judaism has wrestled with homosexuality as a matter of Jewish law and institutional policy. As with other branches of Judaism debating homosexuality, Conservative Jews faced both long-standing, rabbinic prohibitions on homosexual conduct as well as increasing demands for change in the movement's policies toward gays and lesbians. Previously, the Conservative movement had changed its policies toward women, for example, by allowing the ordination of women as rabbis in 1983. Similarly, the Conservative leadership has been asked to stop discriminating against LGBT people. This goal has been partially completed with the approval of the ordination of gay and lesbian rabbis in 2006 and of same-sex marriage ceremonies under Jewish law in 2012.