Biblical teaching

• In the Old Testament, homosexuality was said to be an abomination that was punishable by death
• In the New Testament, Paul twice denounced homosexuality, including it in a list of other 'anti-social' activities
• These texts have been interpreted differently by various scholars and churches in recent decades. Many Christians today would say that the Old Testament laws and Paul's teaching in the New Testament reflect the common cultural attitudes of the time that they were written, and as such cannot be directly applied to modern life
• In the Sodom and Gomorrah story (Genesis 19), it has often been assumed that God's destruction of those cities was because homosexual acts were threatened by a group of thugs. However, a careful reading of the story makes it clear that punishment in the form of destruction came more for the lack of hospitality than for homosexuality
• Some claim that David and Jonathan and Ruth and Naomi had same-sex relationships, though in both cases that is debatable
• Leviticus 18:22: 'Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable'
• 1 Corinthians 6:9-10: 'Neither the sexually immoral... nor men who have sex with men... will inherit the kingdom of God