As a gay Christian, I know a lot about the obstacles Christianity lays in front of gay people. To a large extent, these obstacles are similar to the ones that most other major religions present. The major religions that see homosexuality as sinful or unacceptable are Christianity, Orthodox Judaism, Islam, Mormonism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Zoroastrianism. Religions that do accept homosexuality as normal are, among other smaller ones, Reformed and Reconstructionist Judaism, Confucianism, Taoism, Paganism, Unitarian Universalism, and Humanism. It is also fair to say that there are groups within most religions that do not put any obstacles in front of the gay community. In other words, not all members of any religion see homosexuality as sinful or unacceptable.
As the religion practiced by the biggest percentage of the world’s population, Christianity always finds itself in the middle of the discussions about homosexuality. Most Christian churches accept the fact that people can have same-sex attraction, and they don’t view the attraction itself as sinful. They believe, however, that acting on this attraction (i.e. living a homosexual life) is sinful. This is normally based on a few scriptural references and natural theology. Both scriptural and natural references can be interpreted differently, and therefore not all Christian churches agree that homosexual acts are sinful.
