Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

Plaskow addresses the Jewish notion of heterosexuality as the universal norm. This idea not only
marginalizes all other individuals who align with a sexual orientation other than heterosexuality, but it also
silences them from traditional Jewish life and practice. Due to Judaism’s creation of strict guidelines for
what is considered normal, healthy, and divine in terms of intimate relationships, those who do not engage
in heterosexual relations are left feeling disconnected from Judaism. Plaskow asserts that through this
marginalization, there can be no move toward transforming the traditional views that are prevalent in
Judaism today. Plaskow asserts that Judaism must create an inclusive model in terms of intimate
relationships so that all Jews will be able to engage in intimate relationships without feeling disconnected or
marginalized from their religion.
In Islam, beliefs regarding homosexuality derive primarily from the traditional laws that are set
forth in the Qur’an. Khalid Duran, an expert in Islamic studies, states that the Qur’an “is very explicit in its
condemnation of homosexuality, leaving scarcely any loophole for a theological accommodation of
homosexuals in Islam” (Ali 82). However, increasingly in contemporary society, the question is being
raised, “could there be circumstances under which such a tie could legalize otherwise permitted sexual acts
between two women or two men? For the vast majority of Muslims … this is a ludicrous question; a licit
same-sex relationship is a categorical impossibility” (Ali 77, 78). Ali believes it is this very question that
necessitates the re-examination of traditional views of homosexuality in Islam. The notion of homosexuality
as innate is part of Ali’s argument for revisiting these ideas. In fact, “some self-identified queer Muslims
have challenged the view of the impossibility of licit same-sex relations by affirming the naturalness of their
sexual orientation as divinely granted and seeking to consider whether it might be possible to construct a
religiously valid bond between two men or two women that would legitimize sex between them” (Ali 78).
Furthermore, in contemporary Islamic society, homosexual Muslims have been actively making “attempts
to reconcile a “homosexual” identity with a Muslim identity, and to legitimize same-sex intimate
partnerships within the constraints of Islamic religious discourse” (Ali 78). Ali believes that the idea of
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