Q&A: Male Homosexual Intercourse
Male Homosexual Intercourse
Question
Hello, Rabbi Michi,
I can’t manage to find where exactly you said/wrote this, so forgive me if there are a few inaccuracies here and there.
Your approach regarding male homosexual intercourse is that “the Merciful One exempts one who is coerced” (or perhaps it is even permitted ab initio?), and therefore male homosexual intercourse should not be prohibited, since this is a trial they are unable to withstand.
A few questions about that:
1) Is there any precedent for this in halakhic literature—medieval authorities (Rishonim) / later authorities (Acharonim)—where prohibitions (even Torah-level ones) are permitted?
2) Where do we know to draw the line? In other words, how can we assess the magnitude of the trial and difficulty for each and every transgression—what counts as coercion and what does not?
3) Regarding coercion: do you define someone whose sexual identity is opposite as being coerced with respect to male homosexual intercourse because of the enormous difficulty of not having sexual relations (that is, the very pleasure of sexual relations that is denied to him), or is the “coercion” defined because of the consequences of this prohibition (namely, living a life without a relationship and family)?
Thank you in advance.
Answer
I did not write that it is permitted, only that it is coercion.
Reasoning is what determines it. Just as the Sages determined what counts as coercion and what does not. See, for example, Babylonian Talmud, Ketubot 33b: “Had they flogged Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah…”
Both.
Discussion on Answer
I don’t remember. What is there to elaborate on?
If I understood correctly, then it would not be correct to say that since you are coerced and cannot withstand this trial, the Torah did not prohibit this act for you ab initio. Rather, it is like, say, desecrating the Sabbath under coercion—not that the thing is permitted, but that one is not punished for it because it was done under coercion.
Do you perhaps have a link to an article/column where you discuss this topic at greater length?