Introduction

There are only six passages in the Bible that are quoted to imply that gay relationships are wrong:

 Genesis 19:1-9, Leviticus 18:22 & 20:13, Romans 1:26,27, 1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Timothy 1:9,10

So, there is nothing about it in the teaching of Jesus or in any of the Gospels, and there's nothing about it in the Ten Commandments. However, we can’t just ignore these six passages: let’s see what they really say.

Genesis is an obvious place to start.

Genesis 19:4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom

—both young and old—surrounded the house.

5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us

so that we can have sex with them.” 

It’s obvious that this is not about gay relationships at all but an attempt at homosexual rape. It was even more shocking in that all the men of the city were involved. Also this was deliberate abuse of Lot’s guests, in contrast to Lot himself who had welcomed them and showed them hospitality.

In popular thinking, the idea has grown up that the sin of Sodom was homosexuality.

That is clearly not born out by this account.

There is more anbout the sin of Sodom in Ezekiel 16:49,50  

“Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.

They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen."

Leviticus 18:22 Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.

Leviticus 20:13 If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads

These verses seem to clearly condemn same sex relationships between men, which is why they are so often quoted by conservative Christians to support their views. I will come back to the meaning of these passages later, but my main point is that this is Old Testament law! Christians have never taken the law as written and applied it in the New Testament. There are plenty of rules in Leviticus about what we shouldn’t eat and so on that we ignore. The New Testament shows us how to interpret the Old Testament law.