As Alberta debates gay-straight alliances with Bill 10, members of various faiths across the province weighed in on their religious beliefs regarding homosexuality.
Junaid Jahangir is the Canada West coordinator for Universalist Mulsims, an organization that shares the egalitarian messages of Islam and uses the slogan “Allah loves us all.”
“We fully support same-sex unions, we fully support gay-straight alliances, and we fully support full civil rights of LGBT people,” Jahangir said.
However, Jahangir pointed out, this view is not the most common among Muslims today. Although most Muslims in Western societies no longer believe in the old traditions of sentencing homosexuals to death, many are not fully supportive of LGBTQ members, either.
“The position of Muslim leaders now is hate the sin, love the sinner,” Jahangir said, adding that many Muslims believe that homosexuals can be “helped” and “rehabilitated.”
There is no direct mention of homosexuality in the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhism.
Balpreet Singh, a member of the World Sikh Organization, spoke with Calgary Sikh youth last year about homosexuality in the religion.
“I believe that there’s no room for discrimination against homosexuals… I think it’s against Sikh principles,” Singh said. “But that having been said, I don’t think the homosexual act, the homosexual lifestyle is compatible with Sikhi. Homosexual marriage is certainly not something that’s permitted.”
This view has been debated, and some people claim that Sikhism supports homosexual relationships because marriage is said to be the union of two souls, which are genderless, in front of God.
According to Sensei James Martin, a member of the Calgary Buddhist temple, Buddhism does not typically pass judgement on a person’s sexuality.
“Buddhism is not a belief system but accords with science that homosexuality is not a choice but a condition determined by birth,” Martin said.
He added that in some traditions, any form of sexual activity can be considered a distraction from the ultimate goal of becoming a Buddha and helping others.