by Roedy Green ©1996-2007 Canadian Mind Products
If Jesus behaved to today as he did then, he would most certainly be labeled gay. There are two other related questions, was his sexual preference male and did he have sex with males. These two are much harder to answer.

This essay is mostly based on a public post by Rafael Romero of Victoria BC.

Modern day Christians attempt to deter homosexuality by denying civil rights to gay citizens. This flagrantly violates the golden rule: Matthew 7:12, Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets, but that does not seem to put the slightest damper on any Christian’s righteous indignation.

Ironically, there is some evidence that Jesus himself was gay. I am not claiming Jesus was necessarily sexually active, only that his natural sexual orientation was toward males rather than females. There is no explicit mention of him having sex with anyone in the bible. The very notion of homosexual is a rather recent invention. Every society has quite different attitudes and taboos about same sex affection and sexual activity. What I am saying is that if Jesus were alive today, people would label him gay. His behaviour might have been considered well within male behaviour norms in his day. This essay then is more about how society’s standards of acceptable behaviour have changed since biblical times than about Jesus himself.

In other words, if Jesus came back today, the religious right would crucify him anew as a homosexual.

The Evidence