Biology Shouldn’t Matter
Steve Greenberg’s plea for gay rights (“A Place for Gays and Lesbians in Orthodoxy,” January 13) includes a quote from “a beloved leader of Modern Orthodoxy” who wrote, “How can we deny a human being the expression of his physical and psychic being? Is it not cruel to condemn an individual for doing that which his biological and genetic make-up demand that he do?”
A plea for gay rights should not be grounded in the genetic origins of homosexuality. There are genetic etiologies for many forms of behavior that are totally unacceptable and, in fact, criminal — such as pederasty, alcoholism, and perhaps even serial killing. The fact that these behavioral abnormalities and disorders have a genetic basis may explain them, but certainly not condone them.
Homosexual rights need not resort to a genetic etiology for acceptance. Whether congenital or acquired, how two consenting adults choose to live their private sexual lives is not society’s business; and should two adults of the same sex opt for a life together through marriage, there is no good reason to deny them this right, whether this behavior has a genetic basis or not!
Carl N. Steeg
New York, N.Y.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!