The Bahá'í Faith is a religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in the ninteenth century in what is now Iran, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are about six million Bahá'ís in more than 200 countries and territories around the world.
According to Bahá'í teachings, religious history has unfolded through a series of God's messengers who brought teachings suited for the capacity of the people at their time, and whose fundamental purpose is the same. Bahá'u'lláh is regarded as the most recent, but not final, in a line of messengers that includes Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Krishna, Jesus, Muhammad and others. Bahá'u'lláh's claim to fulfill the eschatological promises of previous scriptures coincides with his mission to establish a firm basis for unity throughout the world, and inaugurate an age of peace and justice, which Bahá'ís expect will inevitably arise.
Homosexuality
The official teaching of the Baha'i faith is that sexual activity is only permissible within a marriage between a man and a woman.1 However, leading Baha'is have repeatedly emphasised the inherent dignity one every human being and stated that Baha'is should treat gay people as they would a straight one.
LGBT people are not prevented from converting to Baha'i, however they are expected to observe Baha'i law relating to personal conduct: failure to do so is supposed to be seen as equal to any other Baha'i who lapses, for example by drinking alcohol.
There appears to be no LGBT Baha'i movement as such.
Links
- Gay Baha'i, the website doesn't appear to be all that, but there is an active message board.
