Modern paganism and LGBTQ people

[2] Over a decade later, Helen A. Berger and colleague James R. Lewis, began the "Pagan Census Revisited" which ran from September 5, 2009 until October 15, 2010, and published separate analyses.

[5] A 2015 study survey by Pew Research Center found that 11% of lesbian, gay, and bisexual respondents identified with non-Christian faiths, a large portion of which being some form of neopaganism or interfaith universalist beliefs.

[15] The basis of the difference is commonly reflected in discussion about spiritual energy, which is traditionally believed to be intrinsically masculine or feminine in type and inherently possessed by those born into either binary gender.

[18][19] Janet Farrar, a notable Wiccan priestess and author, described this as an adoption of yin and yang in Western pagan practice.

The Triple Goddess, in her three aspects Maiden, Mother, and Crone, is associated with the reproductive development and cessation of a fertile cisgender woman.

The essentialist rigidity fluctuated under the influence of Carl Jung's notions of anima and animus and non-heterosexual orientations became more acceptable.

[31] Furthermore, a central part of Wiccan liturgy involves the Great Rite,[32][31][33] an act of actual or symbolic ritual sexual intercourse between the two deities.

This is traditionally carried out by a priest and priestess who have had the deities invoked upon them, and the conventional practice appears to be exclusively heterosexual.

This practice may stem from Gardner's text (ostensibly quoting a witch, but perhaps in his own words):[36] "The witches tell me 'The law always has been that power must be passed from man to woman or from woman to man, the only exception being when a mother initiates her daughter or a father his son, because they are part of themselves' (the reason is that great love is apt to occur between people who go through the rites together.)

"Gardner was accused of homophobia by Lois Bourne, one of the High Priestesses of the Bricket Wood coven:[37] "Gerald was homophobic.

"[38]Alex Sanders, the co-founder of Gardnerian offshoot Alexandrian Wicca, came out as bisexual later in life and created new rituals in which sexual orientation was irrelevant.

She also expressed concern about a proper functionality of transgender people (referred to as "transvestites") within coven practices, saying it best to look at other traditions that suit them more.

[41] Zsuzsanna Budapest, creator of Dianic Wicca, founded the path as a female-only, Goddess veneration tradition, while modern derivative sects may not exclude based on gender.

[57] In the Ynglinga saga (c.1225), written by Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson, it is stated that seiðr had originally been a practice among the Vanir, but that Freyja introduced it to the Æsir when she joined them.

[58] Based on this, universalist practitioners consider gender-based limitations on seiðr a prejudicial practice which subverts aspects of Norse liturgy.

[55] Germanic occultism and neopaganism emerged in the early 20th Century and became influential, with beliefs such as Ariosophy, combining with the far-right Völkisch movement which eventually culminated in Nazism.

Post-WWII continuations of similar beliefs have given rise to the Wotansvolk, a white nationalist neopagan movement, in the late 20th Century.

[59][60] Modern white supremacism and Neo-Nazism with all the racist, antisemitic, and anti-LGBTQ beliefs of those ideologies have either continued, infiltrated, and co-opted many Germanic and Norse Heathen traditions such as Ásatrú (sometimes called Odinism).

"[62] ... all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals.Wiccan traditions hold a wide range of differing beliefs about sexual orientation and gender identity.

"[68] The Pagan Federation of Canada stated, "Over the last few decades, many people have thought that the emphasis on male/female polarity in Wicca excludes homosexuals."

However, the Federation goes on to make the case for the validity of LGBTQ orientations even within traditional Wicca, suggesting that gay men and lesbians are likely to be particularly alive to the interplay of the masculine and feminine principles in the Universe.

[70] The adoption of horn symbology by non-men shown at certain pagan events, such as Mary Jo Neitz witnessed at Dragonfest in the 1990s, may have indicated increasing acceptance of gender fluidity and sexual diversity developing during that time period.

The Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS), the pagan-aligned affiliate of the UUA, echoes those beliefs with bylaws that state covenant membership "shall be open, without regard to race, color, sex, affectional or sexual orientation, gender expression, physical disability, national origin, or social condition.

In many Neo-Pagan Witchcraft traditions, we are told simply to adopt the pre-existing (and heterosexist) magickal modalities of polarity and fertility.