Did you talk to your rabbi?

No, not in the way you most likely mean. We are attending a conservative Shul. There are no orthodox Shuls in Utah. So there is no LOR for me to talk to. Within the Conservative Movement, this isn’t an issue. It is fully supported. So there really isn’t anything to discuss. It would be like asking an Orthodox rabbi if your wife should cover her hair.

But I wanted to understand the Orthodox perspective, so in place of talking to my LOR I have considered all that I learned in Seattle, and have done online research on the topic from a Torah perspective.

I would like to say what I found was more supportive, but the reality is that the majority of Orthodoxy is still very traditional when it comes to their views on LGBTQ+. There are definitely some Orthodox groups and rabbis who are supportive, but change seems to be very slow.

So if I were to go to a LOR, if I had one, more likely than not I would be told this is wrong. But their rejection doesn’t make any sense to me. Very early on in my conversion process, some medical issues came up. At the time I asked my LOR about how Torah would have me deal with this. I was told very blatantly that we do not look to any of our ancient texts for medical advice. The reason given was that science has shown some of them to be incorrect and we side with science.

Here is a topic that the vast majority of the medical community is supportive of yet here most Orthodox ignore the policy of looking to modern science and stick with traditional views.

I am still researching this. I have yet to find a reason for this inconsistency. I would like to understand why people are hanging on to the traditional view here. Even more, I would like to know where I fit in the Orthodox world as I move forward. From what I have read so far that is a very difficult question with no consensus.

Next Question: Why did you start exploring this now?