A number of sexual problems, such as homosexuality and
transsexuality can well have medical aspects, and in such cases recourse should
certainly be had to the best medical assistance. But it is clear from the
teaching of Bahá'u'lláh that homosexuality is not a condition to which a person
should be reconciled, but is a distortion of his or her nature which should be
controlled and overcome. This may require a hard struggle, but so also can be
the struggle of a heterosexual person to control his or her desires. The
exercise of self-control in this, as in so very many other aspects of life, has
a beneficial effect on the progress of the soul.
(The Universal House of
Justice, from a letter dated 6 February 1973 to all National Spiritual
Assemblies, published in ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice
1968-1973’)
