A Medley of Potpourri

Isotope	Abundance	Half-life (t_1/2)	Decay mode	Product
¹²⁴Xe	0.095%	1.8×10²² y	εε	¹²⁴Te
¹²⁵Xe	syn	16.9 h	ε	¹²⁵I
¹²⁶Xe	0.089%	stable (no decay seen)	β⁻β⁻
¹²⁷Xe	syn	36.345 d	ε	¹²⁷I
¹²⁸Xe	1.910%	stable
¹²⁹Xe	26.401%	stable
¹³⁰Xe	4.071%	stable
¹³¹Xe	21.232%	stable
¹³²Xe	26.909%	stable
¹³³Xe	syn	5.247 d	β⁻	¹³³Cs
¹³⁴Xe	10.436%	stable (no decay seen)	β⁻β⁻
¹³⁵Xe	syn	9.14 h	β⁻	¹³⁵Cs
¹³⁶Xe	8.857%	2.165×10²¹ y	β⁻β⁻	¹³⁶Ba

Xenon is a chemical element with the symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It is a colorless, dense, odorless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, it can undergo a few chemical reactions such as the formation of xenon hexafluoroplatinate, the first noble gas compound to be synthesized.

Xenon is used in flash lamps and arc lamps, and as a general anesthetic. The first excimer laser design used a xenon dimer molecule (Xe₂) as the lasing medium, and the earliest laser designs used xenon flash lamps as pumps. Xenon is also used to search for hypothetical weakly interacting massive particles and as a propellant for ion thrusters in spacecraft.

Naturally occurring xenon consists of seven stable isotopes and two long-lived radioactive isotopes. More than 40 unstable xenon isotopes undergo radioactive decay, and the isotope ratios of xenon are an important tool for studying the early history of the Solar System. Radioactive xenon-135 is produced by beta decay from iodine-135 (a product of nuclear fission), and is the most significant (and unwanted) neutron absorber in nuclear reactors.

History

Xenon was discovered in England by the Scottish chemist William Ramsay and English chemist Morris Travers in September 1898, shortly after their discovery of the elements krypton and neon. They found xenon in the residue left over from evaporating components of liquid air. Ramsay suggested the name xenon for this gas from the Greek word ξένον xénon, neuter singular form of ξένος xénos, meaning 'foreign(er)', 'strange(r)', or 'guest'. In 1902, Ramsay estimated the proportion of xenon in the Earth's atmosphere to be one part in 20 million.

During the 1930s, American engineer Harold Edgerton began exploring strobe light technology for high speed photography. This led him to the invention of the xenon flash lamp in which light is generated by passing brief electric current through a tube filled with xenon gas. In 1934, Edgerton was able to generate flashes as brief as one microsecond with this method.

In 1939, American physician Albert R. Behnke Jr. began exploring the causes of "drunkenness" in deep-sea divers. He tested the effects of varying the breathing mixtures on his subjects, and discovered that this caused the divers to perceive a change in depth. From his results, he deduced that xenon gas could serve as an anesthetic. Although Russian toxicologist Nikolay V. Lazarev apparently studied xenon anesthesia in 1941, the first published report confirming xenon anesthesia was in 1946 by American medical researcher John H. Lawrence, who experimented on mice. Xenon was first used as a surgical anesthetic in 1951 by American anesthesiologist Stuart C. Cullen, who successfully used it with two patients.

An acrylic cube specially prepared for element collectors containing liquefied xenon

Xenon and the other noble gases were for a long time considered to be completely chemically inert and not able to form compounds. However, while teaching at the University of British Columbia, Neil Bartlett discovered that the gas platinum hexafluoride (PtF₆) was a powerful oxidizing agent that could oxidize oxygen gas (O₂) to form dioxygenyl hexafluoroplatinate (O⁺
₂[PtF
₆]⁻
). Since O₂(1165 kJ/mol) and xenon (1170 kJ/mol) have almost the same first ionization potential, Bartlett realized that platinum hexafluoride might also be able to oxidize xenon. On March 23, 1962, he mixed the two gases and produced the first known compound of a noble gas, xenon hexafluoroplatinate.

Bartlett thought its composition to be Xe⁺[PtF₆]⁻, but later work revealed that it was probably a mixture of various xenon-containing salts. Since then, many other xenon compounds have been discovered, in addition to some compounds of the noble gases argon, krypton, and radon, including argon fluorohydride (HArF), krypton difluoride (KrF₂), and radon fluoride. By 1971, more than 80 xenon compounds were known.

In November 1989, IBM scientists demonstrated a technology capable of manipulating individual atoms. The program, called IBM in atoms, used a scanning tunneling microscope to arrange 35 individual xenon atoms on a substrate of chilled crystal of nickel to spell out the three letter company initialism. It was the first time atoms had been precisely positioned on a flat surface.

Characteristics

A layer of solid xenon floating on top of liquid xenon inside a high voltage apparatus.

Liquid (featureless) and crystalline solid Xe nanoparticles produced by implanting Xe⁺ ions into aluminium at room temperature.

Xenon has atomic number 54; that is, its nucleus contains 54 protons. At standard temperature and pressure, pure xenon gas has a density of 5.894 kg/m³, about 4.5 times the density of the Earth's atmosphere at sea level, 1.217 kg/m³. As a liquid, xenon has a density of up to 3.100 g/mL, with the density maximum occurring at the triple point. Liquid xenon has a high polarizability due to its large atomic volume, and thus is an excellent solvent. It can dissolve hydrocarbons, biological molecules, and even water. Under the same conditions, the density of solid xenon, 3.640 g/cm³, is greater than the average density of granite, 2.75 g/cm³. Under gigapascals of pressure, xenon forms a metallic phase.

Solid xenon changes from face-centered cubic (fcc) to hexagonal close packed (hcp) crystal phase under pressure and begins to turn metallic at about 140 GPa, with no noticeable volume change in the hcp phase. It is completely metallic at 155 GPa. When metallized, xenon appears sky blue because it absorbs red light and transmits other visible frequencies. Such behavior is unusual for a metal and is explained by the relatively small width of the electron bands in that state.

Xenon flash (animated version)

Liquid or solid xenon nanoparticles can be formed at room temperature by implanting Xe⁺ ions into a solid matrix. Many solids have lattice constants smaller than solid Xe. This results in compression of the implanted Xe to pressures that may be sufficient for its liquefaction or solidification.

Xenon is a member of the zero-valence elements that are called noble or inert gases. It is inert to most common chemical reactions (such as combustion, for example) because the outer valence shell contains eight electrons. This produces a stable, minimum energy configuration in which the outer electrons are tightly bound.

In a gas-filled tube, xenon emits a blue or lavenderish glow when excited by electrical discharge. Xenon emits a band of emission lines that span the visual spectrum, but the most intense lines occur in the region of blue light, producing the coloration.

Occurrence and production

Xenon is a trace gas in Earth's atmosphere, occurring at a volume fraction of 87±1 nL/L (parts per billion), or approximately 1 part per 11.5 million. It is also found as a component of gases emitted from some mineral springs. Given a total mass of the atmosphere of 5.15×10¹⁸ kilograms (1.135×10¹⁹ lb), the atmosphere contains on the order of 2.03 gigatonnes (2.00×10⁹ long tons; 2.24×10⁹ short tons) of xenon in total when taking the average molar mass of the atmosphere as 28.96 g/mol which is equivalent to some 394 mass ppb.

Commercial

Xenon is obtained commercially as a by-product of the separation of air into oxygen and nitrogen. After this separation, generally performed by fractional distillation in a double-column plant, the liquid oxygen produced will contain small quantities of krypton and xenon. By additional fractional distillation, the liquid oxygen may be enriched to contain 0.1–0.2% of a krypton/xenon mixture, which is extracted either by adsorption onto silica gel or by distillation. Finally, the krypton/xenon mixture may be separated into krypton and xenon by further distillation.

Worldwide production of xenon in 1998 was estimated at 5,000–7,000 cubic metres (180,000–250,000 cu ft). At a density of 5.894 grams per litre (0.9452 oz/imp gal) this is equivalent to roughly 30 to 40 tonnes (30 to 39 long tons; 33 to 44 short tons). Because of its scarcity, xenon is much more expensive than the lighter noble gases—approximate prices for the purchase of small quantities in Europe in 1999 were 10 €/L (=~1.7€/g) for xenon, 1 €/L (=~0.27€/g) for krypton, and 0.20 €/L (=~0.22€/g) for neon, while the much more plentiful argon, which makes up over 1% by volume of earth's atmosphere, costs less than a cent per liter.

Solar system

Within the Solar System, the nucleon fraction of xenon is 1.56 × 10⁻⁸, for an abundance of approximately one part in 630 thousand of the total mass. Xenon is relatively rare in the Sun's atmosphere, on Earth, and in asteroids and comets. The abundance of xenon in the atmosphere of planet Jupiter is unusually high, about 2.6 times that of the Sun. This abundance remains unexplained, but may have been caused by an early and rapid buildup of planetesimals—small, subplanetary bodies—before the heating of the presolar disk. (Otherwise, xenon would not have been trapped in the planetesimal ices.) The problem of the low terrestrial xenon may be explained by covalent bonding of xenon to oxygen within quartz, reducing the outgassing of xenon into the atmosphere.

Stellar

Unlike the lower-mass noble gases, the normal stellar nucleosynthesis process inside a star does not form xenon. Elements more massive than iron-56 consume energy through fusion, and the synthesis of xenon represents no energy gain for a star. Instead, xenon is formed during supernova explosions, in classical nova explosions, by the slow neutron-capture process (s-process) in red giant stars that have exhausted their core hydrogen and entered the asymptotic giant branch, and from radioactive decay, for example by beta decay of extinct iodine-129 and spontaneous fission of thorium, uranium, and plutonium.

Nuclear fission

Xenon-135 is a notable neutron poison with a high fission product yield. As it is relatively short lived, it decays at the same rate it is produced during steady operation of a nuclear reactor. However, if power is reduced or the reactor is scramed, less xenon is destroyed than is produced from the beta decay of its parent nuclides. This phenomenon called xenon poisoning can cause significant problems in restarting a reactor after a scram or increasing power after it had been reduced and it was one of several contributing factors in the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

Stable or extremely long lived isotopes of xenon are also produced in appreciable quantities in nuclear fission. Xenon-136 is produced when xenon-135 undergoes neutron capture before it can decay. The ratio of xenon-136 to xenon-135 (or its decay products) can give hints as to the power history of a given reactor and the absence of xenon-136 is a "fingerprint" for nuclear explosions, as xenon-135 is not produced directly but as a product of successive beta decays and thus it can't absorb any neutrons in a nuclear explosion which occurs in fractions of a second.

The stable isotope xenon-132 has a fission product yield of over 4% in the thermal neutron fission of ²³⁵
U which means that stable or nearly stable xenon isotopes have a higher mass fraction in spent nuclear fuel (which is about 3% fission products) than it does in air. However, there is as of 2022 no commercial effort to extract xenon from spent fuel during nuclear reprocessing.

Isotopes

Naturally occurring xenon is composed of seven stable isotopes: ¹²⁶Xe, ^128–132Xe, and ¹³⁴Xe. The isotopes ¹²⁶Xe and ¹³⁴Xe are predicted by theory to undergo double beta decay, but this has never been observed so they are considered stable. In addition, more than 40 unstable isotopes have been studied. The longest lived of these isotopes are the primordial ¹²⁴Xe, which undergoes double electron capture with a half-life of 1.8 × 10²² yr, and ¹³⁶Xe, which undergoes double beta decay with a half-life of 2.11 × 10²¹ yr. ¹²⁹Xe is produced by beta decay of ¹²⁹I, which has a half-life of 16 million years. ^131mXe, ¹³³Xe, ^133mXe, and ¹³⁵Xe are some of the fission products of ²³⁵U and ²³⁹Pu, and are used to detect and monitor nuclear explosions.

Nuclear spin

Nuclei of two of the stable isotopes of xenon, ¹²⁹Xe and ¹³¹Xe, have non-zero intrinsic angular momenta (nuclear spins, suitable for nuclear magnetic resonance). The nuclear spins can be aligned beyond ordinary polarization levels by means of circularly polarized light and rubidium vapor. The resulting spin polarization of xenon nuclei can surpass 50% of its maximum possible value, greatly exceeding the thermal equilibrium value dictated by paramagnetic statistics (typically 0.001% of the maximum value at room temperature, even in the strongest magnets). Such non-equilibrium alignment of spins is a temporary condition, and is called hyperpolarization. The process of hyperpolarizing the xenon is called optical pumping (although the process is different from pumping a laser).

Because a ¹²⁹Xe nucleus has a spin of 1/2, and therefore a zero electric quadrupole moment, the ¹²⁹Xe nucleus does not experience any quadrupolar interactions during collisions with other atoms, and the hyperpolarization persists for long periods even after the engendering light and vapor have been removed. Spin polarization of ¹²⁹Xe can persist from several seconds for xenon atoms dissolved in blood to several hours in the gas phase and several days in deeply frozen solid xenon. In contrast, ¹³¹Xe has a nuclear spin value of 3⁄2 and a nonzero quadrupole moment, and has t₁ relaxation times in the millisecond and second ranges.

From fission

Some radioactive isotopes of xenon (for example, ¹³³Xe and ¹³⁵Xe) are produced by neutron irradiation of fissionable material within nuclear reactors.^[12] ¹³⁵Xe is of considerable significance in the operation of nuclear fission reactors. ¹³⁵Xe has a huge cross section for thermal neutrons, 2.6×10⁶ barns, and operates as a neutron absorber or "poison" that can slow or stop the chain reaction after a period of operation. This was discovered in the earliest nuclear reactors built by the American Manhattan Project for plutonium production. However, the designers had made provisions in the design to increase the reactor's reactivity (the number of neutrons per fission that go on to fission other atoms of nuclear fuel). ¹³⁵Xe reactor poisoning was a major factor in the Chernobyl disaster. A shutdown or decrease of power of a reactor can result in buildup of ¹³⁵Xe, with reactor operation going into a condition known as the iodine pit. Under adverse conditions, relatively high concentrations of radioactive xenon isotopes may emanate from cracked fuel rods, or fissioning of uranium in cooling water.

Isotope ratios of xenon produced in natural nuclear fission reactors at Oklo in Gabon reveal the reactor properties during chain reaction that took place about 2 billion years ago.

Cosmic processes

Because xenon is a tracer for two parent isotopes, xenon isotope ratios in meteorites are a powerful tool for studying the formation of the Solar System. The iodine–xenon method of dating gives the time elapsed between nucleosynthesis and the condensation of a solid object from the solar nebula. In 1960, physicist John H. Reynolds discovered that certain meteorites contained an isotopic anomaly in the form of an overabundance of xenon-129. He inferred that this was a decay product of radioactive iodine-129. This isotope is produced slowly by cosmic ray spallation and nuclear fission, but is produced in quantity only in supernova explosions.

Because the half-life of ¹²⁹I is comparatively short on a cosmological time scale (16 million years), this demonstrated that only a short time had passed between the supernova and the time the meteorites had solidified and trapped the ¹²⁹I. These two events (supernova and solidification of gas cloud) were inferred to have happened during the early history of the Solar System, because the ¹²⁹I isotope was likely generated shortly before the Solar System was formed, seeding the solar gas cloud with isotopes from a second source. This supernova source may also have caused collapse of the solar gas cloud.

In a similar way, xenon isotopic ratios such as ¹²⁹Xe/¹³⁰Xe and ¹³⁶Xe/¹³⁰Xe are a powerful tool for understanding planetary differentiation and early outgassing. For example, the atmosphere of Mars shows a xenon abundance similar to that of Earth (0.08 parts per million) but Mars shows a greater abundance of ¹²⁹Xe than the Earth or the Sun. Since this isotope is generated by radioactive decay, the result may indicate that Mars lost most of its primordial atmosphere, possibly within the first 100 million years after the planet was formed. In another example, excess ¹²⁹Xe found in carbon dioxide well gases from New Mexico is believed to be from the decay of mantle-derived gases from soon after Earth's formation.

Compounds

After Neil Bartlett's discovery in 1962 that xenon can form chemical compounds, a large number of xenon compounds have been discovered and described. Almost all known xenon compounds contain the electronegative atoms fluorine or oxygen. The chemistry of xenon in each oxidation state is analogous to that of the neighboring element iodine in the immediately lower oxidation state.

Halides

A model of planar chemical molecule with a blue center atom (Xe) symmetrically bonded to four peripheral atoms (fluorine).

Xenon tetrafluoride

XeF₄ crystals, 1962

Three fluorides are known: XeF
₂, XeF
₄, and XeF
₆. XeF is theorized to be unstable. These are the starting points for the synthesis of almost all xenon compounds.

The solid, crystalline difluoride XeF
₂ is formed when a mixture of fluorine and xenon gases is exposed to ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet component of ordinary daylight is sufficient. Long-term heating of XeF
₂ at high temperatures under an NiF
₂ catalyst yields XeF
₆. Pyrolysis of XeF
₆ in the presence of NaF yields high-purity XeF
₄.

The xenon fluorides behave as both fluoride acceptors and fluoride donors, forming salts that contain such cations as XeF⁺
and Xe
₂F⁺
₃, and anions such as XeF⁻
₅, XeF⁻
₇, and XeF²⁻
₈. The green, paramagnetic Xe⁺
₂ is formed by the reduction of XeF
₂ by xenon gas.

XeF
₂ also forms coordination complexes with transition metal ions. More than 30 such complexes have been synthesized and characterized.

Whereas the xenon fluorides are well characterized, with the exception of dichloride XeCl₂ and XeCl₄, the other halides are not known. Xenon dichloride, formed by the high-frequency irradiation of a mixture of xenon, fluorine, and silicon or carbon tetrachloride, is reported to be an endothermic, colorless, crystalline compound that decomposes into the elements at 80 °C. However, XeCl
₂ may be merely a van der Waals molecule of weakly bound Xe atoms and Cl
₂ molecules and not a real compound. Theoretical calculations indicate that the linear molecule XeCl
₂ is less stable than the van der Waals complex. Xenon tetrachloride is more unstable that it cannot be synthesized by chemical reactions. It was created by radioactive ¹²⁹
ICl⁻
₄ decay.

Oxides and oxohalides

Three oxides of xenon are known: xenon trioxide (XeO
₃) and xenon tetroxide (XeO
₄), both of which are dangerously explosive and powerful oxidizing agents, and xenon dioxide (XeO₂), which was reported in 2011 with a coordination number of four. XeO₂ forms when xenon tetrafluoride is poured over ice. Its crystal structure may allow it to replace silicon in silicate minerals. The XeOO⁺ cation has been identified by infrared spectroscopy in solid argon.

Xenon does not react with oxygen directly; the trioxide is formed by the hydrolysis of XeF
₆:

XeF
₆ + 3 H
₂O → XeO
₃ + 6 HF

XeO
₃ is weakly acidic, dissolving in alkali to form unstable xenate salts containing the HXeO⁻
₄ anion. These unstable salts easily disproportionate into xenon gas and perxenate salts, containing the XeO⁴⁻
₆ anion.

Barium perxenate, when treated with concentrated sulfuric acid, yields gaseous xenon tetroxide:

Ba
₂XeO
₆ + 2 H
₂SO
₄ → 2 BaSO
₄ + 2 H
₂O + XeO
₄

To prevent decomposition, the xenon tetroxide thus formed is quickly cooled into a pale-yellow solid. It explodes above −35.9 °C into xenon and oxygen gas, but is otherwise stable.

A number of xenon oxyfluorides are known, including XeOF
₂, XeOF
₄, XeO
₂F
₂, and XeO
₃F
₂. XeOF
₂ is formed by reacting OF
₂ with xenon gas at low temperatures. It may also be obtained by partial hydrolysis of XeF
₄. It disproportionates at −20 °C into XeF
₂ and XeO
₂F
₂. XeOF
₄ is formed by the partial hydrolysis of XeF
₆, or the reaction of XeF
₆ with sodium perxenate, Na
₄XeO
₆. The latter reaction also produces a small amount of XeO
₃F
₂. XeOF
₄ reacts with CsF to form the XeOF⁻
₅ anion, while XeOF₃ reacts with the alkali metal fluorides KF, RbF and CsF to form the XeOF⁻
₄ anion.

Other compounds

Xenon can be directly bonded to a less electronegative element than fluorine or oxygen, particularly carbon. Electron-withdrawing groups, such as groups with fluorine substitution, are necessary to stabilize these compounds. Numerous such compounds have been characterized, including:

C
₆F
₅–Xe⁺
–N≡C–CH
₃, where C₆F₅ is the pentafluorophenyl group.
[C
₆F
₅]
₂Xe
C
₆F
₅–Xe–C≡N
C
₆F
₅–Xe–F
C
₆F
₅–Xe–Cl
C
₂F
₅–C≡C–Xe⁺
[CH
₃]
₃C–C≡C–Xe⁺
C
₆F
₅–XeF⁺
₂
(C
₆F
₅Xe)
₂Cl⁺

Other compounds containing xenon bonded to a less electronegative element include F–Xe–N(SO
₂F)
₂ and F–Xe–BF
₂. The latter is synthesized from dioxygenyl tetrafluoroborate, O
₂BF
₄, at −100 °C.

An unusual ion containing xenon is the tetraxenonogold(II) cation, AuXe²⁺
₄, which contains Xe–Au bonds. This ion occurs in the compound AuXe
₄(Sb
₂F
₁₁)
₂, and is remarkable in having direct chemical bonds between two notoriously unreactive atoms, xenon and gold, with xenon acting as a transition metal ligand.

The compound Xe
₂Sb
₂F
₁₁ contains a Xe–Xe bond, the longest element-element bond known (308.71 pm = 3.0871 Å).

In 1995, M. Räsänen and co-workers, scientists at the University of Helsinki in Finland, announced the preparation of xenon dihydride (HXeH), and later xenon hydride-hydroxide (HXeOH), hydroxenoacetylene (HXeCCH), and other Xe-containing molecules. In 2008, Khriachtchev et al. reported the preparation of HXeOXeH by the photolysis of water within a cryogenic xenon matrix. Deuterated molecules, HXeOD and DXeOH, have also been produced.

Clathrates and excimers

In addition to compounds where xenon forms a chemical bond, xenon can form clathrates—substances where xenon atoms or pairs are trapped by the crystalline lattice of another compound. One example is xenon hydrate (Xe·5+3⁄4H₂O), where xenon atoms occupy vacancies in a lattice of water molecules. This clathrate has a melting point of 24 °C. The deuterated version of this hydrate has also been produced. Another example is xenon hydride (Xe(H₂)₈), in which xenon pairs (dimers) are trapped inside solid hydrogen. Such clathrate hydrates can occur naturally under conditions of high pressure, such as in Lake Vostok underneath the Antarctic ice sheet. Clathrate formation can be used to fractionally distill xenon, argon and krypton.

Xenon can also form endohedral fullerene compounds, where a xenon atom is trapped inside a fullerene molecule. The xenon atom trapped in the fullerene can be observed by ¹²⁹Xe nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Through the sensitive chemical shift of the xenon atom to its environment, chemical reactions on the fullerene molecule can be analyzed. These observations are not without caveat, however, because the xenon atom has an electronic influence on the reactivity of the fullerene.

When xenon atoms are in the ground energy state, they repel each other and will not form a bond. When xenon atoms becomes energized, however, they can form an excimer (excited dimer) until the electrons return to the ground state. This entity is formed because the xenon atom tends to complete the outermost electronic shell by adding an electron from a neighboring xenon atom. The typical lifetime of a xenon excimer is 1–5 nanoseconds, and the decay releases photons with wavelengths of about 150 and 173 nm. Xenon can also form excimers with other elements, such as the halogens bromine, chlorine, and fluorine.

Applications

Although xenon is rare and relatively expensive to extract from the Earth's atmosphere, it has a number of applications.

Illumination and optics

Gas-discharge lamps

Xenon is used in light-emitting devices called xenon flash lamps, used in photographic flashes and stroboscopic lamps; to excite the active medium in lasers which then generate coherent light; and, occasionally, in bactericidal lamps. The first solid-state laser, invented in 1960, was pumped by a xenon flash lamp, and lasers used to power inertial confinement fusion are also pumped by xenon flash lamps.

Xenon short-arc lamp

Space Shuttle Atlantis bathed in xenon lights

Xenon gas discharge tube

Continuous, short-arc, high pressure xenon arc lamps have a color temperature closely approximating noon sunlight and are used in solar simulators. That is, the chromaticity of these lamps closely approximates a heated black body radiator at the temperature of the Sun. First introduced in the 1940s, these lamps replaced the shorter-lived carbon arc lamps in movie projectors. They are also employed in typical 35mm, IMAX, and digital film projection systems. They are an excellent source of short wavelength ultraviolet radiation and have intense emissions in the near infrared used in some night vision systems. Xenon is used as a starter gas in metal halide lamps for automotive HID headlights, and high-end "tactical" flashlights.

The individual cells in a plasma display contain a mixture of xenon and neon ionized with electrodes. The interaction of this plasma with the electrodes generates ultraviolet photons, which then excite the phosphor coating on the front of the display.

Xenon is used as a "starter gas" in high pressure sodium lamps. It has the lowest thermal conductivity and lowest ionization potential of all the non-radioactive noble gases. As a noble gas, it does not interfere with the chemical reactions occurring in the operating lamp. The low thermal conductivity minimizes thermal losses in the lamp while in the operating state, and the low ionization potential causes the breakdown voltage of the gas to be relatively low in the cold state, which allows the lamp to be more easily started.

Lasers

In 1962, a group of researchers at Bell Laboratories discovered laser action in xenon, and later found that the laser gain was improved by adding helium to the lasing medium. The first excimer laser used a xenon dimer (Xe₂) energized by a beam of electrons to produce stimulated emission at an ultraviolet wavelength of 176 nm. Xenon chloride and xenon fluoride have also been used in excimer (or, more accurately, exciplex) lasers.

Medical

Anesthesia

Xenon has been used as a general anesthetic, but it is more expensive than conventional anesthetics.

Xenon interacts with many different receptors and ion channels, and like many theoretically multi-modal inhalation anesthetics, these interactions are likely complementary. Xenon is a high-affinity glycine-site NMDA receptor antagonist. However, xenon is different from certain other NMDA receptor antagonists in that it is not neurotoxic and it inhibits the neurotoxicity of ketamine and nitrous oxide (N₂O), while actually producing neuroprotective effects. Unlike ketamine and nitrous oxide, xenon does not stimulate a dopamine efflux in the nucleus accumbens.

Like nitrous oxide and cyclopropane, xenon activates the two-pore domain potassium channel TREK-1. A related channel TASK-3 also implicated in the actions of inhalation anesthetics is insensitive to xenon. Xenon inhibits nicotinic acetylcholine α4β2 receptors which contribute to spinally mediated analgesia. Xenon is an effective inhibitor of plasma membrane Ca²⁺ ATPase. Xenon inhibits Ca²⁺ ATPase by binding to a hydrophobic pore within the enzyme and preventing the enzyme from assuming active conformations.

Xenon is a competitive inhibitor of the serotonin 5-HT₃ receptor. While neither anesthetic nor antinociceptive, this reduces anesthesia-emergent nausea and vomiting.

Xenon has a minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of 72% at age 40, making it 44% more potent than N₂O as an anesthetic. Thus, it can be used with oxygen in concentrations that have a lower risk of hypoxia. Unlike nitrous oxide, xenon is not a greenhouse gas and is viewed as environmentally friendly. Though recycled in modern systems, xenon vented to the atmosphere is only returning to its original source, without environmental impact.

Neuroprotectant

Xenon induces robust cardioprotection and neuroprotection through a variety of mechanisms. Through its influence on Ca²⁺, K⁺, KATP\HIF, and NMDA antagonism, xenon is neuroprotective when administered before, during and after ischemic insults. Xenon is a high affinity antagonist at the NMDA receptor glycine site. Xenon is cardioprotective in ischemia-reperfusion conditions by inducing pharmacologic non-ischemic preconditioning. Xenon is cardioprotective by activating PKC-epsilon and downstream p38-MAPK. Xenon mimics neuronal ischemic preconditioning by activating ATP sensitive potassium channels. Xenon allosterically reduces ATP mediated channel activation inhibition independently of the sulfonylurea receptor1 subunit, increasing KATP open-channel time and frequency.

Sports doping

Inhaling a xenon/oxygen mixture activates production of the transcription factor HIF-1-alpha, which may lead to increased production of erythropoietin. The latter hormone is known to increase red blood cell production and athletic performance. Reportedly, doping with xenon inhalation has been used in Russia since 2004 and perhaps earlier. On August 31, 2014, the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) added xenon (and argon) to the list of prohibited substances and methods, although no reliable doping tests for these gases have yet been developed. In addition, effects of xenon on erythropoietin production in humans have not been demonstrated, so far.

Imaging

Gamma emission from the radioisotope ¹³³Xe of xenon can be used to image the heart, lungs, and brain, for example, by means of single photon emission computed tomography. ¹³³Xe has also been used to measure blood flow.

Xenon, particularly hyperpolarized ¹²⁹Xe, is a useful contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In the gas phase, it can image cavities in a porous sample, alveoli in lungs, or the flow of gases within the lungs. Because xenon is soluble both in water and in hydrophobic solvents, it can image various soft living tissues.

Xenon-129 is currently being used as a visualization agent in MRI scans. When a patient inhales hyperpolarized xenon-129 ventilation and gas exchange in the lungs can be imaged and quantified. Unlike xenon-133, xenon-129 is non-ionizing and is safe to be inhaled with no adverse effects.

Surgery

The xenon chloride excimer laser has certain dermatological uses.

NMR spectroscopy

Because of the xenon atom's large, flexible outer electron shell, the NMR spectrum changes in response to surrounding conditions and can be used to monitor the surrounding chemical circumstances. For instance, xenon dissolved in water, xenon dissolved in hydrophobic solvent, and xenon associated with certain proteins can be distinguished by NMR.

Hyperpolarized xenon can be used by surface chemists. Normally, it is difficult to characterize surfaces with NMR because signals from a surface are overwhelmed by signals from the atomic nuclei in the bulk of the sample, which are much more numerous than surface nuclei. However, nuclear spins on solid surfaces can be selectively polarized by transferring spin polarization to them from hyperpolarized xenon gas. This makes the surface signals strong enough to measure and distinguish from bulk signals.

Other

In nuclear energy studies, xenon is used in bubble chambers, probes, and in other areas where a high molecular weight and inert chemistry is desirable. A by-product of nuclear weapon testing is the release of radioactive xenon-133 and xenon-135. These isotopes are monitored to ensure compliance with nuclear test ban treaties, and to confirm nuclear tests by states such as North Korea.

A prototype of a xenon ion engine being tested at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Liquid xenon is used in calorimeters to measure gamma rays, and as a detector of hypothetical weakly interacting massive particles, or WIMPs. When a WIMP collides with a xenon nucleus, theory predicts it will impart enough energy to cause ionization and scintillation. Liquid xenon is useful for these experiments because its density makes dark matter interaction more likely and it permits a quiet detector through self-shielding.

Xenon is the preferred propellant for ion propulsion of spacecraft because it has low ionization potential per atomic weight and can be stored as a liquid at near room temperature (under high pressure), yet easily evaporated to feed the engine. Xenon is inert, environmentally friendly, and less corrosive to an ion engine than other fuels such as mercury or caesium. Xenon was first used for satellite ion engines during the 1970s. It was later employed as a propellant for JPL's Deep Space 1 probe, Europe's SMART-1 spacecraft and for the three ion propulsion engines on NASA's Dawn Spacecraft.

Chemically, the perxenate compounds are used as oxidizing agents in analytical chemistry. Xenon difluoride is used as an etchant for silicon, particularly in the production of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil can be produced by reacting xenon difluoride with uracil. Xenon is also used in protein crystallography. Applied at pressures from 0.5 to 5 MPa (5 to 50 atm) to a protein crystal, xenon atoms bind in predominantly hydrophobic cavities, often creating a high-quality, isomorphous, heavy-atom derivative that can be used for solving the phase problem.

Precautions

Xenon
Hazards
NFPA 704 (fire diamond)	0 0 0 SA

Xenon gas can be safely kept in normal sealed glass or metal containers at standard temperature and pressure. However, it readily dissolves in most plastics and rubber, and will gradually escape from a container sealed with such materials. Xenon is non-toxic, although it does dissolve in blood and belongs to a select group of substances that penetrate the blood–brain barrier, causing mild to full surgical anesthesia when inhaled in high concentrations with oxygen.

The speed of sound in xenon gas (169 m/s) is less than that in air because the average velocity of the heavy xenon atoms is less than that of nitrogen and oxygen molecules in air. Hence, xenon vibrates more slowly in the vocal cords when exhaled and produces lowered voice tones (low-frequency-enhanced sounds, but the fundamental frequency or pitch doesn't change), an effect opposite to the high-toned voice produced in helium. Specifically, when the vocal tract is filled with xenon gas, its natural resonant frequency becomes lower than when it's filled with air. Thus, the low frequencies of the sound wave produced by the same direct vibration of the vocal cords would be enhanced, resulting in a change of the timbre of the sound amplified by the vocal tract. Like helium, xenon does not satisfy the body's need for oxygen, and it is both a simple asphyxiant and an anesthetic more powerful than nitrous oxide; consequently, and because xenon is expensive, many universities have prohibited the voice stunt as a general chemistry demonstration. The gas sulfur hexafluoride is similar to xenon in molecular weight (146 versus 131), less expensive, and though an asphyxiant, not toxic or anesthetic; it is often substituted in these demonstrations.

Dense gases such as xenon and sulfur hexafluoride can be breathed safely when mixed with at least 20% oxygen. Xenon at 80% concentration along with 20% oxygen rapidly produces the unconsciousness of general anesthesia (and has been used for this, as discussed above). Breathing mixes gases of different densities very effectively and rapidly so that heavier gases are purged along with the oxygen, and do not accumulate at the bottom of the lungs. There is, however, a danger associated with any heavy gas in large quantities: it may sit invisibly in a container, and a person who enters an area filled with an odorless, colorless gas may be asphyxiated without warning. Xenon is rarely used in large enough quantities for this to be a concern, though the potential for danger exists any time a tank or container of xenon is kept in an unventilated space.

Water-soluble xenon compounds such as monosodium xenate are moderately toxic, but have a very short half-life of the body — intravenously injected xenate is reduced to elemental xenon in about a minute.

Religion and LGBT people

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_and_LGBT_people

The relationship between religion and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people can vary greatly across time and place, within and between different religions and sects, and regarding different forms of homosexuality, bisexuality, non-binary, and transgender identities.

Some of the authoritative bodies and doctrines of the world's largest religions may view these negatively. This can range from quiet discouragement, explicitly forbidding same-sex sexual practices or sex/gender reassignment among adherents, actively opposing social acceptance of LGBT identities, to execution of people engaging in homosexual acts while tolerating sex/gender reassignment in specific cases.

Liberal and progressive voices within these religions tend to view LGBT people more positively, and some liberal religious denominations may bless same-sex marriages, as well as accepting and marrying people who are transgender. Historically, some cultures and religions accommodated, institutionalized, or revered same-sex love and sexuality; such mythologies and traditions can be found in numerous religions around the world; elements of religious and cultural incorporation of non-heterosexual practice can still be identified in traditions that have survived into the modern era, such as the Berdache, Hijra, and Xanith.

Religious views of LGBT people

According to a 2006 Australian survey, LGBT Australians, compared to the general Australian population, were much more likely to have no religious affiliation, much less likely to be affiliated with a Christian denomination, and more likely to be affiliated with a non-Christian religion. The distribution of religions that LGBT Australians were raised in, however, was similar to that of the general population. Men, particularly bisexual men, were more likely to be Christian and more likely to have stayed in the same religion. Lesbians were more likely to have left the religion they were raised in and be currently unaffiliated.

A 2004 survey of LGBT New Zealanders found that 73% had no religion, 14.8% were Christian and 2.2% were Buddhist. In contrast, in 2001 census the general New Zealand population reported 59.8% Christian and 29.2% no religion. When looking at change since 1966, LGBT people are disaffiliating with Christianity at a rate 2.37 times the rate of the general population in New Zealand. In the survey 59.8% reported a belief in a spiritual force, god or gods; this differed significantly by gender, with 64.9% of women and 55.5% of men reporting such a belief.

The Radical Faeries are a worldwide queer spiritual movement, founded in 1979 in the United States. Radical Faerie communities are generally inspired by aboriginal, native or traditional spiritualities, especially those that incorporate queer sensibilities.

Religious groups and public policy

Opposition to same-sex marriage and LGBT rights is often associated with conservative religious views. The American Family Association and other religious groups have promoted boycotts of corporations whose policies support the LGBT community.

On the other hand, the Unitarian Universalist Association supports the freedom to marry and compares resistance to it to the resistance to abolition of slavery, women's suffrage, and the end of anti-miscegenation laws.

Lesbians and gay men face particular problems in conservative Islamic nations where laws generally prohibit same-sex sexual behavior; where interpretation of Sharia Law on male homosexuality carries the death penalty, with this form of discrimination being viewed as a breach of human rights by international human rights experts and human rights organisations such as Amnesty International.

With the signature of the US in 2009, the proposed UN declaration on LGBT rights has now been signed by 67 members of the United Nations. There was an opposing statement put forward by Muslim nations, and this has been signed by 57 member states, the majority being in Africa and Asia. 68 out of the total 192 countries have not yet signed either statement.

Homosexuality and religion

Transgender people and religion

Views of specific religions

Abrahamic religions

Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) have traditionally affirmed and endorsed a patriarchal and heteronormative approach towards human sexuality, favouring exclusively penetrative vaginal intercourse between men and women within the boundaries of marriage over all other forms of human sexual activity, including autoeroticism, masturbation, oral sex, non-penetrative and non-heterosexual sexual intercourse (all of which have been labeled as "sodomy" at various times), believing and teaching that such behaviors are forbidden because they're considered sinful, and further compared to or derived from the behavior of the alleged residents of Sodom and Gomorrah. However, the status of LGBT people in early Christianity and early Islam is debated.

Christianity

Washington National Cathedral (Episcopal Church in the United States) at D.C. Gay Pride (2014)

United Church of Christ's motto which expresses its support for LGBT rights

Metropolitan Community Church, a LGBT-affirming Christian church in New York City

The LGBT flag at the First Unitarian Universalist Church in Houston indicates that the church welcomes LGBT-identifying people.

Christian denominations have a variety of beliefs about LGBT people, and the moral status of same-sex sexual practices and gender variance. LGBT people may be barred from membership, accepted as laity, or ordained as clergy, depending on the denomination.

The Roman Catholic Church welcomes people attracted to the same sex, while maintaining its teaching that homosexual relationships and acts are sinful. The Roman Curia considers transgender individuals to be their biological sex and admits no distinction between "sex" and "gender". The Orthodox Church holds similar stances on same-sex attraction and conjugal relations. Protestant denominations have a wide range of views. Some denominations espouse similar views to Catholicism and Orthodoxy, and teach that all sexual relations outside of traditional marriage between a man and a woman are sinful, such as the Reformed Church in America, Southern Baptist Convention, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Jehovah's Witnesses.

Other Christian churches, such as the Church of England, United Church of Canada, the United Church of Christ, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Lutheran Church of Sweden, the Lutheran Church of Denmark, the Lutheran Church in Norway, the Lutheran Church of Iceland, the Protestant Church of the Netherlands, the United Protestant Church in Belgium, the United Protestant Church of France, the German Lutheran, Reformed and United Churches in Evangelical Church in Germany, the Old Catholic Church, the Anglican Church in Canada, the Episcopal Church in United States, and the Scottish Episcopal Church don't consider same-sex relations immoral, and will ordain LGBT clergy and celebrate blessings of same-sex marriages. Liberal Quakers, those in membership of Britain Yearly Meeting and Friends General Conference in the United States, approve of same-sex marriage and union and conduct same-sex marriage ceremonies in the United Kingdom.

Unitarian Universalism

Unitarian Universalism and the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) have a long-standing tradition of welcoming LGBT people. The first ordained minister of any religion in the US or Canada to come out was the Rev. James Stoll in 1969. There have been UUA resolutions supporting people regardless of sexual orientation since 1970, and a popular program of becoming a "Welcoming Congregation" since 1989. The UUA has officially supported UUA clergy performing Services of Union between same-sex couples since 1984, and has supported same-sex marriage since 1996.

The Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) similarly operates a Gender and Sexual Diversity Monitoring Group and, like the UUA (of which it became autonomous in 2002), has Welcoming Congregations. The Canadian Unitarian Universalist congregations perform same-sex marriages and the CUC supports this work through its Lay Chaplaincy program.

Judaism

A halakhic egalitarian Pride minyan in Tel Aviv on the second Shabbat of Hanukkah

The American branch of Conservative Judaism formally approves of same-sex marriage ceremonies. As of 1992 with the Report of the Reconstructionist Commission on Homosexuality, the Reconstructionist Movement of Judaism has expressed its support for same-sex marriages as well as the inclusion of gay and lesbian people in all aspects of Jewish life. The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation leaves the choice of whether or not to perform same-sex marriages to individual rabbis but the procedure is included in the Reconstructionist Rabbi's Manual and many choose to use the traditional language and symbols of kiddushin. Reform Judaism, the largest Jewish denomination in the United States, is generally supportive of LGBT rights and marriage.

Islam

Istanbul LGBT Pride parade in 2013, Taksim Square, Istanbul, Turkey

Attitudes toward LGBTQ+ people and their experiences in the Muslim world have been influenced by its religious, legal, social, political, and cultural history. The religious stigma and sexual taboo associated with homosexuality in Islamic societies can have profound effects for those Muslims who self-identify as LGBTQ+. Today, most LGBTQ-affirming Islamic organizations and individual congregations are primarily based in the Western world and South Asian countries; they usually identify themselves with the liberal and progressive movements within Islam.

Homosexual acts are forbidden in traditional Islamic jurisprudence and are liable to different punishments, including flogging, stoning, and the death penalty, depending on the situation and legal school. However, homosexual relationships were generally tolerated in pre-modern Islamic societies, and historical records suggest that these laws were invoked infrequently, mainly in cases of rape or other "exceptionally blatant infringement on public morals". Public attitudes toward homosexuality in the Muslim world underwent a marked negative change starting from the 19th century through the global spread of Islamic fundamentalist movements such as Salafism and Wahhabism, and the influence of the sexual notions and restrictive norms prevalent in Europe at the time: a number of Muslim-majority countries have retained criminal penalties for homosexual acts enacted under European colonial rule. In recent times, extreme prejudice, discrimination, and violence against LGBT people persists, both socially and legally, in much of the Muslim world, exacerbated by increasingly socially conservative attitudes and the rise of Islamist movements in Muslim-majority countries.

Islamic views on homosexuality are also influenced by the rulings prescribed by the Quran and the teachings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The mainstream interpretation of some Quranic verses and hadith condemn sexual acts between members of the same sex, along with most forms of extramarital relations. In the late 1980s, Mufti Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy of Egypt issued a fatwa supporting the right for those who fit the description of mukhannathun to have sex reassignment surgery; Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issued similar fatwas around the same time. Khomeini's initial fatwa concerned intersex individuals as well, but he later specified that sex reassignment surgery was also permissible in the case of transgender individuals.

Because homosexuality is illegal in Iran but transgenderism is legal, some gay individuals have been forced to undergo sex reassignment surgery and transition into the opposite sex, regardless of their actual gender identity. Therefore, transgender people are generally more accepted, provided they conform to traditional gender norms post-transition; for example, the Iranian government not only allows and recognizes sex reassignment surgery, but also subsidizes the procedure for transgender citizens. In some regions of South Asia such as India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, the hijras are officially recognized as a third gender that is neither male nor female, a concept that some have compared to mukhannathun.

In France there was an Islamic same-sex marriage on 18 February 2012. In Paris in November 2012 a room in a Buddhist prayer hall was used by gay Muslims and called a "gay-friendly mosque", and a French Islamic website is supporting religious same-sex marriage. The Ibn Ruschd-Goethe mosque in Berlin is a liberal mosque open to all types of Muslims, where men and women pray together and LGBT worshippers are welcomed and supported. Other significant LGBT-inclusive mosques or prayer groups include the El-Tawhid Juma Circle Unity Mosque in Toronto, Masjid an-Nur al-Isslaah (Light of Reform Mosque) in Washington D.C., Masjid Al-Rabia in Chicago, Unity Mosque in Atlanta, People's Mosque in Cape Town South Africa, Masjid Ul-Umam mosque in Cape Town, Qal'bu Maryamin in California, and the Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Community in New York City.

Muslims for Progressive Values, based in the United States and Malaysia, is "a faith-based, grassroots, human rights organization that embodies and advocates for the traditional Qur'anic values of social justice and equality for all, for the 21st Century." MPV has recorded "a lecture series that seeks to dismantle the religious justification for homophobia in Muslim communities." The lectures can be viewed at MPV Lecture Series. The Mecca Institute is an LGBT-inclusive and progressive online Islamic seminary, and serves as an online center of Islamic learning and research.

Baháʼí Faith

The Baháʼí Faith teaches that the only acceptable form of sexual expression is within marriage, and Baháʼí marriage is defined in the religion's texts as exclusively between one man and one woman. Baháʼís stress the importance of absolute chastity for any unmarried person, and focus on personal restraint. The Universal House of Justice, the elected governing body of the Baháʼí Faith, has stated that "the Faith does not recognize homosexuality as a 'natural' or permanent phenomenon." The Universal House of Justice has approved of and encouraged Shoghi Effendi's idea of possible medical treatment. However, membership in the Baháʼí community is open to lesbian and gay adherents, who are to be "advised and sympathized with".

Dharmic religions

Ardhanarishvara, the androgynous form (half-male and half-female) of the Hindu deity Shiva combined with his consort Parvati. Tiruvenkadu, Chola, 11th century CE.

Hinduism

Hinduism has taken various positions, ranging from positive to neutral or antagonistic. Referring to the nature of samsara, the Rigveda, one of the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism says 'Vikruti Evam Prakriti' (perversity/diversity is what nature is all about, or, what seems un-natural is also natural), which some scholars believe recognizes homosexuality as natural, if not an approval of homosexuality. Sexuality is rarely discussed openly in Hindu society, and LGBT issues are largely a taboo subject — especially among the strongly religious. A "third gender" has been acknowledged within Hinduism since Vedic times. Several Hindu texts, such as Manu Smriti and Sushruta Samhita, assert that some people are born with either mixed male and female natures, or sexually neuter, as a matter of natural biology. They worked as hairdressers, flower-sellers, servants, masseurs and prostitutes. Today, many people that identify as hijras are officially recognized as a third gender that is neither male nor female in India; they mostly live on the margins of society, and many still work in prostitution, or make a livelihood as beggars.

Several Hindu religious laws contain injunctions against homosexual activity, while some Hindu mythologies speaks favorably of lesbian relations and some third-gendered individuals were highly regarded by Hindu legends. Hindu groups are historically not unifyed regarding the issue of homosexuality, each one having a distinct doctrinal view.

The Indian Kama Sutra, written in the 4th century CE, contains passages describing eunuchs or "third-sex" males performing oral sex on men. However, the author was "not a fan of homosexual activities" and treated such individuals with disdain, according to historian Devdutt Pattanaik. Similarly, some medieval Hindu temples and artifacts openly depict both male homosexuality and lesbianism within their carvings, such as the temple walls at Khajuraho. Some infer from these images that Hindu society and religion were previously more open to variations in human sexuality than they are at present.

Khajoraho scene of three women and one man.

In some Hindu sects (specially among the hijras), many divinities are androgynous. There are Hindu deities who are intersex (both male and female); who manifest in all three genders; who switch from male to female or from female to male; male deities with female moods and female deities with male moods; deities born from two males or from two females; deities born from a single male or single female; deities who avoid the opposite sex; deities with principal companions of the same sex, and so on. However, this is not accepted by the majority of Hindus, and is often considered heretical in nature. Those who do accept it justify with the belief that both God and nature are unlimitedly diverse and God is difficult to comprehend.

Several Hindu priests have performed same-sex marriages, arguing that love is the result of attachments from previous births and that marriage, as a union of spirit, is transcendental to gender. It is often regarded that Hinduism does not condemn homosexuality.

Buddhism

Shunkō-in (Japanese: 春光院: "Temple of the Ray of Spring Light") in Kyoto, Japan, is a Buddhist temple that performs same-sex marriage ceremonies.

According to the Pāli Canon and Āgama (the early Buddhist scriptures), there is nothing saying that same or opposite gender relations have anything to do with sexual misconduct, and some Theravādin monks express that same-gender relations do not violate the rule to avoid sexual misconduct, which means not having sex with someone under age (thus protected by their parents or guardians), someone betrothed or married and who have taken vows of religious celibacy.

Views on homosexuality and LGBT rights differ in the Buddhist tradition. However, many Buddhist leaders and groups have been historically supportive and continue to be supportive of LGBT people. The renowned Thiền Buddhist master, Thích Nhất Hạnh, remarked that the spirit of Buddhism is inclusiveness and stated that "when you look at the ocean, you see different kinds of waves, many sizes and shapes, but all the waves have water as their foundation and substance. If you are born gay or lesbian, your ground of being in the same as mine. We are different, but we share the same ground of being."

Japan's culture and major religions don't have a history of hostility towards homosexuality. Same-sex marriages are performed at Shunkō-in, a Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. Some modern Buddhist leaders were active in the movement for same-sex marriage rights in Taiwan, which legalized same-sex marriages in 2019. Some adherents of the Navayāna (Ambedkarite) Buddhist tradition are supporting LGBT rights within their larger activist activities. In Thailand, some leaders in the Theravāda tradition including Phra Payom Kalayano have expressed support for LGBT rights.

In 1997, the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso declared: "From a Buddhist point of view, men-to-men and women-to-women is generally considered sexual misconduct." However, this view expressed by the Dalai Lama is not based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha but derived from some later Abhidharma texts. Moreover, the Dalai Lama has repeatedly "voiced his support for the full recognition of human rights for all people, regardless of sexual orientation." In the most recent interview with the Dalai Lama on this topic (10 March 2014), the Dalai Lama said gay marriage is "OK", provided it's not in contradiction with the values of one's chosen religion. Also in the Tibetan tradition, the Nalandabodhi sangha has stated that they are welcoming of all sexual orientations and well-known Bhutanese lama Khyentse Norbu has expressed support for LGBT rights in Bhutan.

In Western Buddhist denominations, there is widescale support for LGBT rights from Buddhist groups and organizations, including the European Buddhist Union, the Buddhist Churches of America, many Shin Buddhist groups, and Zen leaders such as Thích Nhất Hạnh. The Federation of Australian Buddhist Councils (FABC), representing Buddhist laypeople, and the Australian Sangha Association vocally supported same-sex marriage in Australia. Soka Gakkai International-USA (SGI-USA) is the most diverse Buddhist community in the United States with more than 500 chapters and some 100 centers throughout the country supports LGBT rights. American Soka Gakkai Buddhists have performed same-sex union ceremonies since the 1990s. In a PEW research poll, 88% of American Buddhists stated that homosexuality should be accepted. This was a higher level of support than any other religious group studied.

Sikhism

The Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, does not explicitly mention homosexuality. The Guru Granth Sahib is seen as the spiritual authority on all Sikh matters.

Some modern Sikh leaders have condemned homosexuality. Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti of the temporal Sikh authority (Akal Takht), has condemned homosexuality while reminding visiting Sikh-Canadian Members of Parliament (MPs) of their religious duty to oppose same-sex marriage. The Sikh religious body, the Akal Takht, has issued an edict condemning gay marriage.

Other Sikhs point out that Sikhism does not condemn homosexuality or gay marriage reminding them that the Guru Granth Sahib leaves this as a matter of personal conscience.

Eastern and Southeast Asian religions

Chinese folk religion

Tu'er Shen, also known as the Rabbit God, is a gay Chinese deity. In 2006, Lu Wei-ming founded a temple for Tu'er Shen in Yonghe District in the New Taipei City in Taiwan, which has been called the world's only religious shrine for gay people. About 9,000 pilgrims visit the temple each year praying to find a suitable partner. The Wei-ming temple also performs love ceremonies for gay couples. It is the world's only religious shrine for homosexuals, and the temple performs love ceremonies for gay couples.

Confucianism

Shintoism

Historically, the Shinto religion "had no special code of morals and seems to have regarded sex as a natural phenomenon to be enjoyed with few inhibitions." While Shinto beliefs are diverse, Japanese Shintoism doesn't condemn homosexuality, and the formally organized Konkokyo sect is fully affirming. Multiple Shinto leaders advocated in support of gay marriage in Hawaii.

Zoroastrianism

Indigenous religions

African Diasporic religions

Homosexuality is religiously acceptable in Haitian Vodou. The lwa or loa (spirits) Erzulie Dantor and Erzulie Freda are often associated with and viewed as protectors of queer people.

Within Candomblé, a syncretic religion founds primarily found in Brazil, there is widespread (though not universal) support for gay rights, many members are LGBT, and have performed gay marriages. Practitioners of Santería, primarily found in Cuba, generally (though not universally) welcome LGBT members and include them in religious or ritual activities. Also a Brazilian syncretic religion, Umbanda houses generally support LGBT rights and have performed gay marriages.Homosexuality is religiously acceptable in Haitian Vodou. The lwa or loa (spirits) Erzulie Dantor and Erzulie Freda are often associated with and viewed as protectors of queer people. The lao Ghede Nibo is sometimes depicted as an effeminate drag queen and inspires those he inhabits to lascivious sexuality of all kinds.

Ancient Mesopotamian religion

Individuals who went against the traditional gender binary were heavily involved in the cult of Inanna, an ancient Mesopotamian goddess. During Sumerian times, a set of priests known as gala worked in Inanna's temples, where they performed elegies and lamentations. Men who became gala sometimes adopted female names and their songs were composed in the Sumerian eme-sal dialect, which, in literary texts, is normally reserved for the speech of female characters. Some Sumerian proverbs seem to suggest that gala had a reputation for engaging in anal sex with men. During the Akkadian Period, kurgarrū and assinnu were servants of Ishtar who dressed in female clothing and performed war dances in Ishtar's temples. Several Akkadian proverbs seem to suggest that they may have also had homosexual proclivities. Gwendolyn Leick, an anthropologist known for her writings on Mesopotamia, has compared these individuals to the contemporary Indian hijra. In one Akkadian hymn, Ishtar is described as transforming men into women. Some modern pagans include Inanna in their worship.

Pre-colonial religions of the Americas

Drawing by George Catlin (1796–1872) while on the Great Plains among the Sac and Fox Nation. Depicting a group of male warriors dancing around a male-bodied person in a woman's dress, non-Native artist George Catlin titled the painting Dance to the Berdache.

Among the Indigenous peoples of the Americas prior to the European colonization, many Nations had respected ceremonial, religious, and social roles for homosexual, bisexual, and gender-nonconforming individuals in their communities and in many contemporary Native American and First Nations communities, these roles still exist. Homosexual and gender-variant individuals were also common among other pre-conquest civilizations in Latin America, such as the Aztecs, Mayans, Quechuas, Moches, Zapotecs, and the Tupinambá of Brazil and were accepted in their various religions.

New religious movements

Since the beginning of the sexual liberation movement in the Western world, which coincided with second-wave feminism and the women's liberation movement initiated in the early 1960s, new religious movements and alternative spiritualities such as Modern Paganism and the New Age began to grow and spread across the globe alongside their intersection with the sexual liberation movement and the counterculture of the 1960s, and exhibited characteristic features, such as the embrace of alternative lifestyles, unconventional dress, rejection of Abrahamic religions and their conservative social mores, use of cannabis and other recreational drugs, relaxed attitude, sarcastic humble or self-imposed poverty, and laissez-faire sexual behavior. The sexual liberation movement was aided by feminist ideologues in their mutual struggle to challenge traditional ideas regarding female sexuality, male sexuality, and queer sexuality. Elimination of undue favorable bias towards men and objectification of women, as well as support for women's right to choose their sexual partners free of outside interference or societal judgment, were three of the main goals associated with sexual liberation from the feminist perspective.

Modern Paganism

Most Neopagan religions have the theme of fertility (both physical and creative/spiritual) as central to their practices, and as such encourage what they view as a healthy sex life, consensual sex between adults, regardless of gender.

Heathenry, a modern Germanic Pagan movement, includes several pro-LGBT groups. Some groups legitimize openness toward LGBT practitioners by reference to the gender-bending actions of Thor and Odin in Norse mythology. There are, for instance, homosexual and transgender members of The Troth, a prominent U.S. Heathen organisation. Many Heathen groups in Northern Europe perform same-sex marriages, and a group of self-described "Homo-Heathens" marched in the 2008 Stockholm Pride carrying a statue of the Norse god Freyr. Research found a greater proportion of LGBT practitioners within Heathenry (21%) than wider society, although noted that the percentage was lower than in other forms of modern Paganism.

Wicca, like other religions, has adherents with a broad spectrum of views, ranging from conservative to liberal. It is a largely nondogmatic religion and has no prohibitions against sexual intercourse outside of marriage or relationships between members of the same sex. The religion's ethics are largely summed up by the Wiccan Rede: "An it harm none, do as thou wilt", which is interpreted by many as allowing and endorsing responsible sexual relationships of all varieties. Specifically in the Wiccan tradition of modern witchcraft, one of the widely accepted pieces of Craft liturgy, the Charge of the Goddess instructs that "...all acts of love and pleasure are [the Goddess'] rituals", giving validity to all forms of sexual activity for Wiccan practitioners.

In the Gardnerian and Alexandrian forms of Wicca, the "Great Rite" is a sex ritual much like the hieros gamos, performed by a priest and priestess who are believed to embody the Wiccan God and Goddess. The Great Rite is almost always performed figuratively using the athame and chalice as symbols of the penis and vagina. The literal form of the ritual is always performed by consenting adults, by a couple who are already lovers and in private. The Great Rite is not seen as an opportunity for casual sex.

Raëlism

Raëlian participants attending the Korea Queer Culture Festival (2014)

Raëlism, an international new religious movement and UFO religion which was founded in France in 1974, promotes a positive outlook towards human sexuality, including homosexuality. Its founder Raël recognised same-sex marriage, and a Raëlian press release stated that sexual orientation is genetic and it also likened discrimination against gay people to racism. Some Raëlian leaders have performed licensed same-sex marriages.

Santa Muerte

The cult of Santa Muerte is a new religious movement centered on the worship of Santa Muerte, a cult image, female deity, and folk saint which is popularly revered in Mexican Neopaganism and folk Catholicism. A personification of death, she is associated with healing, protection, and safe delivery to the afterlife by her devotees. Santa Muerte is also revered and seen as a saint and protector of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) communities in Mexico, since LGBTQ+ people are considered and treated as outcasts by the Catholic Church, evangelical churches, and Mexican society at large. Many LGBTQ+ people ask her for protection from violence, hatred, disease, and to help them in their search for love. Her intercession is commonly invoked in same-sex marriage ceremonies performed in Mexico. The Iglesia Católica Tradicional México-Estados Unidos, also known as the Church of Santa Muerte, recognizes gay marriage and performs religious wedding ceremonies for homosexual couples. According to R. Andrew Chesnut, PhD in Latin American history and professor of Religious studies, the cult of Santa Muerte is the single fastest-growing new religious movement in the Americas.

Satanism

The Church of Satan has always accepted gays, lesbians and bisexuals since its foundation in 1966. The church supports legalization of same-sex marriages.

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Friday, July 22, 2022

Xenon