BELIEFS & PRINCIPLES
LGBTQ+ Viewpoints
HISTORY OF JAINISM
100

Rishabhanatha’s nudity symbolizes what key Jain value?

Detachment from worldly things

100

What factor causes attitudes toward LGBTQ+ people to vary within Jain communities?

How conservative or progressive a family or sect is

100

Jainism began in ancient India around what century?

The 6th century BCE

200

Although the principles remain the same, most modern Jains today live as what instead of ascetics?

Laypeople

200

What group did traditional Jain texts recognize as part of ancient gender diversity?

The third gender

200

What empire’s royal patronage helped Jainism survive and remain influential?

Mauryan Empire

300

What is the Jain principle of non-violence toward all beings called?

Ahimsa

300

What Jain principle of “many-sidedness” supports understanding different perspectives, including LGBTQ+ identities?

Anekantavada

300

Rishabhanatha taught people essential skills and established these early social structures. What were the social structures?


Marriage and other social customs

400

What principle means non-possession or letting go of material things?

Aparigraha

400

What principle in Jainism teaches that harming or discriminating against LGBTQ+ people goes against non-violence?

Ahimsa

400

What is the goal of practicing asceticism?

Moksha (liberation)

500

What Jain teaching emphasizes understanding multiple perspectives?

Anekantavada

500

Jain teachings say spiritual progress relies on what, which is why being LGBTQ+ doesn’t conflict with being Jain?

Personal Conduct

500

Early Jain communities lived very simply and practiced a strict lifestyle. What is this lifestyle called?

Asceticism