That would depend on who you take your teachings from. I believe the Farrar's were extremely to the point about homosexual males in the practice and were against it. They did mention they never seen a problem with it which i find hard to believe. However they looked at magick rites like a battery on a metaphysical level and the only way to cast is to have both male and female witches present and involved. They also mentioned all lesbian covens were acceptable just not all male covens. Kayla Trobe was kind of like that when she wrote she said her/she but never he/him. Now that being said, this is rubbish and you can be as gay as you want and practice the same magick as everyone else. Energy is not defined as one singular being that certain individuals in the cosmic flow can use, this is something that exists inside of us and it doesn't have a gender and yet it has both, but never just one if that makes sense. As far as Wicca goes its breaks down to just being a good person and carefully using magick in a positive way that doesn't hurt or cause damage in anyway to anyone or anything.
Sassy_love is correct, it very much depends on who you speak with. Wicca, as a religion, is largely based on a male/female polarity. This is because the religion is, at its heart, a fertility cult. Like our ancient ancestors, Traditional Wiccans believe that it is the joining of the male and female in ritual, whether in actuality or symbolically, that brings fertility to the Creation.
Remember that at the time Wicca came into being, homosexuality was thought to be an aberration and a mental illness. That is why the first Wiccans did not permit anyone LBGQT to become a part of their covens. And individuals shunned homosexuality in their personal lives. You will still find people out there today who feel the same. People are people and everyone holds their own beliefs. Wicca, as a religion, does not tell them how they must believe on the topic.
In the Traditions in which I trained, and in the coven I led, we have just about every sexual preference except perhaps intentionally celibate. We have straights, gays, lesbians, bi's, open marriages, two triads, and even conventionally monogamous pairings like my husband and myself. We happily handfasted two of our Initiates last summer in a lovely ritual designed particularly by these two wonderful ladies. What is important in a relationship, at least as far as we are concerned, is not the shape of the plumbing involved, but the love and caring between two individuals.
There is also in Wicca one of the most beautiful pieces of religious writing that I have ever run across. Called the Charge of the Goddess, it was penned by one of the first Wiccan priestesses. In it it says in the words of the Goddess, "all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals". That pretty well sums up how most Wiccans look at a sexual relationship.
One of the core beliefs about Wicca is expressed in the Wiccan Rede, " an it harm none, do as ye will ". This basically means that as long as what you chose to do does not harm yourself or others, there is nothing in Wicca that says your actions are wrong. Wicca has no concept of " sin " such as a some religions would put forward. In place of rigid rules on what is " right " and what is " wrong ", the Wiccan path teaches personal choice and bearing the responsibility for the consequences of that decision. It is in many ways a more difficult path to tread since there are no absolutes, but it also helps us to grow and mature as human beings when we have no one but ourselves to blame our mistakes and shortfalls on.
Remember that we also believe that each of us holds within ourselves that which is God and that which is Goddess. If you respond in that recognition to a partner, of whichever sex, in a loving and nurturing relationship, the Gods will certainly not say that you are wrong. We are all creatures of the Divine, created here on earth as we are. If the Divine chose to create someone in this life as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, or Trans, then it must be right for them now. The Divine does not make mistakes.
As usual Lark has provided a detailed and beautifully written answer. I just wanted to add my two pennies.
Being homosexual and working within any Western Mystery Tradition is difficult due to the inherent bias in literature towards heterosexual cis relationships. The whole notion of male and female within magic is outdated. In fact, it was outdated during the creation of Wicca! There were groups which Gardner was a member of which permitted LGBT people, he should not be given a free pass.
We all have a degree of the male and female within us. It is more to do with positive and negative, activity and passivity. When it comes to energy it is like a dynamo between these two extremes Bardonhad the right idea with his analogies of electricity and magnetism. When it comes to rotes involving sexuality it is easy to rewrite the roles of male and female to passive and active-you will find that most of the time someone takes a more active projective role and the other a more receiving the role.
The only exception to this rule would be the great rite within Wicca celebrated between a priest and priestess. It is simply a fact of life that it takes a man and a woman to make a baby. But that is one veiled rite describing a technique which could be adapted to lgbtpeoples needs, and if not there are plenty of other techniques out there!
Another thing I would mention is that I am not Wiccan but I have seen a gnostic mass which is essentially a Thelemic great rite and where I personally think Gardner got his ideas for it. I am also gay. I personally think I could take the priest role in such a rite because I have the correct equipment. It is also possible to be entranced and see beauty in every form and it is hard not partake of such a rite on some level. I think there is still an innate instinct to procreate in every human at some level with sexuality being a preference to romantic partners. I dont think anyone should be forced into such a situation but I dont think an lgbt person should be barred either espescisllyor for a short while they can see the priestess as the goddess which at that moment she is. Its very hard to explain and perhaps that is just my experience again I have not seen the great rite I just know the mechanics are pretty similar.
