In ancient
Greece most
temples of
Aphrodite had a brothel in the vicinity. The women that inhabited those places (commonly knon as
hetairai) were considered to be
priestesses of the Goddess.
In fact the prohibition of homosexuality in the jewish (and therefore later christian and moslim) bible as it appears on Leviticus (18:22) derives from the existance of such male-priests in the middle east (known also as Kedeshim), the word used to discribe the reason for this prohibition- To'eva (cf.) seems to strengthen this theory.