LGBTQ Buddhism
and Religion: An Undergraduate Journal in Religious Studies: Vol. 2 : Iss. 1
LGBTQ Buddhism
Jae Bates 0
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0 University of Puget Sound
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LGBTQ Buddhism
Jae Bates
If you type “what does [insert any religion here] say” into Google, the search bar will
auto-fill to the top four or five options. One of the top options will almost always be “what does
[insert random religion here] say about homosexuality, gay marriage, or marriage”. Questions
regarding same-sex marriage and LGBTQ identities have also become particularly popular for
public research and polling organizations. This comes at a time when same-sex marriage, while
federally legal, is still being debated and new “religious” freedom bills are being passed in
response. Pew Research did a study and found that as of July 2015, Buddhists in the U.S. had no
conclusive stance on same-sex marriage. Questions about religion and LGBTQ identities
continue to be a contentious intersection. However, the discussion surrounding “what do
religions say” are leaving out a crucial piece of the puzzle; they are failing to ask “how” do
LGBTQ religious practitioners think of their own identities. Many LGBTQ people across the
U.S. have found a home in various sects of Buddhism. This will be analyzed through various
personal essays by Buddhist practitioners from Queer Dharma Volume 2. Ultimately, LGBTQ
practitioners are drawn to Buddhism because of its non-duality, its cultural malleability, and its
teachings that relate to impermanence.
First, it is important to understand that Buddhism does have core teachings regarding
sexuality; however, these teachings are more specifically about sexual activity versus active
celibacy. It is also important to understand the difference between the sexual ethics of lay people
and monastic ethics. José Cabezón, a scholar in Tibetan studies, outlines that Buddhism is
neutral towards the question of homosexuality, while the cultures and places in which Buddhism
exists are not necessarily neutral. He notes that homosexuality is more often condemned as a
form of sexual activity rather than of its nature as homosexual (Cabezón qtd. in Gleig 203).
Gay Buddhist practitioners in the U.S. find the neutrality and non-duality of Buddhism to
be liberating, as Mark Marion’s essay in Queer Dharma (2000) exemplifies. Mark positions
himself as a Vipassana Buddhist who attends the Bay Area’s Gay Buddhist Fellowship. He
discusses how at times he feels like a “bad” Buddhist because he gets lazy, impatient, and is
hateful towards bigots. He then explains how this internal shame is ironic because what drew
him to Buddhism was the prospect of being able to shed spiritual or religious guilt. Marion
explains that in Buddhist teachings there cannot be “bad” or “good” Buddhists; there can only be
Buddhists and non-Buddhists. Marion discusses how Christianity is a very dualistic religion at its
core and creates dichotomies between good and bad, sinner and saint, or heaven and hell (Marion
33).
Marion’s explanation of Buddhism non-dualism versus Christian dualism exemplifies
why he feels Buddhism is an attractive religious alternative for LGBTQ people. The dualistic
worldview often produces Christian homophobia in regards to the idea of homosexuality being
opposite of heterosexuality and therefore evil instead of good. Marion also notes that the
dualistic worldview creates an “us” and “them” which results in the harassment of gay people
(Marion 34). The non-dualistic nature of Buddhism allows gay people like Marion to see their
sexuality not as a “bad” form of sexuality but rather just another form of sexuality. Additionally,
Thich Nhat Hanh, one of the most venerated Zen monks in modernity, notes that “the
basefoundation of everything is the same” and that gay and lesbian people are different but exist on
the same ground as heterosexual people (Nhat Hanh 119). Thich Nhat Hanh further emphasizes
the non-duality of Buddhist acceptance for sexual minorities, or any minority for that matter.
This type of egalitarian positioning of homosexuality and heterosexuality is optimal for the
selfacceptance and spiritual self-conception of Buddhists.
Furthermore, Buddhism has a long history of cultural malleability and various forms of
Western LGBTQ-inclusive Buddhism are a continuation of that history. Buddhism has changed
and transformed as it has spread across Asia. Due to its non-essentialist and egalitarian nature, it
has been able to fit into the mold of the indigenous culture wherever it spread. For example,
Korean Buddhism is particular to the peninsula because Buddhism transformed itself to fit into
Korean shamanist practices there to be more acceptable in Korean society. This type of cultural
change has been common as Buddhism has spread throughout the world, and even within single
nations.
This history of cultural malleability makes Buddhism a perfect religion to (...truncated)