Queer Dharma: Voices of Gay Buddhists Vol. 1

by Winston Leyland (editor)

This is one of the few books that I have read in recent years that actually inspired me as a gay man. There is little enough out there that offers us, gays and lesbians, a spiritual life. It is in itself a good introduction to Buddhism, though lacks a lesbian perspective. Still if you are going to read anything as a gay man on Buddhism, this has to be it. - From review.

Genres: Buddhism, Gay, LGBT, Queer Studies, Queer

416 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

Reviews

[Zweegas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is pretty much excellent with a couple of exceptions.

My biggest dislike is the way pederasty is presented. Cultural context or no cultural context, pederasty is child rape and has nothing at all to do with our modern understanding of being gay and gay life. Again, that's just a very small part and this book is mostly excellent.

A lot in this book is really, um, you know, like, deep and philosophical and stuff. My personal favorite, even though it's kind of shallow, is the story about the guy who is ordered to start meditating as a form of anger management and then hooks up with a guy he meets at a sitting. Why has that never happened to me?

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

In it's first section, "Queer Dharma" sets out to show that Buddhism is essentially silent on the issue of sexuality in terms of whether it prefers hetero vs. homo. This silence on the issue of sexuality (whereas Buddhist Dhamma is quite clear about specific sex acts in certain suttas) should make Buddhism a good choice for gays seeking a spiritual expression that carries no hidden agendas regarding them. It also shows how the Buddhist texts face the same problems today that Christian texts do: in that modern day connotations and denotations are ascribed to words that 1,000 years ago had quite different and more specific meanings.

The rest of the book contains personal essays by gays describing how they came to Buddhism, and many of these essays are very uplifting and tremendously well-written as well as inspiring. My only concern is that these essays, and the entire book's perspective for that matter, is heavily stilted toward the Mahayana and Zen schools, with little attention paid to the Theravada tradition. In fact, a review of the Buddhist literature out there (and for sale at Amazon) mostly represents Mahayana and Zen traditions: the Theravadans apparently don't have very good agents. Despite that, the book is much needed I think for the gay community, as Buddhism provides a method that works and brings true peace that we gays desperately need.

[Kevin Orth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend - IF - you are up for dense, highly sighted, very academic read. This is not for the reader looking for a light, frothy romp through Buddhist history, philosophy, and culture.