The Dalai Lama and Sexual Minorities: A Personal View

According to Buddhist Tradition: Sexual Minority Buddhists and the Definition of Sexual Misconduct

Updated article by Steve Peskind bublished on Heartland.SG

According to Buddhist Tradition: Sexual Minority Buddhists and the Definition of Sexual Misconduct” copyright Steve Peskind, 1999 (The original version of this newly revised and edited article appeared in the Shambhala Sun Magazine, May, 1998.) This article may be re-printed in publication with permission of the writer.

June 11, 1997: Leaving the Fairmount Hotel in San Francisco, having just met with the Dalai Lama, the words, “according to Buddhist tradition” reverberated in my head. Stepping out into the June sunlight, I felt tired, calm, enormously grateful–and disappointed. I was grateful for the Dalai Lama’s willingness to meet with gays and lesbians to discuss their concerns about Buddhist teachings on sexual misconduct, and for the press release from the Office of Tibet supporting human rights “regardless of sexual orientation.” But I was disappointed that he chose not to speak personally and directly, beyond Buddhist “tradition”, to the real harm of some of these traditional misconduct teachings, and their irrelevance for modern Buddhists and others. I wondered, does the Dalai Lama, who many consider the embodiment of Avalokiteshvara, who “hears the cries of all sentient beings and responds skillfully,” really hear the cries of sexual minority Buddhists?

Continue Reading...

P.S. As a Tibetan, it was painful to read this article. I began to wonder, should these Western Buddhists really ought to ask these questions to His Holiness? On second thought, may be it is something that needs to be dealt with - atleast at some point.

Coming out on Christmas Eve

Yes, we Tibetans don't celebrate Christmas but since most of us live in countries where Christmas is a big deal, we can't help but share the joy. Ofcourse the holiday season just pulls you in and gives us another reason to celebrate and be merry. Well, we take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope that the year that follows bring you joy and happiness.

Beijing 2008 - Race for Tibet

According to the Olympic Charter, established by Pierre de Coubertin, the goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practised without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.

Does China Know this?
Beijing 2008 - Race for Tibet
www.racefortibet.org

Two fathers

A song about two fathers - to Diederick and Bas...

White Winter

I decided to go out last night to celebrate after having completed a long project on which I have been working for months. The moment I walked out of my apartment, it started snowing. Like always last night's snowfall came without warning and the mood out in the street changed instantly - the snow had some kind of magical effect on all of us. Couples started kissing each other and lots of people were on the phone calling their friends and family. The snow gave each one us a reason to reconnect with people who we love.

Anyways I was alone and on my part I started to wonder who I could call - family or a friend. Sadly, no one in particular came up in my mind. It was weird that when I looked around the block, everyone was in pairs. A boy and a girl hugging and kissing, a boy and a boy sharing a smoke. It was quite a beautiful sight.

I then took a cab and went to my favourite bar. Right outside the bar, my favourite waiter and his boyfriend holding hands, called out my name and said, "Tenzin, come in fast, it's really getting cold outside." I am home now I thought...

Very Sweet

Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota dance group
Boys and Girls practicing for a show. Keep it up you guys...

My Goodness

Taksha Shoenpa

Advantages of getting it cut

A new breakthrough research has proved what doctors and campaigners have suspected for years. Circumcision can cut down HIV risks by halve. Yesterday Kevin de Cock (Oops), head of the World Health Organisation's HIV/Aids department, said it could cut the numbers of infected men by "many tens of thousands, many hundreds of thousands and maybe millions over coming years".

Click here to read the full article – The Guardian

Tibetans do not practice circumcision. Are there any specific cultural reasons for that? Almost all Muslims and people from Jewish faith are cut. Hindus generally don’t and Christians differ largely depending on which tradition they belong to.

A survey shows that South Korea has the largest absolute number of teenage and adult circumcisions anywhere in the world. About 75% all men in South Korea may be circumcised.

Come Undone – Movie Clip



Gorgeous, bronzed bodies on the beaches of France and a passionate romance between two French youths are reason enough to buy Come Undone, but this bittersweet film also has something poignant to say about the heartbreak of gay first love.

"Sébastien Lifshitz' Come Undone is the most mature depiction of a young gay male's romantic awakening I have ever seen."
Jan Stuart, The Advocate

Homosexuality - The Basics First

In the discussion forum last week, we got asked some very basic questions about homosexuality in general, so I presume that there are still lots of people who don't understand the basics yet. Here are some things for you to read from Wikipedia.

Homosexuality

Homosexuality refers to sexual and romantic attraction between individuals of the same sex. The first recorded use of the word was in 1869 by Karl-Maria Kertbeny, but the prevalence of the concept owes much to the work of the German psychiatrist Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing and his 1886 work Psychopathia Sexualis. As such, the current use of the term has its roots in the broader 19th century tradition of personality taxonomy. These continue to influence the development of the modern concept of sexual orientation, gaining associations with romantic love and identity in addition to its original, exclusively sexual meaning.

The adjective homosexual is used for intimate relationships and/or sexual relations between persons of the same sex, who may or may not identify themselves as gay or lesbian. Homosexuality, as an identifier, is usually contrasted with heterosexuality and bisexuality. The term gay is used predominantly to refer to self-identified homosexuals of either sex. Lesbian is a gender-specific term that is only used for self-identified homosexual females. Continue reading...

You don't need to be afraid


Live long enough to find the right one

Finally, thank you to all those people who've written in to express their support. If you are a gay Tibetan or or a gay Tibet supporter and would like to be a contributor for this blog, do email us at gaytibet[a]gmail.com

P.S. Relax...



Clip from the movie The Conrad Boys.



Click here to go to the official movie site

Boys Grammer - a short film

N Sync's Lance Bass - Old news again

Lance Bass on Extra


Lance at Human Rights Campaign National Dinner

Was Tintin Gay?

Tintin conspiracy theories abound, and the blameless boy reporter has been interpreted as a capitalist, a fascist, an anarchist, and a very poor advertisement for Belgian tailoring

· Was Tintin a Nazi? Michael Farr, author of Tintin: the Complete Companion, said this idea dates from Hergé's decision to continue working for the Brussels paper, Le Soir, after the Nazis took it over. "He was certainly not a Nazi sympathiser in any sense, he hated fascism, but he saw his work as an essential service, like being a milkman. I think perhaps he slightly regretted it later, because it gave rise to so much misunderstanding"

· Was Tintin a capitalist? His first adventure in the Soviet Union was a swingeing attack on Bolshevism. Hergé wanted to follow it with an even more savage attack, on American capitalism, set in New York, but his editor asked for the next adventure to be in Congo - to inspire young Belgians to join the civil service there

· Was Tintin gay? Despite his wandering life with a hairy old sea captain as his closest companion, Tintin had no family background of any kind, says Michael Turner, his translator for 40 years and a friend of Hergé. "It made him a free spirit, able to go off and have adventures," he notes

· Did the Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte inspire Thomson and Thompson, the Belgian bowler hatted twin detectives? Nick Rodwell, of the Fondation Hergé in Brussels, whose wife Fanny was previously married to Hergé, thinks there may be some truth in this.
However, he says the chief inspiration was Hergé's father and uncle, who took a very Belgian walk every Sunday afternoon, always immaculately dressed.

The Guardian

Old News - Dalai Lama urges respect and tolerance for LGBTs

April 3, 2006

Dalai Lama urges respect and tolerance for LGBTs
By Douglas Sanders

The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has expressed concern and his opposition towards violence and discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Fridae’s Douglas Sanders reports from the ILGA World conference in Geneva.


At the opening of the ILGA conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 30, the Envoy of His Holiness The Dalai Lama Kelsang Gyaltsen read the following statement on behalf of His Holiness the Dalai Lama:


His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the exiled head of state and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.
“I am pleased to bring you greetings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the occasion of the XXIII World Conference of the International Lesbian and Gay Association.

“His Holiness welcomes the special attention given at this conference to religious tolerance and respect for diversity.

“His Holiness is greatly concerned by reports of violence and discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

“His Holiness opposes violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and urges respect, tolerance, and the full recognition of human rights for all.”

He also expressed his best wishes for a successful conference.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, 70, is the exiled head of state and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.

On March 28, before the main ILGA conference, a pre-conference dealt with Religion and Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Religion pre-conferences have been held for a number of years before ILGA World Conferences, but Muslim participation has never been as extensive as it was at the Geneva
events.

On April 1, the conference featured a plenary panel of LGBT Muslims, with speakers from Bosnia Herzegovina, Malaysia, South Africa, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Panelists described the International Initiative for Queer Muslim Visibility begun in Bosnia, and Inner Circle, a national umbrella organisation for LGBT Muslims now operating in South Africa.

Fridae columnist and retired Canadian law professor, Douglas Sanders, is attending the ILGA conference for the group Gays Without Borders: sanders_gwb a yahoo.ca.

Gay Tibet Speaks out

On 9th December, two members of the Tibetan gay community, Tenzin and Jampa went on air on a Tibetan webcasting forum TIbetan Bridges and spoke openly about their lives as gays. This was the first time for the Tibetan youth community to witness such an open discussion to take place.

Homosexuality in the Tibetan community is as common as in any other community in the world but like most asian countries, Tibetans have so far refused to acknowledge the fact that we do exist. Thanks to TibetanBridges we've now been able to tell our brothers and sisters that we are here to stay.

We would like encourage other gay Tibetans to speak up and be yourself. There's nothing to fear. Lead a healthy happy life. If you are gay and would like to reach out, please write to gaytibet[a]gmail.com

Discussions on Phayul.com
Gay Tibet Topic 01
Gay Tibet Topic 02



Take-The-Test

And here are some videos

Two young boys come out


Confused