Back Issues
December
'97:
Sleaze
Ball
'Sex Panic'
Gay Games
Braving
Worlds of
Disapproval
International
Pink
Briefing
Whirlybird
Dr Boonmar
Squiggles
Queer Quotes
Queer of the
Month
Queer
Commentary
Queer Reads
Vol 1. No 3. December, 1997
Queer Commentary
Can We Queers Be Spiritual?
That thought has occupied me for some time, sparked by a news report that the Dalai Lama had met with gay and lesbian reporters and had responded in a frank way to their questions about Buddhism and homosexuality. The Dalai Lama even took it a step further, his office issuing a statement calling for the rights of gays and lesbians worldwide to be respected.
The traditional religious response to homosexuality is that it’s a "perversion". and most of us have suffered rejection from our religions because of it. It’s difficult to believe in a religion that doesn’t believe in you, and the rejection cuts both ways.
So we say our goodbyes; we say we’re "beyond" all that religious stuff and we don’t need it; we say it’s not important. Our religions are probably not sorry to see us go, uncomfortable as they are with the difficulty of "loving the sinner but hating the sin".
Most gays and lesbians, in the energy and passion of youth, don’t give this breaking of bonds much thought. They can live without the condemnation and small-minded thinking, thank you very much. But as they age - as I’ve aged - and as they begin to ask themselves those basic questions (Why am I here? Is there nothing else?) they inevitably return to their roots, taking a second look at the religions of their youths that they so (easily) shrugged off.
And they find the condemnation and hatred of homosexuals still there, just as strong as ever. Time may have toughened the skin, but the spite and pettiness seems to run much deeper. And, predictably, they "fall away" a second time, this time for good perhaps, twice bitten, twice shy.
But humans, most will agree, are composed of body and soul: both have needs. The soul may or may not be eternal; regardless, it still has needs. The soul is the one asking the hard questions. The soul is the one that comprehends beauty, compassion, love.
For too many gay and lesbian people, it's the soul that goes hungry will the body is pampered leading to a serious imbalance.
One of the most unfortunate things about the entire religion-homosexuality debate is that gay people may unwittingly find themselves in agreement with their detractors, internalising the hatred directed against them, believing the rubbish that they are "perverted" and "unworthy" of spiritual things.
People who use religion to justify their prejudice - whether racial, gender, sexuality or otherwise - are clearly in the wrong.
Gay or straight, you are what you were intended to be. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise.
Top
Contents | Quer Resources | Personals | Guestbook | Back
Issues