Gaia: Gay Spirituality

Kia ora from New Zealand!

http://lagniappe.gaia.com — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 08:47:25 GMT

Kia ora (greetings!) from the land of the long white cloud. I'm a 48 year old single gay male originally from the USA now a dual citizen of US/NZ. Just joined this group after a long time away from zaadz/gaia.

Hello from Spain

http://outofaddiction.gaia.com — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:18:49 GMT

Dear friends,
Hello to you all from the Basque Country in northern Spain.
It is wonderful to have this group to discuss spiritual issues from a gay perspective.
I am the founder of another (very new) Gaia Group called 'Addiction & Healing' and I also keep a 'lectio divina' blog here in Gaia focused on recovery and healing from addictions.
I hope I can somehow contribute and be of help to others - especially in the GLBT community - who are battling with addiction as I once was.
Other than that I would love to make new friends and have lots of fun!
Blessings to you all!
Oscar xx

Greetings... It's a beautiful life!

http://exexgay.gaia.com — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:43:13 GMT

I just wanted to say hello from Kansas City to Gaia's Gay Spirituality community.

What I didn't Ask For

http://CardinalOfAllColonels.gaia.com — Sun, 31 May 2009 02:51:04 GMT

Lots of gays are critize and labeled form one end of world and around to the other. One tends to ask one's self why can't I just fit in, as everyone else. One thing that I personally cant understand is why people single out gays. Is it because, we are different or is it because we are the same with different interest? Or is it because we simply dont ask for a lot, but to be apart of a community?
What gays didn't ask for, was to be look upon as low or disgusting. We didn't ask to be snarled at when taking an occasional walk in the park. We definitly didn't ask for peoples commenting, judgment, knowledge, questioning or even styreotyping. But most heteros of the world seem to do these things. Then I ask, why? After all, we are the same.

Re: Hello from Texas!

http://dale.gaia.com — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:09:22 GMT

Hi from Kansas City! Welcome to the group.
dale

Re: Spiritual Dating

http://ZacharySupernova.gaia.com — Thu, 21 May 2009 03:02:19 GMT

Hello everyone! I hope that even though I'm 14 you guys will be okay with me jumpin' in.

I'm having trouble with this guy, he said he thinks he might be bi, he knows I like him, and since he's found out he's been alot more... touchy I guess you would say, he'll see me laying down and cuddle me and since he found out I'm gay he hugs me. Yet nothing goes anywhere. Any advice on how to move it along? Should I make the first move?

Hello from Texas!

http://ZacharySupernova.gaia.com — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:57:49 GMT

Hello, my name's Zach.(:
14 years young, yes I know I'm very young haha but I'm mature for my age. I'm gay, and no, it's not because I'm 'influenced' or anything like some people think.
There aren't many people who understand me in my town, I mean think about it, I'm in TX. I'm here to discuss the gay lifestyle, dating, and anything else seeing as though I'm young and I guess I could probably use some guidance. I'll try to be active. :D
add me?{:

Re: Spiritual Dating

http://MikeyDineen.gaia.com — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:23:31 GMT

Yes! Yes! Yes! to all of the above- may every haystack find his/her needle and viceversa or find him/herself

Re: Spiritual Dating

http://siona.gaia.com — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 05:13:26 GMT

Lovely Billy!

I feel very shy stepping into this conversation, but I just wanted to say how deeply touched I was by your post, and how certain am that your very action of putting yourself out there like this will do wonders in helping your sweetheart find you.

(I'll confess, too, that this was part of the impetus for Gaia Soulmates; if you have a look at the site, which is certainly gay-friendly, you'll see that the questions we ask are designed to elicit the spiritual yearnings and inclinations of members.)

Also, please don't give up hope! I know many gay men who are deeply involved and engaged in spiritual topics (in some ways I think growing up gay in this world forces a sort of inner questioning or awakening that people otherwise avoid), and I'm sure your own love is out there. You'll find him. You'll see. :)

Re: Spiritual Dating

http://jjs1952.gaia.com — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:21:54 GMT

Beautiful post, both!
Dale, My hearts sings to read your words, and is filled with joy that your journey has taken you to you... and your relationship with your Higher Self!

I am Love, Jeff

Re: Spiritual Dating

http://eduardo.gaia.com — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:49:41 GMT

That's it Dale.
That's the Spiritual Dating.
I believe that the relationship that we need to strengthen and nourish is the one with ourselves. The one with God (or whatever you want to call her/him).
And that IS spiritual dating to me.
After that the other relationships come natural. We "attract" them. Instead of going after them.

Re: Spiritual Dating

http://dale.gaia.com — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:27:35 GMT

Hey, guys,

Here's an update from me - just moved into a new little house - with a small creek and trees in the backyard - and it's my sanctuary. I am finding more and more how much I enjoy my own company, being in my new home, meditating, praying, affirming, listening to music, playing the piano, singing, exercising, walking, gardening - falling in love with ME.

Here is an affirmation that I have been using from James Ray (my version):
"I am so happy and grateful that I am already in my primary love relationship!"

That is either with myself, or with God, depending on how I feel at the time I say it.

I have also made an extensive list of all the quailities that I desire in a partner, and my intention is to embody each of those qualities to the best of my ability.

I AM the needle in the haystack - and I found me!!!

The benefit of this work is that I am finding that my existing relationships - family and friends, people I meet on the street - are blooming and unfolding in amazing ways, probably due to the fact that I am much more present to them than ever before.

LOVE and BLESSINGS
dale

Re: Gay Male Identity: An Separate Identity Or an Identity at All

http://MikeyDineen.gaia.com — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:52:27 GMT

I tend to agree with Pieter (hope I got the name right) . I grew up in rural Ireland with no gay role modles nor stereotypes, I'm glad kids today have some sort of role-modle (indeed the more the merrier-the gayer?)

Re: Spiritual Dating

http://eduardo.gaia.com — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:51:09 GMT

Hi,

I'm new in this group and I wanted to join in this conversation.
Thank you for being open and sharing your experiences.
I like that there are more people (in general) and gays that are looking for a spiritual partner first. To me that is part of this "change" that we are all going through.
I'm also single and happy with myself at the moment. Yes, I would like to have a partner with me, but I won't just take anyone.
I've been using an affirmation from Yogananda:
Heavenly Father bless me that I choose my life companion according to Thy perfect law of soul union.
He recommends practicing this affirmation for 6 months daily. Even if you think you've found someone.
It's been working great for me.

Re: Would You Marry? Is marriage a good institution? In Californi

http://nohealani.gaia.com — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:03:59 GMT

Here is another link about the civil rights movements that are happening now in Hawaii:
http://www.towleroad.com/2009/02/thousands-rally-against-civil-unions-in-hawaii.html

I always thought of my home as most people do... a paradise, and don't get me wrong, it still is, but it was an eye-opener to see just how many people are still ignorant in their perceptions of the way they think things should be. Being born and raised here, there is a "gay" family member in 9 out of 10 families here in Hawaii, which is why I guess this rallying against civil rights came as a shock to me. In ancient Hawaiian culture to be a transexual was to be a divine entity or they were once recognized as being viewed a demi-God having both masculine and feminine qualities. I guess i'm saddened and surprised at how infectious ignorance can be, but we are continuing the efforts in Hawaii to take this all the way in hopes that it will be at least a stepping stone for the future.

Re: Spiritual Dating

http://MikeyDineen.gaia.com — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 22:21:13 GMT

I realise that the image didn't copy, but if you click on it.....

Re: Spiritual Dating

http://MikeyDineen.gaia.com — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 11:26:40 GMT

Billy, interesting & wonderful post, and I wish you god's speed in finding that special someone. As Dale said try working on yourself- sometimes when you have to go without, the best solution is to go within- And Dale, you say "I'd like to find a happy medium", does this mean that your perfect partner would be a content man with clairvoyant/psycic powers? ( sorry, just being silly, please forgive me) and do be careful when rolling in the proverbial hay that you don't get stuck by that proverbial needle-but then again, it might be just what/who you need to find, the elusive needle in the haystack!?
Happy hunting, blessings to you both, Mike

Radical Faeries Celebrate 30 years...

http://jjs1952.gaia.com — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 15:04:29 GMT

I will post this on my blog as well but I wish to give it some energy here too.. This is a great story...

Radical Faeries Celebrate 30 Years of Gay Consciousness

by Karen Ocamb

It may be difficult for some young LGBT activists to imagine a time full of hate worse than today. Just sucker-punched by the voter-approved discrimination written into the California Constitution through Prop. 8, many young LGBT activists assumed equality through the love of their families and straight friends and acceptance at work and church.

Thirty years ago, such an assumption was a dream. But two gay men with a history of activism—Harry Hay, who founded the Mattachine Society in 1950, and Don Kilhefner, who co-founded (with Morris Kight) the Gay Liberation Front in Los Angeles in 1970—were less interested in fitting into or winning
acceptance from heterosexual society than delving into the depths of gay consciousness. And in 1979, they organized a new group they brazenly called the Radical Faeries at La Cresta Court in Hollywood, which became known thereafter as the Faerie Sanctuary.

The words "radical" and "faerie" were intentionally chosen—"radical" meaning "root," says Kilhefner, and "faerie" to "take back" the anti-gay epithet (like the activists in the 1990s reclaimed the word "queer"). There was also a nod to cultures where faeries are "magical, healing delightful
creatures."

It was, says therapist and author Mark Thompson, who both chronicled and participated in the Radical Faeries, an intentional "positive act of self-empowerment to reclaim what some might think of as a negative definition and recast it as a prideful definition of our own making!"

Hay and Kilhefner held the first Radical Faerie gathering on Labor Day weekend in 1979 on an ashram in the Sonora, Ariz., desert, issuing "A Call to Gay Brothers" through fliers and Thompson's stories in the Advocate.

The idea was to "venture into the unsullied frontiers of the American outback to become clear-headed enough to open their hearts to the possibilities of new ways, myths and understandings," says Thompson.

"Improbable, ephemeral and vivid as iridescent rain, the cultural phenomena known as the Radical Faeries was a wing-stroke felt around the world," Thompson says. That first meeting of 200 gay men inspired others around the country, as well as in Canada, Europe, Australia and, most recently,
Thailand.

"The Radical Faeries are gay-centered," says Kilhefner. The philosophy focuses on "'us' not 'them'" and yet transcends those polarities. "It says gay reality is important, substantial and meaningful," underscoring that "being gay constitutes a significant evolutionary and social purpose much greater than the sexual identity to which our oppressors have chained us."

Pointing to the poetry of Walt Whitman, Kilhefner says that "'gay consciousness' is different (not better or worse) from 'nongay consciousness,' and it is the responsibility of the next wave of Gay Liberation to explore and identify those differences for the benefit of both gay and nongay people. It is the opposite of 'gay assimilation,' which since 1985-ish has been the dominant ideology of our community and to which the Radical Faeries are the antidote."

But the Radical Faeries are not simply navel-gazers. They work to "develop a larger political and social consciousness in the gay community, supporting liberation movements of women and men, people of color, working people and common and ordinary people like us, and supporting electoral politics where
there is integrity, ethics and honesty," says Kilhefner.

They are, in essence, community activists. "We value the gifts of each person and weave those gifts into the fabric of community life," says Kilhefner. "We recognize and assume our responsibilities not only to the gay community but to the larger community of beings ... Inherent in 'gay assimilation' theory and practice is the disappearance of the gay community and the diminution of gay identity, to which the Radical Faeries are the antidote."

"The faeries are as important today as ever, especially in an ever-expanding gay world that is lost for spiritual meaning. Gay folk need community and connection in private sacred-shared spaces as never before," says Thompson. "Men drawn to the Faerie movement wanted to heal old wounds, for sure, but
were also seeking to reinvent themselves as authentically queer men in a straight-jacketed society that would rather not see them exist at all. Liberation and love—unfettered and beyond shame—was the name of the game."

Today, the Faeries continue to exist "as one tribe among a loose-knit but rapidly growing international community of spiritually focused gay men in conversation with one another," says Thompson. "Through websites, conferences and groups such as Atlanta's Gay Spirit Visions and Los Angeles' Gay Men's Medicine Circle (founded by Kilhefner), as well as such publications as White Crane Journal, the courageous step taken by a few on hidden reddish sands has now evolved into a self-empowering pathway traveled by many."

On Feb. 15, at 2 p.m., Don Kilhefner and Mark Thompson will talk about the
Radical Faeries at the ONE Gay & Lesbian Archives, 909 West Adams Blvd.,
L.A. For more information on the free event, visit onearchives.org.

Namaste!

http://dharmawork.gaia.com — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 01:47:22 GMT

Hey, this is great. :-) I was just looking over the groups and thinking about starting my own around this topic and saw this one. :-) I do have a name-suggestion for you, though:

Queerituality: Okay, this starts with "Queer Theory" which is the new social theory that we all exist on a continuum between 'gay' and 'straight' and move around on it in different times of our lives due to the influences we experience. That alone is awesome, if you ask me, but I believe we need to add WHY, and I believe the WHY of that is that in spirit, we are neither male nor female but BOTH and therefore, as we spiritually evolve and bring more of our soul-selves down into physicality, we become more balanced and thus able to experience attraction to others based on spiritual resonance alone and not gender.

So, whaddya think? ;-)

Re: hello from chicago

http://johnmendezdesign.gaia.com — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 01:59:57 GMT

Better Late than Never....Hello