Gay Spiritual Functions

Table of Contents Search Site Also on this website: Toby Johnson's books: TWO SPIRITS: A Story of Life With the Navajo (with Walter Williams) GAY SPIRITUALITY: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness GAY PERSPECTIVE: Things Our Homosexuality Tells Us about the Nature of God and the Universe SECRET MATTER, GETTING LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE PLAGUE: A NOVEL ABOUT HEALING.     Articles and Excerpts: The Simple Answer to the Gay Marriage Debate Shame on the American People  The cause of homosexuality What Jesus said about Gay Rights The purpose of homosexuality Varieties of Gay Spirituality Why Gay Spirituality: Spirituality as Artistic Medium "It's Always About You" The myth of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara You're Not A Wave Curious Bodies What Toby Johnson Believes The Joseph Campbell Connection, The Nature of Religion Being Gay is a Blessing Freedom of Religion The Gay Agenda Gay Saintliness  "The Evolution of Gay Identity" "St. John of the Cross & the Dark Night of the Soul." Avalokiteshvara at the Baths.  Eckhart's Eye Let Me Tell You a Secret Religious Articulations of the Secret Teenage Prostitution and the Nature of Evil Allah Hu: "God is present here"   Adam and Steve Gay retirement and the "freelance monastery" Seeing with Different Eyes The mystical experience at the Servites'  Castle in Riverside The Great Dance according to C.S.Lewis The Techniques Of The World Saviors Part 1: Brer Rabbit and the Tar-Baby Part 2: The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Part 3: Jesus and the Resurrection Part 4: A Course in Miracles The Secret of the Clear Light Understanding the Clear Light Mobius Strip Finding YourTiger Face How Gay Souls Get Reincarnated The D.A.F.O.D.I.L. Alliance Toby's friend and nicknamesake Toby Marotta. The Gay Spirituality Summit in May 2004 and the  "Statement of Spirituality"

Gay Spiritual Functions Christian de la Huerta, founder of Q-Spirit in San Francisco, has a very extensive website at Revolutionary Wisdom  with his partner, Markus Thorndike. Christian is author of Coming Out Spiritually: the next step. He identifies ten roles that gay people play, and have played, in human culture. He calls these “spiritual functions.” Here are the ten categories along with de la Huerta’s descriptions: 1) Catalytic Transformers: Queer people often function as catalysts, acting as agents of change, helping to bring about reform, inciting social movements, and supporting the advancement of humanity. 2) Outsiders: As outsiders, queer people help society to more accurately perceive itself. We reflect diversity and help society determine its limits and boundaries. 3) Consciousness Scouts: One of the traditional roles we have played throughout history has been discovering new paths, searching out new answers, being “consciousness scouts”--those who go first to see what lies ahead. 4) Sacred Clowns and Eternal Youth: Queer people seem to embody a spirit of humor and youthfulness, qualities that often bring entertainment, sustenance, and a refreshing sense of joy to the world. 5) Keepers of Beauty: Throughout history, queer people have been responsible for creating, promoting, and supporting much of the world’s art and beauty, and have done so disproportionately to our numbers. 6) Caregivers: Gay people have fulfilled the function of healers, teachers, and caregivers of all types--from physicians to massage therapists, from counselors to flight attendants, and in all forms of the service industry. 7) Mediators: Gay people have often served as mediators or “go-betweens,” particularly between the genders as well as between the physical and spiritual realms. 8) Shamans and Priests: Throughout history, and across many cultures, queer people often have assumed roles of spiritual leadership, and have been honored, respected, and revered for doing so. 9) The Divine Androgyne: The sacred writings of several spiritual traditions include references to the concept of “holy androgyny”--the marriage within each person of both female and male aspects of the psyche, which could have evolutionary significance. 10) Gatekeepers: According to some traditions, gay people have a “higher vibrational level” and are uniquely suited for the role of “gatekeepers,” or “guardians of the gateways, with the spiritual world.” Christian de la Huerta is one of the important "luminaries" -- to use Joseph Kramer's partly tongue-in-cheek expression -- of the gay spirituality movement. His book, Coming Out Spiritually, has helped a huge number of modern day gay men and lesbians understand the spiritual roots of their personalities. There's information about ordering the book at the website Revolutionary Wisdom Stuart Norman has an article on the web called: A New Spirituality for Gays that expands the notion of gay outsider perspective

Toby Johnson, PhD is author of eight books: three non-fiction books that apply the wisdom of his teacher and "wise old man," Joseph Campbell to modern-day social and religious problems, three gay genre novels that dramatize spiritual issues at the heart of gay identity, and two books on gay men's spiritualities and the mystical experience of homosexuality. In addition to the novels featured elsewhere in this web site, Johnson is author of IN SEARCH OF GOD IN THE SEXUAL UNDERWORLD and THE MYTH OF THE GREAT SECRET (Revised edition): AN APPRECIATION OF JOSEPH CAMPBELL.

Johnson's Lammy Award winning book GAY SPIRITUALITY: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness was published in 2000.

His Lammy-nominated book  GAY PERSPECTIVE: Things Our Homosexuality Tells Us about the Nature of God and the Universe was published by Alyson in 2003.