White Crane Institute promotes the study of the role of Gay men, Queer sexualities and gender variation and orientation in the evolution, psychology, sociology, and practice of spirituality, ritual, and religion.

White Crane Institute's goal is to foster the gathering and dissemination of information about the critical role sexuality and gender has played and continues to play in the development of cultural, spiritual and religious traditions and to provide a nurturing environment for the continuation and expansion of those explorations for the greater good of all society. .

White Crane Institute is dedicated to researching, exploring and documenting the variety of manifestations of the spiritual search—both mainstream and individual—among contemporary GLBT men and women. To disseminate this information, we publish the quarterly, reader-written journal, White Crane.

Evolutionary theory posits that nothing endures in Nature that doesn't provide some kind of adaptive behavior for the good of Nature as a whole. There is ample historical, scientific and anthropological evidence to demonstrate that same-sex oriented people have been and are, critical components in the development of healthy, integrated societies concerned with deeper values and spiritual community.

To demonstrate the essential, unique gifts that the often marginalized GLBT community plays in the spiritual development of humankind, White Crane Institute seeks to reclaim, through self reflection, scholarly study, and research, the traditional and natural role of GLBT people in the holistic, spiritual evolution of contemporary society.


White Crane and White Crane Institute will therefore:

We are a Talking Circle, a Heart Circle, convened to share stories and create a community whose wisdom is greater than—a synergy—its individual parts. White Crane operates with the core belief that there is a certain, rational, definable and observable role that Gay people (and for the purposes of this discussion, we use the single term "Gay" to be inclusive of the GLBT community) play in the evolution of life on Earth. This statement has been included in the masthead of the White Crane Journal since the very first issue, in one form or another.

It is a very deliberate use of language starting with the reference to "evolution." Old Man Harry Hay used to tell anyone who would listen that from a purely scientific, evolutionary point of view, nothing survives in Nature that doesn't serve Nature.

In other words, there must be an evolutionary, adaptive role that same-sex people play that explains the survival of homosexuality across cultures, time and even species. Only recently have scientists even begun to see homosexuality in the animal world and we now have cutesy human-interest stories in daily newspapers about Gay penguins and the erotic play of Bonobo monkeys making the academic rounds in scientific journals.

Our operating belief — a belief that can be supported with history, reason and intuition — is that Gay people serve a balancing role between and among the sexes, as well as other observable and definable roles. The manifestations of these roles can be seen in different forms in the field anthropology: Mediator, Shaman, Teacher, Healer, Culture Carrier and Protocol Expert…but also the Jester, the Sacred Fool, the Clown and the Contrary. When we have this map as we look at stories of same-sex peoples in history, as well as just looking at modern culture, it isn't difficult to see the tendency among our people to fit into these various roles.

An interesting effect is that almost immediately upon taking observable anthropology into consideration, the discussion changes — and not simply through a change of terminology, but a sea change of perspective. We are no longer talking about mere sex or gender or sexuality, but social roles, our place in society and culture.

This is not terribly surprising; mature people tend to move beyond a certain adolescent fascination with sex and the titillation that seems to accompany talking about it. We think most people would agree this is a healthy development in an individual's sex life and life as an adult. This is not to say that sex and sexuality are irrelevant to our concerns, but rather to put them in perspective. Healthy Spirituality entails a healthy sexuality and White Crane has always sought to explore aspects of individual sexual lives as well as the positive sexual attitudes and mores of the Gay community. Like all humans, our sexuality has lead us back to our spiritual selves.

More importantly, we seek to re-contextualize spirituality in our everyday lives. We define “spirituality” in the broadest possible terms, not to water it down but to reinsert it into every activity and occupation we have, to make it as inclusive an idea as possible. White Crane’s definition of spirituality is “that which provides a deeper relationship with yourself, your community and the world at large.”

We intend to sanctify our lives and the world in which we live them.

 

 

White Crane Institute Advisory Board

Larry Auld
Development consultant; former Executive Director, Life Bridge Foundation
New York, New York

Bob Barzan
Founder of White Crane Newsletter and White Crane Press; Founder, Modesto Art Museum
Modesto, California

Bill Blackburn
Community building specialist, HIV prevention consultant, and student of evolutionary consciousness.
Sonoma County, California

Right Rev. Malcolm Boyd
Minister, activist, spoken-word artist, and author of over 30 books including Are You Running With Me Jesus: The Prayers of Malcolm Boyd; In Times Like These: How We Pray; Amazing Grace: Stories of Lesbian and Gay Faith, and Look Back in Joy: A Celebration of Gay Lovers.
Los Angeles, California

Dr. Bill Bradley
Psychiatrist
Halifax, Nova Scotia

John Burnside
Author; inventor; facilitator; Life partner of Harry Hay; originator of Radical Faerie Movement
San Francisco, California

David Carter
Historian; Author, Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution, Editor, Spontaneous Mind: Selected Interviews with Allen Ginsberg, 1958-1996
Brooklyn, New York

Rev. Patrick S. Cheng
MCC Minister; theologian; attorney; Founder, Queer Asian Spirit
New York, New York

Robert Croonquist
Founder, Youth Arts New York; Educator
New York, New York

Kip Dollar
Founder, Liberty Books; artist; activist
San Antonio, Texas

Sandy Dubowski
Documentary cinematographer, Trembling Before G-d
New York, New York

Murray Edelman Ph.D
Statistician; psychologist; originator of Radical Faerie Movement
New York, New York

Donald Engstrom
Founder, RFD Magazine; Reclaiming Elder
Minneapolis, Minnesota

David Frechter
Founder, Gay Spirit Journeys
Asheville, North Carolina

Clyde M. Hall
Shoshone two spirit and medicine elder; Tribal Magistrate; Founder Naraya Preservation Foundation
Fort Hall, Idaho

Daniel Helminiak Ph.D
Professor; theologian; author, What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality, Spiritual Development: An Interdisciplinary Study, and The Human Core Of Spirituality: Mind As Psyche And Spirit.
Atlanta, Georgia

Mark Horn
Advertising and public relations consultant
New York, New York

Fenton Johnson
Journalist; Professor; Lambda Literary Winner; Award winning author, Keeping Faith: A Skeptic’s Journey, Geography of the Mind.
Tucson, Arizona

Toby Johnson Ph.D
Former publisher White Crane Journal; Lambda Literary Winner, Award winning author, Gay Perspective: Things Our Homosexuality Tells Us About the Nature of God and the Universe, Gay Spirituality: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness; Getting Life in Perspective.
San Antonio, Texas

Don Kilhefner
Gay rights pioneer, therapist, and psychologist. Founder of Gay Men’s Medicine Circle, co-founder of the Los Angeles Gay Community Services Center (1971) and Radical Faeries (1979)
Los Angeles, California

Joe Kort MA, MSW
Psychotherapist, author, Ten Smart Things Gay Men Can Do to Improve Their Lives
Royal Oak, Michigan

Joseph Kramer Ph.D
Educator; Founder: Body Electric; Founder, EroSpirit Institute - The Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality.
Oakland, California

Charles Lawrence
Therapist; Consultant
New York; New York

Peter Montgomery
Vice President of Communications, People for the American Way
Washington, District of Columbia

Bernard Morin
Therapist
Peterborough, Ontario

Beverley O’Donnell
New York, New York

Ken Page
Therapist; Retreat leader, Rowe Camp LGBT Gathering
New York, New York

Michael Picucci
Psychologist; Founder, Institute for Authentic Healing Process
New York, New York

Peter Savastano, Ph.D
Anthropologist, Seton Hall University
South Orange, New Jersey

Ken Smith Ph.D
Economist, Population Dynamics
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

John Stasio
Teacher; Facilitator; Founder, Easton Mountain Retreat
Greenwich, New York

Mark Thompson
Author, editor and activist. Former senior editor of The Advocate. Author of Gay Spirit: Myth and Meaning (White Crane/Lethe Press), Gay Soul: Finding the Heart of Gay Spirit and Nature (Harper San Francisco), Gay Body: A Journey Through Shadow To Self (St. Martin's), Long Road to Freedom: The Advocate History of the Gay & Lesbian Movement and Leatherfolk: Leatherfolk: Radical Sex, People, Politics, and Practice.
Los Angeles, California

Paul Wirhun
Artist; Reiki Master
Brooklyn, New York

Dan Vera
Poet and Writer. Managing Editor, White Crane; Founder, White Crane Institute; former Field Director, Reconciling Ministries Network (United Methodist Church); former Founder and Director, United Methodists of Color for a Fully Inclusive Church (UMC)
Washington, District of Columbia

Bo Young
Publisher & Editorial Director, White Crane; Founder, White Crane Institute; public relations/development consultant; author, First Touch.
Brooklyn, New York