Gay monk

No sexual contact is mentioned in these instances, however. [1]

Lay Buddhists (those who live outside the monastery) are expected to adhere to Five Precepts, the third of which is a vow "not to engage in sexual misconduct." But what is sexual misconduct? [4]

In a 1993 talk given in Seattle, the Dalai Lama said:

nature arranged male and female organs "in such a manner that is very suitable...

My research indicates, however, this is not always true. [3]

Despite all this, in practice, Theravada Buddhist countries are not terribly open to homosexual practice. ordinary person with a job, a family, a home, etc.)

Buddhist monks are expected to live lives of celibacy, meaning abstinence from any type of sex.

This is happening within Australia, as well.

## Books on Homosexuality and Buddhism

Bernard Faure, The Red Thread: Buddhist Approaches to Sexuality (Princeton University Press, 1998).
Winston Layland, ed., Queer Dharma: Voices of Gay Buddhists (Gay Sunshine Press, 1998).

And it is the same when the two people are of the same gender. The Buddhist sacred texts do contain a great deal of instances of loving relationships between unmarried men, which some believe to have homoerotic overtones.

For example, some trans and non-binary Buddhists have been subjected to gender segregation at meditation retreats, while others have been forced to lie about being LGBTQIA+ out of fear of being denied access to ordination.

Difficulties of coming out

In my research, I found that many LGBTQIA+ Buddhists are reluctant to come out because, as Lang* (a pansexual, non-binary man) explained:

there is a profound lack of understanding of how heteronormative and puritan many Buddhist spaces are.

Nano (a queer non-binary man) reflected on how it felt when they attended a retreat:
I remember going and sitting with the women, and all the old [local] ladies laughing at me and pushing me back into the midsection [next to the men]. He urges respect, tolerance, compassion, and the full recognition of human rights for all." [6]
References
- A.

L. De Silva, "Homosexuality and Theravada Buddhism." BuddhaNet's Magazine Articles, accessed 2005.
More than half of Australia’s LGBTQIA+ Buddhists feel reluctant to “come out” to their Buddhist communities and nearly one in six have been told directly that being LGBTQIA+ isn’t in keeping with the Buddha’s teachings.
These are some of the findings from my research looking at the experiences of LGBTQIA+ Buddhists in Australia.

In Theravada Buddhism, there are two main ways of life: the life of the monk and the life of the lay person (i.e.
Traci (a lesbian woman) was told explicitly by monastics that being LGBTQIA+ is not in keeping with the Buddha’s teachings. Rainbodhi was founded in Sydney in 2019 as a “spiritual friendship group” for LGBTQIA+ Buddhists to organise and advocate for greater inclusion and acceptance within the broader Buddhist community.

As Homosexuality is not explicitly mentioned in any of the Buddha's sayings recorded in the Pali Canon (Tripitaka), most interpreters have taken this to mean that homosexuality should be evaluated in the same way as heterosexuality, in accordance with the above principles.
A Buddhist author of an article on homosexuality concludes:
In the case of the lay man and woman where there is mutual consent, where adultery is not involved and where the sexual act is an expression of love, respect, loyalty and warmth, it would not be breaking the third Precept.

[7]
Homosexuality in Vajrayana/Tibetan Buddhism
In a 1997 interview, the Dalai Lama (the leader of Tibetan Buddhism and a widely-respected spiritual figure) was asked about homosexuality. - "A Lesson on Life, Happiness." Dalai Lama's speech to Seattle crowd, World Tibet Network News, Jul.

1, 1993. [1] However, in the Vinaya, the Buddha is recorded as opposing the ordination of those who openly expressed cross-gender features [2] or strong homosexual desires and actions [7].
From this viewpoint, a person's characteristics and situations are a result of past sins or good deeds.