The Queer ID Sangha will meet for 90-minutes every other month via Zoom to practice relational dharma (Insight Dialogue, Dharma Contemplation). Over time we will also invite the broader Insight Dialogue Community to learn with us how to foster authentically inclusive environments for relational practice.
The first Queer ID Sangha online practice group meeting is on Saturday, March 25 from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM Pacific Daylight Time (7:00 PM EDT / 11:00 GMT / 12:00 AM CET / March 26 7:00 AM HKT / March 26 10:00 AM AEDT) Please register here for more information and to join us if you identify as LGBTQIA+.
After our first meeting on March 25, we’ll determine two distinct regular 90-minute meeting times on the same weekend to accommodate community members in time zones across the globe.
Origins
In late 2022, a group of LGBTQIA+ identified Insight Dialogue members, including Beth Faria, Patricia Fontaine, Rachel Hammerman, Ruby Phillips and Nic Redfern, gathered to explore the experience and implications of what it means to be Queer in our Sangha.
We shared issues of invisibility, the impact of hetero-normativity, and further considerations about the experience of and support for members of our community who identify as queer, gay, lesbian, transgender, intersex, bisexual, non-binary, asexual, or any other identity that is not heteronormative.
We determined that in addition to holding affinity space for practice, over the coming months the Queer ID Sangha would offer learning opportunities to the broader IDC. Our aim is for our global IDC Sangha to become familiar with the issues facing our Queer members, increase understanding of current terms and definitions, and foster awareness of and care for LGBTQIA+ identities in relational practice, contemplations, and Sangha participation.